Moda Operandi raises $60 million in Series E funding

Moda Operandi is an online luxury retailer that has raised $60 million in Series E funding. This round of funding was led by Fidelity Investments. Other investors that participated in this round include New Enterprise Associates and Advanced Publications, Inc. More details below:

Moda Operandi Secures $60 Million in Series E Financing led by Fidelity… — NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ –

NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Moda Operandi, the first online luxury retailer to provide consumers access to the full collections straight from the runway, today announced that it has closed a $60 million Series E financing. Boston-based asset manager Fidelity Investments led the investment round, with participation from existing shareholders including New Enterprise Associates and Advanced Publications, Inc., the parent company of Conde Nast. Other current shareholders include New Atlantic Ventures, LVMH and RRE Ventures.

“The continued success we have experienced demonstrates the strength of international luxury consumers and their demand for the exceptional assortment of product, access to brands, and runway collections that only Moda Operandi can provide,” said Moda Operandi CEO Deborah Nicodemus. “We are thrilled with the support our investors have shown us, and look forward to continuing to transform the online luxury shopping experience for our clients all over the world.”

“Moda Operandi’s disruptive business model and technology platform create a unique value proposition for both consumers as well as designers and brands,” said Tony Florence, General Partner at NEA.  “It’s disrupting a massive global market that’s in the early innings of penetration online.”

“Moda Operandi works within the industry to give consumers unprecedented access to runway fashion and put the focus back on the designer,” said Lauren Santo Domingo, Moda Operandi Co-Founder. “We are changing the way people perceive and interact with the runway.”

Launched in February 2011, Moda Operandi to date has raised over $130 million in funding.  This latest round of financing will be used toward growing the presence of the business in key markets like Europe, Asia and the Middle East, mobile technology, growing the loyalty program, customer acquisition, and developing new brand relationships.

“The Moda team has distinguished itself by laser focus on building and serving its extraordinary client base, empowering the most discerningly fashionable women globally with exclusive access to the top established and emerging designers,” said Andrew Siegel, Executive Vice President of Conde Nast parent Advance Publications, Inc.

About Moda Operandi

Moda Operandi is the only place to preorder looks straight from the unedited runway collections of the world’s top designers—months before they are available anywhere else. But for those who just can’t wait? Moda Operandi Boutique offers an expertly curated selection of in-season items from both established and emerging designers, ready to ship now. In homage to the history of couture, Moda Operandi offers a bespoke shopping experience that includes unprecedented access to your favorite designers and hand-selected recommendations from personal stylists. Moda Operandi has established a retail renaissance where the time-honored institution of luxury meets an innovative point of view on fashion. For more information visit www.modaoperandi.com

Reserve raises $15 million in Series A funding

Reserve is a dining app that has raised $15 million in Series A funding. This round of funding was led by Human Ventures Capital. First Round, Lowercase Capital, Advancit Capital, Sherpa Ventures, SV Angel, Venture51, Visionnaire Ventures, Jared Leto, Jon Favreau and Will.i.am also participated in this round.

Practo raises $30 million in Series B

Practo is a Bangalore, India based doctor search engine. The company recently announced that it has raised $30 million in Series B funding. Investors in this round include Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners. Practo’s search engine hits around 4 million searches per month. And Practo’s clinic management software application Practo Ray is used by 30,000 doctors that manage tens of millions of patients.

Bill.com raises $50 million in funding

Bill.com is a company that offers digital payment solutions. They make bill payment and invoicing much easier. Bill.com has raised $50 million in funding. This round of funding was provided by Silicon Valley Bank, DCM Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, August Capital, Napier Park Global Capital, American Express Ventures and Commerce Ventures. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

February 12, 2015 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bill.com, the leading company creating magically simple business payments, today announced it has closed a $50 million financing round. Silicon Valley Bank joined existing investors DCM Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, August Capital, Napier Park Global Capital, American Express Ventures and Commerce Ventures, bringing the total amount raised by the company to date to over $100 million. The new funds will enable Bill.com to continue scaling the company to support millions of members in the network and will also fuel ongoing plans to provide businesses nationwide with premier digital payments solutions that make paying and getting paid fast, easy and secure.

Bill.com is at the intersection of banks, accounting software solutions and the Internet. Bill.com provides a suite of digital payments solutions that make bill payment and invoicing processes painless. Each application within the Bill.com business payments network is built in recognition that today’s SMBs lack the proper tools to pay bills and get paid in a fast, easy and secure way. As a leader in the digital payments space, three of the top ten national banks leverage Bill.com to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive A/P and A/R management solutions to their customers. Additionally, 35 of the top 100 accounting firms in the country use Bill.com to maintain financial control of their clients’ payments and receivables.

“Businesses today demand digital payments solutions that can make their lives easier and eliminate the headaches associated with having to process payments, checks and invoices manually,” said René Lacerte, founder and CEO of Bill.com. “With a majority of businesses still using manual processes to manage their A/P and A/R, there is a significant market opportunity for us and our esteemed bank partners to better serve our customers. With this new capital, we will continue to expand our core technology and fulfill our promise to deliver digital payments solutions to businesses nationwide.”

