FreeCharge is an India-based mobile phone and utilities bill payment service that has raised $80 million in funding. This round of funding was provided by several investors, including Valiant Capital Management & Tybourne Capital Management. FreeCharge lets users recharge prepaid and postpaid mobile phones online. There are over 20 million users that are on FreeCharge and its app has been downloaded 10 million times in the past year.
Battery Ventures has announced that it has acquired Enviance, a cloud-based environmental, health, and safety management software company. Battery Ventures is an investment firm that has raised over $4.7 billion to date. Battery will continue to grow Enviance by maintaining its focus to improve regulatory compliance and operational risk management. The terms of the deal were undisclosed. More details below:
PRESS RELEASE
CARLSBAD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Enviance, a leader in cloud-based environmental, health and safety (EH&S) management software, is being acquired by Battery Ventures. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Battery—a global investment firm that has raised more than $4.7 billion to date—plans to continue to grow Enviance by maintaining the company’s focus on helping customers with regulatory compliance, operational risk management and promoting efficiency, cost savings and performance improvement. Enviance counts many Fortune 500 companies as customers in industries such as oil and gas, chemicals, utilities and manufacturing; many of these companies trust Enviance to help them comply with federal and state environmental regulations such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
“We are excited about the growth opportunity at Enviance. As one of the first software-as-a-service (SaaS) EH&S solutions, the company has established a leadership position in this large and growing market,” said Dave Tabors, a Battery general partner. Tabors said Enviance can grow by continuing to leverage its solutions in the environmental segment of the market, as well as newer offerings for health and safety. Battery also hopes to complement the company’s existing technology through highly strategic acquisitions that will broaden the company’s product set.
Research firm Verdantix recently estimated that companies spent $584 million on EH&S software in 2014. The market should exceed $1 billion by 2019, according to the firm.
Leading the overall growth effort at Enviance will be David Muse, a longtime software-industry executive, who has been named the company’s new chief executive. Muse was most recently the chief operating officer of P2 Energy Solutions, a leading provider of software- and data-management tools to the oil and gas industry. At P2, he drove 13 consecutive quarters of sales growth and client expansion.
“Enviance has been a visionary in this market for years, and we will continue the company’s track record of innovation,” Muse said. “One area we’re excited about it is our new mobile applications that allow companies to capture data through smartphones and tablets. It’s just one example of the growth potential we see here, driven by a high-quality team and a healthy market.”
Muse added that, working with Battery, Enviance will maintain its strong commitment to serving existing customers through continued enhancement of the core platform, experienced implementation and services teams and dedicated customer support.
About Enviance
Enviance is a leading provider of cloud-based environmental, health and safety (EHS) software, leveraging cloud computing technology to deliver its platform online in real-time—anytime, anywhere and enterprise-wide. Enviance’s comprehensive solutions have been developed, tested and proven by serving the world’s leading corporations and government organizations for over a decade. As the world business community faces increasing sustainability challenges, Enviance enables organizations to measure, manage and report their critical EHS data. Founded in 1999, privately-held Enviance is based in Carlsbad, California. To learn how companies leverage Enviance, visit www.enviance.com
About Battery Ventures
Battery invests in cutting-edge, category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, Web infrastructure, e-commerce, digital media and industrial technologies. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at stages ranging from seed to buyout and invests globally from offices in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area and Israel. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery’s portfolio companies here.
Sight Machine has raised $5 million in funding. Sight Machine is a big data company based in San Francisco and Ann Arbor. Mercury Fund led this round of funding with participation from Michigan eLab, Huron River Ventures, Orfin Ventures, Funders Club, IA Ventures and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. Sight Machine is the leader in big data for manufacturing analytics. More details below:
PRESS RELEASE
SAN FRANCISCO, February 6, 2015 – Sight Machine Inc., the leader in Big Data for the factory floor, today announced it has raised $5 million in venture capital from a group of investors led by Mercury Fund. The financing round includes participation from new institutional investors Mercury Fund, Michigan eLab, Huron River Ventures, Orfin Ventures, and Funders Club. Existing investors IA Ventures and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures also re-invested in this round.
