SkyGiraffe raises $3 million in Series A

SkyGiraffe is a leader in enterprise mobility that has announced it has raised $3 million in Series A funding led by Trilogy Equity Partners with participation from existing investor 500 Startups. The funding will be used to invest in sales and marketing along with U.S. operation expansions. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

MENLO PARK, California, February 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ –SkyGiraffe, the leader in enterprise mobility, today announced the closing of $3 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Trilogy Equity Partners with participation from existing investor 500 Startups. The new funding will enable SkyGiraffe to invest in sales and marketing, expand its US operations and accelerate its product roadmap.

IDC predicts that “IT organizations will dedicate at least 25% of their software budget to enterprise mobile application development, deployment and management by 2017? and that “45% of mobile enterprise app initiatives to be delayed or go over budget in 2015.”

SkyGiraffe solves the two most critical challenges of enterprise mobility – speed and scale. SkyGiraffe enables immediate deployment of unlimited enterprise-grade read and write mobile applications, for virtually any business function to any device. The full-stack solution securely integrates with a company’s back-end systems, and presents a unique technological innovation that completely disrupts the traditional path to enterprise mobility.

“Enterprise employees have benefited from the tremendous boost in their personal productivity ushered by smart phone and web services. When it comes to the work side, most employees have access only to corporate email on their mobile device – whereas they need access to many other internal applications. SkyGiraffe enables enterprises to deploy unlimited mobile apps in hours rather than months,” said Yuval Neeman of Trilogy Equity Partners.

Parker Thompson, Partner at 500 Startups said, “Building a mobile app typically takes 6-12 months. SkyGiraffe brings enterprise mobility the 10x solution everyone is looking for. We invested in SkyGiraffe because their technology solves the real problem of enterprise mobility – linking mobile to underlying systems. Everything else gives marginal added value – whereas SkyGiraffe is a paradigm shift.”

“Mobility is a critical success factor for today’s enterprises. 60% have built 3 or less custom apps. CIOs need to find a solution that delivers scale and speed without sacrificing security,” said Boaz Hecht, Co-Founder and CEO of SkyGiraffe. “Closing our Series A allows us to grow and meet the increasing demand we are experiencing.”

About SkyGiraffe

SkyGiraffe is the pioneer and leader in a new and exploding category: code-free custom mobile apps. Through an enterprise grade, full-stack platform, the company empowers businesses to immediately create fully custom and secure mobile business apps.

The company was recognized as a “disruptive start-up in enterprise cloud computing,” by The Washington Post, and named Most Innovative Mobility Solution at the Enterprise Mobility Forum.

SkyGiraffe has raised a total of $4.5m from Trilogy Equity Partners, Microsoft Ventures, 500 Startups and enterprise software veterans.

The company is based in Menlo Park, CA with R&D in Israel.

http://www.skygiraffe.com/

About Trilogy Equity Partners

Established by a team of wireless and technology entrepreneurs, Trilogy Partnership invests private capital in areas where in-house expertise and market growth promise superior financial returns.

Current businesses include investments in multiple early stage application and infrastructure companies as well as operating wireless carriers in several countries. Trilogy seeks high growth opportunities in both developed and emerging countries.

Konekt raises $1.3 million

Based in Chicago, Konekt is a company that offers a unique toolkit to make it easy and affordable for anyone to build connected devices that work everywhere. The investors that participated in this round include NextView Ventures, Mucker Capital, and Tyler Willis Syndicate. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

Chicago, IL – February 19, 2015 – Konekt, developers of an innovative new toolkit for IoT device management and network connectivity, today announced it has raised a $1.3M round of funding from multiple investors. Konekt represents a key step in connecting the forecasted billions of things to the Internet by simplifying the process of building connected products that work outside the home. Primary investors include: NextView Ventures; Mucker Capital; Tyler Willis Syndicate including Maiden Lane; Chris Muhr, SVP, EMEA and Founder, Groupon; and, Rajen Ruparell, Co-Founder, Groupon International + Non Executive Advisor, Groupon.

