Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2be391ba-1c2c-49ef-bfaf-f972663cb15e Date 7/21/2015 Company Name Luna Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94107 USA Company Description Luna’s dual zone technology provides the option for you and your partner to select different temperatures for each side of the bed. Website http://www.lunasleep.com Transaction Type Accelerator Transaction Amount $120,000 Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds … Continue reading “Luna Obtains $120,000 Seed Funding Round”
Tag: Y Combinator
Sharing Economy Companies Sharing the Heat In Contractor Controversy
[Corrected 7/31/15, 2:34 pm. See below.] For some time, Uber and other Silicon Valley tech companies have been fighting off lawsuits and other claims that their labor practices are unfair to on-demand workers they classify as independent contractors rather than as employees. The heat mounted this week on a number of fronts. The issue took … Continue reading “Sharing Economy Companies Sharing the Heat In Contractor Controversy”
Tech Hiring Matchmaker HackerRank Draws $7.5M From Global HR Firm
HackerRank, which hosts online competitions that help programmers flaunt their skills to potential employers like Amazon and Quora, said today it has landed a $7.5 million investment from the funding arm of Japan-based human resources giant Recruit. The new alliance with Recruit will help Palo Alto, CA-based HackerRank scale up its business in the Asia … Continue reading “Tech Hiring Matchmaker HackerRank Draws $7.5M From Global HR Firm”
Panorama Expands School Surveys, Brings Insights to Education
Good data is hard to find. Whether you’re applying it to business intelligence or security, across industries like retail, travel, or healthcare, the quality of information used to make decisions is crucial. To solve this expanding problem, a number of technology companies have emerged around cleaning and organizing data, making it more shareable, and understanding … Continue reading “Panorama Expands School Surveys, Brings Insights to Education”
A Small Biz COO App: Five Questions for Shopventory’s Rares Saftoiu
Rares Saftoiu and Bach Le were working on the TurboTax engineering team at Intuit in San Diego when they decided to quit in 2013 to work full-time on Shopventory, a software startup they founded to serve small business owners. It was their second attempt at a startup while they were still working full-time at Intuit. … Continue reading “A Small Biz COO App: Five Questions for Shopventory’s Rares Saftoiu”
Ignition Partners Plans to Stay the Course with $200M Sixth Fund
The headline on venture capital firm Ignition Partners‘ pitch deck to investors in its new $200 million fund was “No Change.” Ignition, based in based in Bellevue, WA, and Palo Alto, CA, has good reason to stay the course. In announcing Ignition Venture Partners VI, the firm touted 25 significant exits in the last three years, … Continue reading “Ignition Partners Plans to Stay the Course with $200M Sixth Fund”
West Coast Biotech Roundup: Amgen/deCODE, Calico, Orexigen & More
For sheer volume, San Diego carries the week’s West Coast biotech news, with everything from trial failures (Lpath, MEI Pharma) to stock sales and deals (Retrophin, Vical, Mast) to good product news (Orexigen, Conatus). For scientific impact, however, Amgen tips the scales with the big publication of Icelandic genomic data from its subsidiary DeCode Genetics. … Continue reading “West Coast Biotech Roundup: Amgen/deCODE, Calico, Orexigen & More”
Ginkgo Bioworks Grabs $9M Series A For Building Organisms
Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology company that designs and builds organisms, has received $9 million in Series A funding and is opening an 18,000-square foot “foundry” to make its organism engineering scalable, the company said Wednesday. The company engineers microbes for customers to produce anything from probiotics to cultured ingredients, such as flavors, fragrances, cosmetics, … Continue reading “Ginkgo Bioworks Grabs $9M Series A For Building Organisms”
As California Drought Lingers, Tule’s Sensors Guide Crop Irrigation
Californians have been using their garden hoses sparingly to help conserve water during one of the state’s driest years in history. But what if you’re a farmer with acres of crops that need irrigation to grow, and you learn that the state may curtail water supplies for agriculture? Tom Shapland has been thinking about the … Continue reading “As California Drought Lingers, Tule’s Sensors Guide Crop Irrigation”
TrueVault: Helping Digital Health Apps Grapple With HIPAA
Look on Apple’s app store, and you’ll find endless columns of exercise counters, baby trackers, cardio monitors, personal medication diaries…and many, many butt workout regimens. Consumers use these digital health apps to stay fit, but there are pitfalls both for their users and their developers, says Jason Wang, CEO of San Francisco-based TrueVault. For one … Continue reading “TrueVault: Helping Digital Health Apps Grapple With HIPAA”