Sight Machine’s manufacturing analytics platform uses Big Data and cloud technologies to transform sensor and machine data into actionable insights, enabling manufacturers to tackle critical challenges in quality and operations. Sight Machine captures, processes and analyzes the torrent of data, both structured and unstructured, generated by today’s manufacturers – a volume and variety that is beyond the capabilities of legacy manufacturing software solutions such as “factory information systems” or “enterprise manufacturing intelligence” (EMI) software.
“Sight Machine is bringing innovation in Big Data to global manufacturing, the real world where things get made,” said Sight Machine CEO and co-founder Jon Sobel. “We’re fortunate to be working with investors who are experts in Big Data, Industrial Internet, and traditional industry.”
“Sight Machine is the most exciting industrial technology company we have come across,” said Adrian Fortino, partner at Mercury Fund. “With its cloud-based platform and operations in both Michigan and California, they are well-positioned to lead both the technology development and the market development for manufacturing analytics.”
Sight Machine is targeting global manufacturers with complex operations and supply chains – companies that are embracing the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) to address the challenges of advanced manufacturing. Customers include a major automotive OEM and one of the world’s largest apparel manufacturers.
Sight Machine will use the proceeds of the venture round to fund ongoing technical and market development efforts. In addition to offices in San Francisco and southeastern Michigan, Sight Machine has an office in Asia. Additional hiring is planned for all offices.
Sight Machine was founded in 2011 by Nathan Oostendorp, Anthony Oliver, Kurt DeMaagd, Jon Sobel, and Adam Taisch.
About Sight Machine
Sight Machine is the developer of the world’s leading manufacturing analytics platform. Sight Machine’s manufacturing analytics solution transforms machine and sensor data into actionable insights, enabling manufacturers to address critical challenges in quality and operations. Sight Machine provides manufacturers with real-time reporting of quality problems; retrospective analysis of product variation and failures; predictive analytics to support process improvement; and defensive recordkeeping and proof of quality for customers.
Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan has granted $75 million to the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. The grant is the largest single gift that they received since it was established in 1994. It is also believed to be the largest single private gift from individuals to a public hospital in the U.S. More details below:
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — San Francisco General Hospital Foundation (the Foundation) will receive an historic grant of $75 million from Facebook founder and CEO Mr. Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan’s donor advised fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (The General), the City’s largest safety net provider and only trauma center. This grant is the largest single gift the Foundation has received since it was established in 1994, and is believed to be the largest single private gift from individuals to a public hospital in the United States.
This grant is the vital piece necessary to complete The General’s new acute care and trauma center. This grant will fund critical state-of-the-art equipment and technology for the new building and will help convert the existing hospital building into an ambulatory care facility. The new acute care and trauma center will open in December 2015. The grant builds on the earlier investment made by San Franciscans in 2008 when voters overwhelmingly approved an $887.4 million bond to begin the process of building a new facility.
Additionally, the grant will enable the Foundation to provide ongoing support to The General and to the more than 100,000 patients it serves each year. It will also support the Foundation’s efforts to increase awareness for the key role The General plays in public health throughout the community.
“As someone who has seen firsthand the quality of emergency care at San Francisco General, I can say that I am personally grateful for this $75 million grant from Mark and Priscilla – the largest gift to our City’s hospital ever,” said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “This grant illustrates my call for 21st Century philanthropy and is a game changer for the rebuild of San Francisco General, leveraging more investment for state of the art technology to treat some of the most critically injured patients and deliver innovative high quality, compassionate patient care. San Francisco’s residents and visitors will benefit from this grant for generations because thousands of first responders and health care providers will have the 21st Century hospital they need to save lives around the clock. I know this gift will inspire others to support our General.”
“Through my training at The General, I know firsthand the vital health care and trauma services this hospital provides to anyone who lives, works or travels through San Francisco,” said Dr. Priscilla Chan. “Day in and day out, I witness the compassion and dedication of my colleagues as they work tirelessly to deliver the best available care to all of our patients. Mark and I are proud to support such an important public hospital.”
“Priscilla and I believe that everyone deserves access to high quality health care. The General serves anyone who lives, works in or visits San Francisco. We can think of no better place to focus our philanthropy in San Francisco than The General,” said Mark Zuckerberg. “The Bay Area is our home, we work here, we live here, and we want to invest in efforts that can make a difference in people’s lives here.”