Konekt solves many of the range and signal fidelity problems posed by WiFi and Bluetooth by making it simple to connect devices to the Internet using cellular connectivity. Konekt offers transparent pricing, robust APIs for device management, and a cloud platform for device communication, making it incredibly easy for anyone to build connected devices that use cellular connectivity.

“Konekt is the missing link in the Machine-to-Machine and Internet of Things market,” said Konekt Co-Founders Ben Forgan, CEO, and Pat Wilbur, Ph.D., CTO. “Previously, it has been expensive and inconvenient to connect devices to the Internet via cellular connectivity. With Konekt, makers, OEMs and systems integrators of all sizes and levels of sophistication can now build devices that easily and securely connect to the Internet with cellular connectivity. We are making enterprise grade tools, technologies, and connectivity options available at the consumer level. The consumerization of enterprise technology is a tried and true model that has been applied successfully in other areas; we believe that there is a major opportunity for an M2M platform that simplifies the process and puts makers and developers first.”

The Konekt Toolkit is comprised of three tightly integrated pieces, including:

· The Konekt Global SIM card that provides worldwide internet access;

· The Konekt Cloud which routes and stores all data on the Konekt network; and,

· The Konekt Management Portal, which allows for easy management (i.e., billing, activation, etc.) of all devices.

“We see the potential for Konekt to build a very large business as the platform of choice for developers of cellular connected hardware,” said Lee Hower of NextView Ventures. “It’s a picks and shovels business poised for scale as the IoT and connected device market only continues to grow.”

For more information, visit www.konekt.io.

About Konekt

Headquartered in Chicago, Konekt offers a unique toolset that makes it easy and affordable for anyone to build connected devices that work everywhere. Founded in 2013, Konekt provides global Internet connectivity with a single piece of hardware, allowing makers, OEMs and systems integrators of all sizes and levels of sophistication to build devices that easily and securely connect to the Internet with cellular connectivity. For more information, visit www.konekt.io.

Postmates raises $16 million in Series B funding

Postmates is an on-demand delivery service that has raised $16 million in Series B funding. Spark Capital led this round of funding. The funding will be used for supporting its growth and to expand geographically. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO ­­ February 18, 2014 Postmates, the leading on­demand delivery service, announced today that it has raised an additional $16 million in capital for its Series B financing round to support its dramatic growth and expand geographically. The latest round was led by Spark Capital with follow­on from existing investors. Nabeel Hyatt, Venture Partner at Spark Capital, will join founders Bastian Lehmann and Sean Plaice on the company’s Board of Directors along with Scott Banister.

“We’re currently averaging thousands of deliveries per week. Customers who order more than 10 times permonth contribute to more than 30% of order volume? customers who order more than 5 times per month contribute to more than 50% of order volume,” said Bastian Lehmann, CEO and co­founder of Postmates. “More importantly, is how quickly our supply is growing. We have nearly 2,000 active Postmates couriers on the platform in our four markets.”

Since closing its Series A funding in December of 2012, Postmates has developed its own proprietary logistics software that successfully dispatches and guides couriers through major metropolitan areas to deliver local goods including prepared food, groceries and retail goods. The company has forged partnerships and promotional campaigns with merchants in San Francisco, D.C., Seattle and New York, including Whole Foods, Momofuku Milk Bar, Hapa Ramen and The Meatball Shop, among others.

“We are experiencing remarkable growth and strong national demand for our mobile platform,” said Lehmann. “This new round of financing and group of investors ­ with their proven success in identifying potentially successful consumer products such as Twitter, Foursquare and Tumblr ­ will guide us through this critical growth stage. With Spark’s support, we’ll continue to push the boundaries of e­commerce and logistics within local markets.”

This investment will enable Postmates to strengthen its position as the industry leader in same­day delivery.

The company plans to improve its understanding of local inventory and aggressively invest in their operations, design and engineering teams to meet increasing domestic and international demand for the product.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Postmates. They have a magical product and have proven this past year they know how to handle incredible growth while keeping quality high,” said Nabeel Hyatt, Venture Partner at Spark Capital. “Bastian and his team have created a service that not only puts your city in the palm of your hand, but it also does that while helping support the local businesses that make a city what it is.”