Petco Adds Online Delivery With Fast-Growing Startup Instacart
[Corrected 1/26] Dogs need groceries, too. Instacart, the grocery-delivery startup that recently raised $220 million from investors, is taking its quick-turnaround online delivery service beyond the supermarket for the first time in a partnership with national pet-goods retailer Petco. The partnership is hitting the Boston and San Francisco markets first, and could be expanded if Petco likes … Continue reading “Petco Adds Online Delivery With Fast-Growing Startup Instacart”
With New State Rules, WeFunder to Offer Equity Crowdfunding in MA
Massachusetts has joined the growing list of states that are opening up private company investing to people who aren’t already rich, and one online investing startup is already planning to take advantage. Under new state rules issued this week, private Massachusetts companies can begin selling stock to just anybody who wants to purchase it—provided they’re … Continue reading “With New State Rules, WeFunder to Offer Equity Crowdfunding in MA”
2014: The Bay Area Innovator’s Year In Review
[Updated 1/1/15, 1:37 pm. See below.] When you’re looking back on a year that’s winding up, it’s tempting to try to name the one new product that’s going to change the world. Our stories from the San Francisco Bay region have certainly turned up some candidates—from the Apple Watch to a potential new method of … Continue reading “2014: The Bay Area Innovator’s Year In Review”
Ann Arbor’s FarmLogs Closes $10M Series B, Plans New Premium Features
The Ann Arbor, MI-based ag tech startup FarmLogs announced today that it has raised a $10 million Series B round of funding. The round included repeat investors Huron River Ventures, Hyde Park Ventures, and Drive Capital, as well as new investment from Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, and SV Angel. “It’s very exciting,” Vollmar … Continue reading “Ann Arbor’s FarmLogs Closes $10M Series B, Plans New Premium Features”
Austin’s Cratejoy Helps Local E-tailers Manage Subscriptions
Eileen Griffith realized that she and her husband were in a rut—and so were her friends. “Everyone was having the same conversation: What do you want to do?” she recalls. “Everyone was so busy to plan something so it always ends up with take out and Netflix.” Seeking alternative social excursions, Griffith in September of … Continue reading “Austin’s Cratejoy Helps Local E-tailers Manage Subscriptions”
As VCs Move Upstream, Madrona Venture Labs Builds Its Own Startups
In recent years, venture capitalists have been investing earlier in promising entrepreneurs and startups, nurturing their ideas in incubators, and creating programs to select the best teams and accelerate their growth. Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group is going one step further with an effort to directly form and develop high-potential software startups—based on the ideas of … Continue reading “As VCs Move Upstream, Madrona Venture Labs Builds Its Own Startups”
Seattle Roundup: AWS to Clean Cloud, Pitch Winners, Techstars, & More
Amazon isn’t providing a lot of details—surprise, surprise—on its commitment to power its data centers with 100 percent renewable energy. Meanwhile, Northwest startups working on energy storage and water management won the Seattle Angel Conference and the Washington Technology Industry Association’s (WTIA) First Look Forum, respectively. Also, DocuSign named new investors; Placed released the top … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: AWS to Clean Cloud, Pitch Winners, Techstars, & More”
AppDirect Buys Y Combinator Grad Leftronic for Data Dashboards
AppDirect, whose technology helps run online marketplaces where companies such as Staples and Samsung sell Web-based services, said today it has acquired San Francisco-based data visualization company Leftronic. No price was disclosed for the purchase of Leftronic, which provides data dashboards on which businesses can monitor their progress. A 2010 graduate of Y Combinator’s venture … Continue reading “AppDirect Buys Y Combinator Grad Leftronic for Data Dashboards”
Inside Dublin’s Tech Startup Incubators: Dogpatch, Wayra, NDRC
Visit any major city in the world that claims to have a healthy tech startup community, and chances are it’s got at least one accelerator program or incubator space. The accelerator model that Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator made famous—providing seed money and mentorship to a new group of early-stage companies every few months, in exchange … Continue reading “Inside Dublin’s Tech Startup Incubators: Dogpatch, Wayra, NDRC”
Texas Roundup: Mozido, BeatBox, Spinlister, J-Labs, Macheen, Cratejoy
Golden days and cooler evenings have returned to Texas and homes are dressed in their Halloween finery. But there’s no spooky vibe among Texas’s entrepreneurs. Here is the latest innovation news throughout the state. —Mozido, an Austin, TX-based developer of cloud-based mobile payment systems and marketing software, said it has secured a two-part round of … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: Mozido, BeatBox, Spinlister, J-Labs, Macheen, Cratejoy”