“We are profoundly grateful to Mark and Priscilla for their support and investment in The General and its future. We know that private philanthropy is increasingly important for public hospitals and public health and expect Mark and Priscilla’s leadership to inspire additional private support from the San Francisco community,” said Amanda Heier, CEO of the Foundation. “We look forward to continuing to work with them to support our hospital and community for generations to come.”
“As the only trauma center in the City, The General saves lives every day, no matter who you are. The generous grant from Mark and Priscilla will help transform The General into a state-of-the-art hospital and trauma center and enable us to better serve our patients,” said Sue Currin, RN, MSN, CEO at The General. “Located in the Mission, The General also serves as a community hospital and a safety net to more than 100,000 patients annually. We provide high quality care with compassion and respect to all regardless of their ability to pay.”
“I know personally that San Francisco General Hospital saves lives every day. It’s one of our most important institutions that serves San Franciscans of every community, regardless of income. I’m enormously grateful to Mark and Priscilla for this historic contribution to our community and I look forward to shepherding acceptance of this unprecedented gift to a public hospital through the Board of Supervisors.” London Breed, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
“We are profoundly grateful to Priscilla and Mark for this investment in the City’s health care system,” said David Sanchez, San Francisco Health Commissioner and member of the SFGH Foundation board. “As a trauma center, The General provides life-saving care to everyone in need, and as a community hospital it serves generations of families in the Mission, Bayview, Chinatown, and across the city.”
The new hospital will include two additional trauma rooms and three more operating rooms. The new Emergency Department will double in size from the existing one and has the capacity to more than quadruple the number of beds in the event of a major emergency. Other enhancements for patients include 90 percent private patient rooms, 28 more intensive care beds, two additional palliative care rooms, four pediatric exam rooms and one dedicated pediatric waiting room in the Emergency Department. The General will be the only hospital in the City with a base-isolated foundation, the most advanced seismic resistant design known today. It will be a “green” building for reduced water and energy use, and is seeking LEED Gold Certification. In recognition of this transformative gift, the City has begun the process of adding their names to the hospital which will be named Priscilla and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.
The General has served the City and County of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County for 140 years, from the Gold Rush to the 1906 earthquake to the HIV/AIDS epidemic to the 2013 Asiana Airlines crash at San Francisco International Airport. As the City’s public hospital, The General is a member of the San Francisco Health Network, an integrated delivery system operated by the Department of Public Health that provides all levels of care to San Franciscans.
Today, The General remains at the forefront of health care. It became the first hospital in the country to be certified for a Traumatic Brain Injury program in 2011 and is the only Baby-Friendly certified hospital in San Francisco. The General houses nationally recognized Centers of Excellence, including those in neurotrauma, stroke and orthopaedics and it provides groundbreaking programs that improve access and quality of care to the most vulnerable populations. In partnership with University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, The General provides valuable training for future leaders in health care. With the new hospital opening in December 2015, The General’s capabilities will continue to grow, serving diverse patients with some of the City’s most complex and chronic problems.
Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) is reportedly in talks to sell a majority stake it has in South Korean mobile e-commerce company Ticket Monster Inc., according to Reuters. Groupon bought Ticket Monster for $260 million in November 2013. It is rumored that Groupon wants to sell Ticket Monster at a valuation of $1 billion. Daniel Shin, the founder and CEO of Ticket Monster, would likely continue running the company with private equity backing. The deal is expected to be done by the end of March.
Kura MD has announced that it has raised $1.5 million in Series A funding. This round of funding was provided by Moneta Ventures. Kura is known for developing telehealth solutions for physicians and urgent care providers. More details below:
PRESS RELEASE
Roseville, CA (PRWEB) February 05, 2015
Kura MD, developer of the next generation of telehealth solutions for healthcare, secured $1.5 million in series A financing from Moneta Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Folsom, CA. The company will use the funds to support the rollout of the advanced Kura MD telemedicine system, designed to provide individual physicians, physician groups, urgent care providers and workers’ compensation practitioners with an integrated, web-based telehealth solution, which can be quickly and economically implemented in any professional practice setting.
The Kura MD telemedicine platform enables convenient, secure, HIPAA compliant telehealth appointments between physicians and patients through a computer, smart phone or tablet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Kura MD represents a new standard in telehealth services incorporating electronic medical records (EMR), an interface hub, registration system, verification, billing, claims, video conferencing, and integration of peripheral equipment, practice management and an optional best-in-class health station.
