[Updated 3/20/17, 5:45 p.m. See below.] If you’re sick of staring at the sea of red in your March Madness bracket, take a break with the latest headlines in Boston-area tech. This week, we’ve got a lot of funding news—including an update on the recent mega-round from DraftKings—plus a few other notable tidbits. Read on for details.
Funding Rounds
—DraftKings’ recent equity funding round officially clocked in at $118.65 million, according to a new SEC filing. A Bloomberg report had pegged it at more than $100 million, citing anonymous sources.
And while we’re talking DraftKings, it’s worth noting that the online fantasy sports company’s $153 million funding round announced in September was actually all debt financing, not equity, an SEC filing shows.
—Boston-based 908 Devices raised $20 million in a “growth equity” funding round from Tao Capital Partners, Cormorant Asset Management, and other investors. The company makes devices for analyzing chemicals and biomolecules in industries such as life sciences, oil and gas, and safety and security.
—Somerville, MA-based RightHand Robotics raised $7.8 million from investors in a round that could reach $8 million, according to an SEC filing. The Harvard University spinout previously raised about $3.3 million. [This paragraph added.]
—Nantero has snagged another $7.4 million from investors as part of a round first announced in December, SEC filings show. That brings the round’s total to $29.4 million, although it could still grow to an estimated $35 million, according to the documents. Woburn, MA-based Nantero has developed computer memory technology using carbon nanotubes.
—TimeTrade, a Tewksbury, MA-based provider of appointment scheduling software and other tools, said it raised $6.3 million in a Series E funding round led by Origami Capital Partners.
—Tinyhood raised nearly $2 million from investors, according to an SEC filing. The Boston startup launched this year with an app that connects parents with experts on topics like pediatric nutrition and potty training.
—Polis, which makes software that helps political campaigns and other organizations manage door-to-door outreach, has raised a $1.3 million seed round led by Jennus Innovation, BostInno reported. The company, an alum of the Techstars Boston and MassChallenge accelerators, has also reportedly started selling to businesses that make door-to-door sales pitches, such as companies in solar power, insurance, and home security. [This paragraph added.]
—Boston-based Databox, which makes software that helps businesses more easily track data from Salesforce, Facebook, Google Analytics, and more, has raised approximately $1 million in debt funding, an SEC filing shows. The company went through the Techstars Boston accelerator program in 2012.
Everything Else
—OK, time for a breather from funding news. WordStream chief technology officer Larry Kim is leaving the company he started a decade ago, to do a new startup called MobileMonkey, BostInno reported. Kim isn’t sharing many details yet, but he told BostInno it’s a mobile marketing play involving chatbots.
Read more about WordStream in these Xconomy profiles from 2009 and 2011.
—Sqrrl, a Cambridge, MA-based cybersecurity firm, aims to double its staff to about 100 employees worldwide this year and raise another round of funding, the Boston Business Journal reported. Sqrrl’s last funding round was $7 million, closed in 2015.
—MIT Technology Review has more details on how Kendall Research Systems fits into the plans of Los Angeles-based Kernel, which acquired the neuroscience startup in February.