Gener8tor Continues Momentum With Fifth Class of Startups
Alumni of Gener8tor’s startup accelerator have been on a roll lately, and last night the program officially released its newest class into the wild with a closing event featuring pitches from the five graduating companies. Now it’s up to the latest batch of Gener8tor startups to make good on their plans, which were shared with … Continue reading “Gener8tor Continues Momentum With Fifth Class of Startups”
Y Combinator, Move Over For IndieBio: A Second Biotech Accelerator
Y Combinator, which set off a whirlwind of skeptical commentary when it opened its highly ranked tech accelerator program to biotechnology startups last spring, now has some company. SOS Ventures, the international VC firm that already holds accelerator programs for software and hardware company founders, is launching a separate accelerator called IndieBio in San Francisco … Continue reading “Y Combinator, Move Over For IndieBio: A Second Biotech Accelerator”
Y Combinator Alum Lob Raises $7M to Expand APIs for Print Marketing
A lot of the fun in our current Internet era comes from the ability to manipulate the “real” world with digital tools—arranging a ride, ordering some food, or changing the temperature in your house when nobody’s home. Lob, a San Francisco-based startup, is hoping to add an international network of print shops to that list. … Continue reading “Y Combinator Alum Lob Raises $7M to Expand APIs for Print Marketing”
Techstars to Offer “Equity Back Guarantee” to Skeptical Startups
Techstars is making a new pitch to entrepreneurs—satisfaction guaranteed, or your equity back. The startup accelerator, based in Boulder, CO, invests $18,000 in its startups in exchange for 6 percent of their equity. Techstars also offers each startup a $100,000 convertible note, which can increase its share of the company to 10 percent. But beginning … Continue reading “Techstars to Offer “Equity Back Guarantee” to Skeptical Startups”
StartX, QB3 Join Forces To Open A Palo Alto Bio Lab
The Palo Alto, CA-based nonprofit tech accelerator StartX has already grown a biomedical arm, called StartX Med. Now it’s adding laboratory space to its new headquarters in a joint effort with Bay Area incubator network and seed funder QB3. The new wet lab, dubbed StartX-QB3 Labs, is officially open this week and adds to the … Continue reading “StartX, QB3 Join Forces To Open A Palo Alto Bio Lab”
VictorySpark, Revolution Labs in Holding Pattern, Seek Funding
As the leaders of Milwaukee’s Global Entrepreneurship Collective get ready to wrap up their summer accelerator for military veteran entrepreneurs this week, the program is entering a bit of a holding pattern. The Global Entrepreneurship Collective (GEC), run by entrepreneurs Greg Meier and Nick Wichert, operates two accelerators for early-stage startups: VictorySpark (formerly known as … Continue reading “VictorySpark, Revolution Labs in Holding Pattern, Seek Funding”
From Autism to Diabetes to HIPAA, Rock Health Seeds 8 More Startups
In a year of booming digital health investment, incubator and investor Rock Health has padded its portfolio with eight more startups, two of which are still in stealth. The San Francisco firm, which since its launch in 2011 has become a major catalyst in the digital health space, has provided seed funding or grants to … Continue reading “From Autism to Diabetes to HIPAA, Rock Health Seeds 8 More Startups”
Glowing Plants To Nanodiamonds: Y Combinator’s Biotechs Debut
Silicon Valley’s hottest tech accelerator, Y Combinator, is about to show off its first class of biotech startups. The five companies, some of which have already raised significant funding, or controversy—or both—will come under the scrutiny of hundreds of venture capital investors on Tuesday, Aug 19, as the Mountain View, CA-based accelerator holds its Demo … Continue reading “Glowing Plants To Nanodiamonds: Y Combinator’s Biotechs Debut”
Seattle Roundup: Indow Windows, Helion, Startup Next, & More
This week’s roundup features high-tech window inserts at Alcatraz, funding for a fusion energy startup, and investment advice based on making a bunch of white guys uncomfortable. Also, expansion at Applause, contraction at RealNetworks, and new partnerships for Startup Next and Glympse: —Indow Windows, a Portland, OR, company backed by investors including Seattle-based cleantech angel group … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Indow Windows, Helion, Startup Next, & More”
VenueBook Grabs $2M, Wants To Be the OpenTable for Booking Events
