Browsing Category: Startups

  • Startups Weekly: This year in startups

    Welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy startups and venture capital news. Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit. Last week, I wrote about U.S. VC activity in Europe. Before that, I noted Chinese investor activity in Africa. Remember, you can send me tips, …

    December 14, 2019 | by Raheel
  • Consumer sous vide startup Nomiku is winding down operations

    Founded in 2012, Nomiku became a plucky Silicon Valley darling by bringing affordable sous vide cooking to home kitchens. A Kickstarter project that same year generated $750,000, several times its $200,000 goal. The company scored a glowing TechCrunch profile the following year, as well, thanks in part to a great backstory. Today, however, the company …

    December 13, 2019 | by Raheel
  • The newest members of the $100M ARR club

    Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the grey space in between. Today we’re taking stock of a cohort of special companies: still-private startups that have reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Our goal is to understand which startup companies are actually exceptional. This late …

    December 13, 2019 | by Raheel
  • Chicago’s Sprout Social prices IPO mid-range at $17 per share, raising $150M

    On the heels of Bill.com’s debut, Chicago-based social media software company Sprout Social priced its IPO last night at $17 per share, in the middle of its proposed $16 to $18 per-share range. Selling 8.8 million shares, Sprout raised just under $150 million in its debut. Underwriters have the option to purchase an additional 1.3 …

    December 13, 2019 | by Raheel
  • Equity Dive: Direct Listings

    Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. We have something special this week and it’s not just because Kate’s in Berlin for TechCrunch Disrupt Europe and Alex’s in the throes of a cross-country move! No, we’ve had this episode in the works for a while, …

    December 13, 2019 | by Raheel
  • Bluespace.ai, a startup focused on AV technology for mass transit, gets $3.5 million in seed funding

    Bluespace.ai, a new autonomous driving startup focused on mass transit, announced today that it has raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Fusion Fund. Other investors include YouTube co-founder Steve Chen; UMC, the Taiwanese semiconductor foundry; Kakao Ventures; GDP Ventures; Atinum; Wasabi Ventures; Blue Ivy Ventures; Plug n Play; and SLV Capital. The startup …

    December 13, 2019 | by Raheel
  • Sleek raises $5M to help companies incorporate and operate in Singapore and Hong Kong

    Sleek, a startup that is making it easier for other startups and companies to incorporate and operate in Singapore and Hong Kong, said today it has extended its seed financing round to raise $5 million. The extended seed round for the two-year-old startup was led by private investors Pierre Lorinet and Fabio Blom, and MI8, …

    December 13, 2019 | by Raheel
  • Reliance Industries acquires a majority stake in SaaS startup NowFloats for $20M

    Reliance Industries, one of India’s largest industrial houses, has acquired a majority stake in NowFloats, an Indian startup that helps businesses and individuals build online presence without any web developing skills. In a regulatory filing on Thursday, Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited said (PDF) it has acquired an 85% stake in NowFloats for 1.4 billion Indian …

    December 13, 2019 | by Raheel
  • Why Bill.com didn’t pursue a direct listing

    Bill.com went public today after pricing its shares higher than it initially expected. The B2B payments company sold nearly 10 million shares at $22 apiece, raising around $216 million in its IPO. Public investors felt that the company’s price was a deal, sending the value of its equity to $35.51 per share as of the …

    December 12, 2019 | by Raheel
  • DataRobot is acquiring Paxata to add data prep to machine learning platform

    DataRobot, a company best known for creating automated machine learning models known as AutoML, announced today that it intends to acquire Paxata, a data prep platform startup. The companies did not reveal the purchase price. Paxata raised a total of $90 million before today’s acquisition, according to the company. Up until now, DataRobot has concentrated …

    December 12, 2019 | by Raheel