Postmates previously closed a $5 million Series A round from FoundersFund and received a $1.75 million seed round with SoftTechVC, Matrix Partners, Scott Banister, Naval Ravikant, Russel Simmons, Thomas Korte, Shervin Pishevar, Dave Morin, and David Sacks participating amongst others. The Series B brings Postmates’ total funding to just over $22 million.About Postmates:

Postmates is transforming the way local goods move around a city by enabling anyone to get any product delivered in under one hour. Postmates’ revolutionary urban logistics & on­demand delivery platform connects customers with local couriers, who purchase and deliver goods from any restaurant or store in a city. Postmates’ mission is to become the on­demand delivery infrastructure for every major city in the world. Postmates was co­founded by Sam Street, Sean Plaice and Bastian Lehmann in 2011, and is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in London, Seattle and New York.

Postmates is free to download from the app store or by visiting: www.postmates.com

About Spark Capital

Spark Capital is a venture capital firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs seeking to build disruptive, world­changing companies. Founded in 2005, the firm manages approximately $1,500,000,000 across four funds. Headquartered in Boston, Spark maintains an office in New York and invests across the globe. Spark Capital focuses on Internet and mobile investments across the following key categories: advertising & monetization, commerce & services, content & media, financial services, hardware & infrastructure, mobile and social.

For more information, visit www.sparkcapital.com

Q4 Web Systems raises $5 million

Based in Toronto, Q4 Web Systems has announced that it has raised $5 million in a round led by Plaza Ventures. Other investors that participated in this round include Atlas Venture and Silicon Valley Bank. Q4 Web Systems is a leading provider of SaaS based investor relations solutions.

PRESS RELEASE

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) February 24, 2015

Q4 Web Systems (Q4), the leading provider of SaaS-based investor relations solutions for public companies, announced that it has secured $5 million in new financing led by Plaza Ventures, supported by Atlas Venture and financing from Silicon Valley Bank. Q4 will use these funds towards expanding product, engineering and sales teams.

Q4 is a SaaS-based financial content and data analytics platform for delivering investor websites, mobile applications and intelligence to CFOs and the investor relations departments of public companies. With triple digit growth fueled by customers including almost 20% of the S&P 500, Q4 is redefining how public companies interact with capital markets.

Plaza Ventures invests in high-growth technology companies that look for value-added capital, and this will positively impact Q4 as the company quickly progresses and places itself at the forefront of competition. “We are excited about the tremendous momentum Q4 is demonstrating and believe that, with this investment, we can help Q4’s strong management team to accelerate the company’s growth” said Matthew Leibowitz, Partner, Plaza Ventures and new board member of Q4.

Silicon Valley Bank provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. “We are pleased to work with Q4, and other innovative companies around the world,” said Tony Barkett, director of Silicon Valley Bank in Boston. “Our objective is to help the Q4 team move its business forward quickly with the right financing, connections and global services it needs as the company grows.”

“Our fantastic team of innovative and creative talent are the key to our ability to design and launch a series of successful web and mobile products, allowing us to expand our platform to also provide webcasting and market intelligence solutions” said Darrell Heaps Q4 founder and CEO. “It’s an exciting time for Q4 and this funding will help us scale our product design and engineering teams and continue to build a great company for the long-term.”

Q4 added 46 new hires in North America over the past year and has recently doubled its office space to an 8,000 square foot, brick and beam open-concept layout designed to foster collaboration and teamwork. Headquartered in Toronto’s trendy Liberty Village the office is easily accessible by highway and public transportation. With flexible hours, a flat structure, Friday socials, access to free Yoga and the free use of the Fitness Centre, Q4 is attracting new talent to meet the expanding number of its clients and to continue building new solutions.

