This week in Boston tech, we’re tracking a win for DraftKings and the daily fantasy sports industry, a pair of cleantech announcements, Wayfair’s rapid expansion, and more. Read on for details.
—Virginia’s legislature became the first to pass a bill regulating daily fantasy sports, despite concerns from gambling support organizations that argue the proposal doesn’t do enough to protect consumers. If Virginia’s governor signs the legislation, it would cement the industry’s legality there and would mark an important win for Boston-based DraftKings and New York-based FanDuel, which are facing legal scrutiny nationwide.
—Centage said it tacked on $4 million to its Series A funding round, which now totals $13.5 million. We covered the Natick, MA-based budgeting and forecasting software company’s initial funding announcement in 2014. The money comes from two California-based firms, TVC Capital and Northgate.
—Autonomous Marine Systems said it raised $1.6 million in seed funding from Clean Energy Venture Group, Fontinalis Partners, Industrial Investors Group, Signal Ventures, I2BF Global Ventures, the Texas Halo Fund, and several individual investors. That money is on top of $1.9 million in grants the company won last year.
Based in the Greentown Labs incubator in Somerville, MA, the startup has developed a solar-powered, unmanned sail craft equipped with sensors and other data-capturing instruments. The idea is to deploy a fleet of these “Datamaran” crafts to track ocean data over long periods of time.
—Speaking of Greentown Labs, it announced a partnership with fellow cleantech support organization Oregon Best. The reciprocal program will enable startups with ties to Greentown and Oregon Best to access resources on the opposite coast, including free access to temporary desk space, connections to “the host market’s local ecosystem,” invites to events, and sharing best practices for commercializing sustainable technologies.
The partnership follows a similar one Greentown struck with the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator last April.
—Virgin Pulse, a Framingham, MA-based company that sells employee wellness and productivity software, merged with rivals ShapeUp and Global Corporate Challenge. VentureBeat has more on the deal here.
—Wayfair (NYSE: [[ticker:W]]), the Boston-based online retailer of home goods, is on a hiring binge. It’s opening two locations in Maine that will employ around 1,000 people in sales and customer service, BostInno reported. Wayfair is also hiring 450 people in Texas.
—Boston-based Cogito is teaming up with Massachusetts General Hospital on a study that will use Cogito’s voice-analysis software to monitor the mental health of 1,000 people suffering from depression and bipolar disorder.
Cogito raised $5.5 million in November to boost commercial opportunities for the software, which it sells to businesses trying to improve their call center operations.
—Boston telehealth startup American Well announced a few new products, including a software development kit that enables developers of healthcare mobile apps—hospitals, insurers, retailers, and others—to add a feature that facilitates online doctor visits via the app.