Reserving a spot for dinner is easy these days, thanks to apps and websites, but booking the right spot to host an event can still take a fair amount of legwork. VenueBook, a New York-based startup, believes it can change that, particularly at so-called middle-tier locations, says Kelsey Recht, CEO and founder. Her cloud-based software … Continue reading “VenueBook Grabs $2M, Wants To Be the OpenTable for Booking Events”
Boston Vs. San Francisco: Two Cultures of Innovation
Let’s say you’re an ambitious, creative professional or entrepreneur working in the United States. You’re interested in technology, you have the luxury of mobility, and you want to be close to the center of things. Which city should you choose as your home? If you’re attracted to a specific sub-field, the answer may be obvious. … Continue reading “Boston Vs. San Francisco: Two Cultures of Innovation”
The Xconomy SF Six: Big Name Investors, Funding for Clarizen, and More
Here are the top six things we’re paying attention to in the San Francisco tech scene this week. —iRhythm Technologies, maker of technology to improve the diagnosis of heart arrhythmia, announced a $17 million Series E round led by life science investment firm Novo A/S. The company plans to use the funds in part to … Continue reading “The Xconomy SF Six: Big Name Investors, Funding for Clarizen, and More”
Clever Breaking Sign-on Barriers to Make Edtech Easier for Teachers
One of the chief imports of Northern California is former Harvard undergraduates and MBAs who flock to the Silicon Valley to change the world. The arrival of Facebook’s founders set the storyline for other alumni teams, including the three Harvard friends who reunited to form Clever, a fast-growing San Francisco educational technology startup with a … Continue reading “Clever Breaking Sign-on Barriers to Make Edtech Easier for Teachers”
The Experiment Begins: Y Combinator Admits First Biotech Startups
Mark your calendars: the high-profile tech incubator Y Combinator holds its Demo Day in August. Even though its alumni include runaway tech successes AirBnB and Dropbox, much of the scrutiny will land on the handful of biotechnology companies that, for the first time, Y Combinator is admitting to its program for the upcoming summer session. … Continue reading “The Experiment Begins: Y Combinator Admits First Biotech Startups”
Gener8tor Demos Latest Startups, Growth of Local Scene
Thursday night’s closing event for gener8tor’s winter startup accelerator program in Madison, WI, was an indication of the progress made since January by its five new graduates. It was also a microcosm of how Wisconsin’s overall startup community has grown in the past two years. More than 400 people packed Madison’s Barrymore Theatre to listen … Continue reading “Gener8tor Demos Latest Startups, Growth of Local Scene”
Dairyland Innovation: Xconomy Wisconsin’s Top Stories Since December Launch
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been just over three months since Xconomy launched in Wisconsin. Although it still doesn’t quite feel like spring in the Midwest, in the spirit of the (technically) new season, I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at the important stories Xconomy Wisconsin has … Continue reading “Dairyland Innovation: Xconomy Wisconsin’s Top Stories Since December Launch”
Think Like a Founder Before Becoming One
February 2014 will go down in history as a month with two huge startup exits: Nest (acquired by Google for a whopping $3.2 billion) and WhatsApp (acquired by Facebook for an even more whopping $19 billion). If you haven’t caught the startup bug, there’s a good chance you will have caught it after this. What’s … Continue reading “Think Like a Founder Before Becoming One”
Wisconsin Startups Join War of Apartment-Hunting Websites
When CoStar Group acquired Apartments.com for $585 million in early March, it was quite the endorsement for the 17-year-old website. But the company hardly has the field to itself. In addition to the listings on venerable Craigslist, a dizzying array of apartment-hunting websites already exists, from HotPads and StreetEasy (both acquired by Zillow, for $16 … Continue reading “Wisconsin Startups Join War of Apartment-Hunting Websites”
SmartAsset Gets $5.2M to Deliver Answers to Financial Questions
With a $5.2 million Series A round in its pocket, SmartAsset in New York said Tuesday it plans to add new features to its software that answers personal finance questions. Founded in 2011, SmartAsset is a graduate of the summer 2012 Y Combinator class and is also backed by North Bridge Venture Partners. The latest funding … Continue reading “SmartAsset Gets $5.2M to Deliver Answers to Financial Questions”
Y Combinator’s Winter 2014 Class: Be Impressed, Don’t Say “Invest”
At yesterday’s Y Combinator Demo Day, startups gave their final pitches to an audience of several hundred flamingos. There were lots of venture flamingos, as always, and quite a few angel flamingos. In fact, the whole day was designed to give the entrepreneurs finishing their 12-week term at Y Combinator a chance to meet flamingos … Continue reading “Y Combinator’s Winter 2014 Class: Be Impressed, Don’t Say “Invest””