About Q4 Web Systems

Q4 Web Systems is the leading provider of SaaS-based investor relations’ solutions for North American public companies. Focused on the best customer experience in industry, hundreds of Fortune 1000 brands including Nike, Salesforce, FedEx and McDonald’s use Q4 delivered websites, mobile applications and market intelligence solutions to redefine how they interact with capital markets. Website: http://q4websystems.com/

About Plaza Ventures

Plaza Ventures’ unique Investment Partner Program blends corporate, institutional and angel capital to fund high-growth Canadian companies and provide mentorship, connections and assistance in achieving liquidity outcomes. Plaza has invested as LP’s in early stage funds and accelerators across Canada and has completed follow-on investments in graduates from these programs. Website: http://plazaventures.ca/

About Atlas Venture

Atlas Venture is a venture capital firm specializing in investments in start-ups, seed, and early stage companies. It seeks to invest in the technology and life sciences sectors with a focus on personalized medicine, medical technologies, therapeutics, biopharmaceutical products, biology, drug discovery technologies, therapeutic platforms, innovative biomedical technologies, diagnostics, and medical devices. Within technology, the firm focuses on payments, SMB, consumer-facing innovation, emerging web service companies, next-generation media, gaming, and social technologies, enterprise and Internet infrastructure, big data and mobile infrastructure, and Internet related businesses. Website: http://www.atlasventure.com/

About Silicon Valley Bank

For more than 30 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With commercial, international and private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Forbes named SVB one of America’s best banks (2015) and one of America’s best-managed companies (2014). Silicon Valley Bank is the California bank subsidiary and commercial banking operation of SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB), and a member of the FDIC. Silicon Valley Bank and SVB Financial Group are members of the Federal Reserve System. Website: http://www.svb.com/

LocoMotive Labs raises $4 million in Series A funding

LocoMotive Labs is a company that works on assistive and play-based educational apps for kids. The company has raised $4 million in Series A funding co-led by Softbank Ventures Korea and TAL Education Group. Other investors that participated in this round include K9 Ventures, Kapor Capital, NewSchools Venture Fund, Joe Gleberman, D3Jubilee and Jerry Colonna. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

LocoMotive Labs Closes $4M in Series A Round

Softbank Ventures Korea and TAL Education Group Lead Round to Expand Reach to Consumers and Schools for LocoMotive Labs’ Educational Apps

BERKELEY, CA – February 24, 2015 – LocoMotive Labs, developer of assistive and play-based educational apps for young learners, today announced it has closed a $4M Series A financing round. Softbank Ventures Korea and TAL Education Group led the round, with participation from existing investors K9 Ventures, Kapor Capital, NewSchools Venture Fund, Joe Gleberman, D3Jubilee and Jerry Colonna. The company has raised $5.15M to date.

LocoMotive Labs will use the funding to expand its consumer presence in Asia, tapping into the deep connections of its lead investors. TAL Education Group is the leading K-12 after-school tutoring services provider in China, while Softbank Ventures Korea has built a strong portfolio of companies in the global education space. In addition, LocoMotive Labs will focus on increasing its presence in the US education market. The company’s Todo Math app and teacher dashboard is already being piloted in more than 1,000 elementary classrooms, with 25,000 students in PreK to 2nd grade across the US and around the world.

“Parents and educators in Asia, the US, and around the world are increasingly looking for tools and technologies that can make learning math fun instead of frustrating,” said Jason Wi, Principal at Softbank Ventures Korea. “We believe LocoMotive Labs’ deep understanding in gaming and interface design is second to none and will make an unprecedented impact on how children learn math.”

Addressing the Needs of Students with Mathematics Difficulties in Early Elementary

According to Successful STEM Education, 40 percent of US school children start kindergarten behind grade-level expectations in mathematics. Young students, and especially those who enter public school with little math knowledge need individual attention from teachers. This is often difficult in today’s classrooms of 25 students on average, with a variety of backgrounds and skill levels. LocoMotive Labs’ flagship app, Todo Math, offers a suite of multi-level math games with over 400 stages and 60 carefully crafted Common Core State Standard-aligned missions that help K-2 graders practice math fluency at home and at school. The app utilizes the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework as the theoretical underpinning for the development of the games so that all learners at home and in the classroom can learn and practice foundational math concepts.