In addition, Kura MD enables the doctor to bring in a specialist to consult during a telemedicine visit to provide real-time consultation. The system is specially designed to streamline all administrative work associated with doctor-patient relationships, including electronic medical record documentation, insurance verification and administrative and reimbursement documentation.
“It is our vision that Kura MD will provide the most advanced and comprehensive system available to physicians in any practice environment and provide a superior user experience for patients,” said Kevin Hamm, Kura MD Founder and CEO. “Incorporating the Kura MD platform into their practice, doctors will be able to offer a new level of timely, convenient care for their patients while providing the latest connected healthcare technology, insuring privacy and reducing administrative tasks for both the doctor and the patient.”
“While the benefits of the Kura MD telehealth services are significant to providers, we are also excited about the impact Kura MD will have on reducing healthcare costs for employers and enhancing benefits for their employees and providing patients access to quality healthcare 24/7 from virtually anywhere.”
Moneta managing partner, Lokesh Sikaria, said, “Moneta’s investment in Kura MD reflects our confidence in the company and its concept. We recognize that telemedicine is a transformative technology for the healthcare community.” He added, “Kura MD offers an advanced, integrated system that will enhance care for patients and give physicians a valuable new tool for their practices.”
Both Kura MD and Moneta Ventures are Sacramento-area based entities. Moneta’s investment in Kura MD represents the venture fund’s ongoing focus on identifying and supporting the development of the local technology community.
The funding by Moneta Ventures represents the first venture capital funding for Kura MD.
“We are focused on the greater Sacramento area,” Moneta managing partner Sikaria noted. “We think there is exceptional opportunity here.”
About Moneta Ventures
Located in Folsom, CA, Moneta Ventures invests in early stage companies in the software and cloud services, IT services, and Internet and consumer services sectors. http://www.monetaventures.com
About Kura MD
Formed in 2013 and located in Roseville, CA, Kura MD Founder and CEO Kevin Hamm, a successful serial entrepreneur and long-time healthcare insurance executive, heads a diverse management team with extensive experience in healthcare technology development, corporate management and healthcare marketing and sales.http://www.kura.md
HelloFresh is a grocery delivery service based in NYC and Berlin. HelloFresh has announced that it has raised $126 million. Investors in this round include Rocket Internet and Insight Venture Partners. More details below:
PRESS RELEASE
New York, NY – February 6, 2015 – Amid broad interest from international investors, HelloFresh’s existing shareholders, Rocket Internet and Insight Venture Partners, support the company by financing its next stage of development with a new funding round of $126 million. HelloFresh plans to invest the new funding on further enhancing the customer experience through key initiatives such as increasing flexibility for its customers and integrating along the value chain.
“HelloFresh aims to become the leading brand in the grocery and meal delivery category and already serves customers across the entire U.S,” says Seth Goldman, U.S. CEO of HelloFresh. “Over the past few months, we have grown our operations extremely fast, which means that a lot more people now enjoy a delicious, home-cooked meal more often and without the usual hassle. We are constantly opening up new ways to eat healthier and enjoy more quality time around the dinner table. That’s very motivating and inspires us to take the company to the next level.”
HelloFresh delivers weekly meal kits including curated recipes and fresh, high-quality ingredients in just the right quantities to its customer’s doors. Customers have the ability to select how many people they want to cook for and which recipes they would like to receive.
The company was founded in November 2011 and is currently active in seven markets. Current investors include Insight Venture Partners, Phenomen Ventures, Rocket Internet, and Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures.
For more information about the HelloFresh, please visit the website: http://www.hellofresh.com/
About HelloFresh:
Founded in November 2011, HelloFresh is headquartered in Berlin and New York City with further offices in London, Amsterdam and Sydney. Currently, the company operates in Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia and in the United States and employs 120 people. Investors include Insight Venture Partners, Investment AB Kinnevik, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures, Phenomen Ventures and Rocket Internet.
Rocket Internet AG has announced that it has paid 496 million euros to buy 30% ownership in Delivery Hero. Delivery Hero is a food takeaway service that competes against Foodpanda. The transaction includes primary and secondary shares of Delivery Hero.
