Boston Tech Roundup: Care.com, Plastiq, DraftKings

Here’s a trio of deals that popped up around the Boston area this week, ranging from a public Web company to smaller startups:

—Care.com, a publicly traded online marketplace for nannies and other caregivers, has acquired a consumer e-commerce company. Care.com says it is paying $31 million up front in cash and stock for Citrus Lane, a Mountain View, CA-based startup. Citrus Lane is one of several subscription commerce companies that send members a box of assorted goods once a month—in this case, focusing on children’s products. It claims 45,000 paying subscribers.

—Plastiq, a Boston-based consumer finance startup that wants to let users pay for more items with credit cards, has raised a $10 million Series B round and is moving to San Francisco. The company, formed out of the Harvard Innovation Lab, seeks to let consumers pay for things like tuition, rent, and taxes with credit cards in part by shifting processing fees to the payer. The idea is that this would allow consumers to accumulate loyalty points in new ways. Plastiq has been testing the service in Canada, but has not launched in the U.S.

—DraftKings, a Boston-based startup that lets fantasy sports enthusiasts make money through daily online betting competitions, has acquired competitor DraftStreet. No terms were disclosed for the deal, but DraftKings says the addition will increase its user base by more than half. DraftKings raised a $24 million Series B investment last fall. New York-based DraftStreet was backed by IAC.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.