“Our mission is to remove the obstacles that frustrate young learners and empower all children to develop the confidence and mathematics skills to be successful both inside and outside the classroom,” said Sooinn Lee, co-founder of LocoMotive Labs. “We’re excited to have the continued opportunity to expand our reach to even more families and educators, both at home and around the world.”

As a former game designer, Sooinn saw a tremendous need to merge learning with play when she came to the US and found a lack of educational apps to accommodate different types of young learners. Todo Math was selected as “Best in Design” at the Launch Education & Kids conference (2013) and reached #1 in the Apple App Store education chart in 20 countries including the US and the UK (2014), With over one million downloads worldwide, Todo Math has been localized in 7 different languages, and featured in Apple retail stores.

“K9 Ventures is honored to continue backing Sooinn Lee at LocoMotive Labs. As a mother and as a founder, Sooinn is on a mission to transform how all children all over the world learn,” said Dr. Manu Kumar, Chief Firestarter at K9 Ventures. “I’m confident that Todo Math is going to become the new standard and a right of passage for every child in their quest for being fluent in and comfortable with mathematical concepts.”

“We’re excited that this investment will be used to add additional features for the school market and expand LocoMotive Labs’ reach to support students at-risk for low mathematics achievement,” said Shauntel Poulson from NewSchools Venture Fund.

About LocoMotive Labs

LocoMotive Labs designs exceptional assistive and play-based learning applications to empower kids with special needs to be independent learners. With Todo Math, LocoMotive Labs offers practice and support in PreK – 2nd grade math skills so that elementary students build a strong foundation for further mathematical learning. The team is comprised of award-winning game designers and developers closely collaborating with parents and educators to elevate digital learning experiences for young children. LocoMotive Labs applications are available in the App Store with over 1 million downloads from parents and teachers around the world. www.LocoMotiveLabs.com or www.todomath.com

DriverUp raises $50 million in Series A

DriverUp is an online car financing marketplace that has raised $50 million in Series A funding. Emerald Development Managers and RRE Ventures led this round of funding. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

DALLAS, Feb. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — DriverUp, the first online marketplace for automotive financing, launched today. In an industry first, the DriverUp marketplace gives accredited investors an opportunity to directly enter the $379 billion auto lending industry and provide dealers with an expedited, streamlined credit process. DriverUp is the exclusive brand of Sierra Auto Finance, an auto finance company launched with $50 million Series A financing, led by Emerald Development Managers and RRE Ventures.

The DriverUp platform uses technology to fundamentally improve how loans are secured and serviced by creating a direct-to-investor option that until now has not existed within the auto-lending industry. Through DriverUp’s proprietary software and advanced data analytics, the marketplace enables efficient processing and direct investment in auto loans, with full transparency and reporting.

“Auto lending historically has been riddled with inefficiencies and lack of innovation; it’s ripe for fundamental transformation and we are leading that change with a technology-driven approach,” said Sam Ellis, president and chief executive officer, DriverUp. “DriverUp democratizes the auto lending industry and brings incredible efficiency and transparency to the process. Consumers, investors, and dealers all benefit.”

DriverUp is the first mechanism that allows accredited investors such as hedge funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals an opportunity to participate directly in high yield auto lending. Previously, investing in this sector was limited to a handful of large institutions.

“DriverUp is the first of its kind auto-lending marketplace, and a critical solution to radically improve all stages of the auto-lending pipeline,” said Stuart Ellman, co-founder and managing partner, RRE Ventures, a leading VC with over $1.5 billion in total capital commitments. “This is a highly attractive investment vehicle for the 99% of investors who previously could not access this asset class; a turnkey credit process for dealers; and delivers increased financing for consumers.”

Direct sale of auto loans helps establish streamlined financing for auto financing companies and frees up funds to continue lending, a growth driver for the economy. Through DriverUp, more money is put to work, dealers increase sales of cars and consumers benefit from greater access to credit.