Webflow Secures $1,500,000 Seed Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f6e8a381-2eb1-4389-8707-a37eaa344ad7 Date 3/12/2014 Company Name Webflow Mailing Address 725 N Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description Webflow automatically generates beautiful code for you as you design. You don’t have to write code yourself or hire a developer to do it for you. Website http://www.webflow.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Webflow Secures $1,500,000 Seed Funding”
Homejoy Makes Getting Your House Cleaned Easy—and Cheap
The idea for HomeJoy started with a dirty apartment. Back in the summer of 2012, CEO Adora Cheung and her brother and cofounder Aaron were both engineers, working on ideas for tech companies out of Aaron’s Palo Alto apartment. After three years in the messy space, Aaron decided to find someone else to clean it, … Continue reading “Homejoy Makes Getting Your House Cleaned Easy—and Cheap”
Madison Software Startup Drifty Raises $1M
[Updated 3/10/14, 12:48 pm, after speaking with Drifty officials.] Drifty, the Madison, WI-based startup that builds online platforms for people to create websites and mobile applications, has raised $1 million in a private securities offering, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Arthur Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices … Continue reading “Madison Software Startup Drifty Raises $1M”
CodeNow Receives New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=238c6035-e4b3-4777-9a69-7db84e129ce8 Date 2/28/2014 Company Name CodeNow Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description CodeNow is a non-profit focused on teaching underrepresented high school students to code. Our program is essential because it lowers the barriers normally associated with technology by giving students exposure to programming at an early age when … Continue reading “CodeNow Receives New Financing”
100health Aims to Incubate Health IT Startups, Put Madison on Map
The ambitious talk of turning Madison, WI, into the nation’s premier hub for healthcare and healthtech startups has grown louder in recent weeks. Now add 100health to the conversation. The new company, housed in downtown Madison co-working space 100state, is part think tank and part startup incubator. 100health will work with healthcare providers, insurers, and … Continue reading “100health Aims to Incubate Health IT Startups, Put Madison on Map”
SoundFocus Lands $1,700,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a3fef379-4b56-496b-8214-f6f9fa352418 Date 2/20/2014 Company Name SoundFocus Mailing Address 100 N. Whisman Road Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description SoundFocus was founded with the goal of building revolutionary audio processing technologies to empower millions of people to hear better in their everyday lives. Website http://www.soundfocus.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,700,000 Transaction … Continue reading “SoundFocus Lands $1,700,000 New Funding”
Celery Garners $2,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=02ca2b60-a371-417b-895e-f591be3f5301 Date 2/6/2014 Company Name Celery Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Celery is the easiest way to accept credit cards now and charge when you’re ready. Website http://www.trycelery.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Plans to use the cash to continue investing … Continue reading “Celery Garners $2,000,000 New Financing Round”
Apportable Receives $5,000,000 Seed Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1a832c6c-bc10-433f-8541-f873f9dc5805 Date 2/5/2014 Company Name Apportable Mailing Address 653 Bryant St. San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description The Apportable platform converts iOS games to Android automatically, without extensive changes to the original Objective-C or C++ code. Website http://www.apportable.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes … Continue reading “Apportable Receives $5,000,000 Seed Funding”
Apptimize Receives $2,100,000 Seed Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=87b0d89c-300c-407d-81ad-0b977fb28977 Date 1/23/2014 Company Name Apptimize Mailing Address 1959 Landings Dr. Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description Apptimize is a powerful technology that allows you to push new ideas to a fraction of your users and quickly identify the optimal user experience. Our easy to use, native solution gives you the safety … Continue reading “Apptimize Receives $2,100,000 Seed Financing Round”
The Top Stories of 2013 at Xconomy San Francisco and Xperience
As the clock ticks down on 2013, I thought it might be fun to look back at the most popular stories of the year in the two sections I edit: Xconomy San Francisco and Xperience, our new consumer section. The links below are ranked by page views. Many of these stories, you’ll notice, are slide … Continue reading “The Top Stories of 2013 at Xconomy San Francisco and Xperience”