Demand for auto loans is driven by a series of favorable macro-factors, including search for higher yield in 0% interest rate environment, tepid growth in credit cards and improved access to credit by borrowers. There is also strong post recession industry growth, consumer credit stability and healthy employment levels.

Even in times of economic stress, such as the 2008 recession, auto loans as an asset class performed well, providing desirable diversification for investors. Through DriverUp, investors can expect attractive risk-adjusted annual yields relative to comparable alternatives.

The company is built upon decades of combined auto industry, consumer finance and technology expertise. To learn more about DriverUp, please visit www.driverup.com.

About DriverUp

DriverUp is a new online marketplace for automotive financing that lets investors – who previously did not have access – to directly participate in the growing, higher-yield business of auto lending and provides dealers with a streamlined credit application that speeds loans and moves cars. DriverUp’s proprietary technology platform makes processing and buying loans quicker and easier. Rely on DriverUp’s industry stature – more than 100 years of collective experience in automotive and consumer finance – for a direct connection to the business.

Sqrrl raises $7 million

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sqrrl is a big data analytics company that has raised $7 million in Series B funding. This round of funding was led by Rally Ventures. Atlas Venture and Matrix Partners also participated in this round. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) February 19, 2015

Sqrrl, the Big Data Analytics company that develops software to uncover hidden patterns, trends, and links in data, has announced the launch of Sqrrl Enterprise 2.0. The release of Sqrrl Enterprise 2.0 coincides with securing $7M of Series B financing, led by Rally Ventures and with participation by existing investors, Atlas Venture and Matrix Partners.

“Sqrrl is at the intersection of two of the most important trends facing the enterprise: cybersecurity and Big Data,” says new Sqrrl investor, Zenas Hutcheson of Rally Ventures. “Sqrrl’s technology can help both Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies prevent themselves from becoming the next cyber incident headline story.”

Extending its enterprise-class data platform, Sqrrl Enterprise 2.0 provides a full-stack security analytics solution for detecting and responding to advanced cybersecurity threats. Sqrrl unifies an organization’s security, network, endpoint, and user data into a single platform. In doing so, security analysts can specify what’s important to them and visually navigate the relationships between assets and actors involved in a given event.

“As the recent breaches at Anthem, Sony, and JP Morgan have shown, perimeter defense is not enough to defend against targeted, sophisticated attacks,” says Chris Lynch, partner at FKA (the firm formerly known as Atlas). Antonio Rodriguez, GP at Matrix Partners adds, “With Sqrrl 2.0, we are delivering a solution based on a modern scale-free architecture combined with the latest in graph analytics to uncover advanced threats. It’s a unique approach, and it couldn’t come any sooner.”

With Sqrrl’s linked data analysis platform, security professionals can detect and respond to advanced data breaches resulting from cyber-espionage, insider misuse, and other types of hard-to-detect attacks. By uniting and storing various cyber datasets over extended time periods, Sqrrl Enterprise can also enable deep forensic investigations into attacks to help speed “mean-time-to-recovery”. At the core of Sqrrl’s architecture are a variety of Big Data technologies, including Hadoop, linked data analysis, machine learning, Data-Centric Security, and advanced visualization.

“Our heritage is about putting Big Data technologies to work against hard, intractable problems,” says Sqrrl CEO Mark Terenzoni. “With the Sqrrl 2.0 launch we are focusing these capabilities on the challenges posed by the cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities that nearly every organization faces today.”

Sqrrl is deployed at a variety of Fortune 500 companies and large government agencies.

About Sqrrl

Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, Sqrrl was founded by former computer scientists from the National Security Agency (NSA). As part of the team that created NSA’s Big Data architecture, Sqrrl engineers have worked with some of the largest, most complex and most sensitive data sets in the world. Today, Sqrrl provides a Big Data Analytics platform that is designed to uncover hidden patterns, trends, and links in large, multi-structured datasets. For more information, visit http://www.sqrrl.com