This announcement comes on the heels of significant company growth. In the past 12 months, Bill.com has grown its network over 100 percent to over 600,000 members. Currently, the firm moves over $19 billion annually. Bill.com has recently introduced a number of innovative product offerings including Bill.com Fast Pay, Bill.com Payments for NetSuite, and Intacct Sync 2.0, among others.

“Bill.com tackles a problem that plagues small businesses and distills it down to a simple solution for paying bills and getting paid,” said Jacob Moseley, senior market manager, Silicon Valley Bank. “The company has demonstrated tremendous growth and established itself at the center of the digital payments space. We are pleased to be a financial partner for Bill.com and look forward to helping the team increase its probability of future success.”

About Bill.com

Bill.com (www.bill.com) is the leading digital business payments company creating magically simple A/P and A/R solutions. We are at the center of business payments, uniting banks and businesses on the fastest growing payments network. Bill.com helps over 600,000 network members process over $19 billion in payments per year and saves companies up to 50 percent of the time typically spent on financial back-office operations by securely automating their end-to-end processes. Three of the top ten U.S. banks and 35 percent of the top 100 accounting firms rely on Bill.com as their primary payments solution. The recipient of more than 40 awards, Bill.com was recently recognized as one of the San Francisco Business Time’s Most Innovative Companies and proudly received a PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award. For more information, please visit www.bill.com.

Twitter has acquired Niche

Twitter has acquired a company called Niche. Niche is a startup that helps influential social media experts with endorsement deals. Niche has offices in New York City and San Francisco. Niche is backed by SoftTech, Box Group, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, SV Angel, Advancit Capital and William Morris Endeavor.

ActionSprout raises $1.7 million

ActionSprout has raised $1.7 million in funding. ActionSprout offers tools for nonprofits that want to use Facebook to reach more people. Oregon Angel Fund led this round of funding with participation from Bellingham Angel Fund and Portland Seed Fund. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

PORTLAND, OR–(Marketwired – Feb 11, 2015) – ActionSprout, the definitive source of tools and knowledge for nonprofits seeking to use Facebook to reach more people, cultivate relationships with existing supporters, and amplify fundraising efforts, announced it has closed $1.7 million in funding. Led by the Oregon Angel Fund, with participation from the Bellingham Angel Fund, Portland Seed Fund and other west coast investors, the financing will be used to further maximize the power of the ActionSprout application and to spread its use to more nonprofits looking to use social media to further their mission.

In related news, the company also announced that Chris Finley, co-founder and former Vice President, Business Development at SurveyMonkey, has joined the ActionSprout board of directors.

“Some ninety percent of nonprofits use Facebook today with the goal of building support and deepening relationships with donors and volunteers. For the past two years our team has worked to develop tools and techniques to take the mystery out of how to make Facebook work for nonprofits, helping them achieve these very goals,” said ActionSprout CEO, Drew Bernard. “As a result, this funding will be used to get our tools and know-how into the hands of more nonprofits. We are excited about our growing momentum and thrilled to have a group of mission-aligned investors helping us take the product and company to the next level.”

Said Chris Finley, “It’s a true honor to join the ActionSprout board of directors and help nonprofits accomplish their missions by bringing people to action through their social media efforts. As fellow travelers in the drive to further the success of nonprofit organizations, I look forward to working with the ActionSprout team to continue to get their tools into the hands of more organizations and continue to build tools that demystify Facebook for nonprofit social media managers.”

Comments on the news

“Facebook is an ever-changing landscape and as a result, marketing here can be a real challenge for nonprofits,” said Kivi Leroux Miller, president of Nonprofit Marketing Guide. “ActionSprout provides nonprofits the tools and knowledge they need to actively grow their supporter base, and more importantly, to consistently engage their fans in their good work with meaningful social actions. We are excited about the future expansion of the ActionSprout technology and training materials that the investment will bring, because it will help make Facebook an even more powerful tool for nonprofits.”

“Social media campaigns designed to capture participant information drives them off of Facebook and most often end in a virtual dead-end,” said John Haydon, nonprofit social media expert and author of Facebook Marketing For Dummies. “ActionSprout has effectively addressed this issue by providing meaningful actions that keep people within Facebook, and making it very easy to people to invite their friends to participate as well. ActionSprout provides two direct benefits: spreading reach and growing supporter participation.”

About the Oregon Angel Fund (OAF)

In addition to being Oregon’s top performing venture fund for many years running, OAF shares in ActionSprout’s social mission, with investment from the State of Oregon, Meyer Memorial Trust, and Oregon Community Fund. Founded in 2007, OAF is a community supported, professionally managed, investor driven angel fund backed by the leaders of Oregon’s business and technology community such as the Oregon Growth Board. OAF invests $7 million annually in the most promising startups and early-stage growth companies in Oregon and SW Washington. Over 1,400 jobs have been created by the 36 companies in the portfolio. For more information, please visit: www.OregonAngelFund.com

About ActionSprout

ActionSprout is currently used by thousands of nonprofits, both large and small, including Sierra Club, Unicef, and Greepeace. ActionSprout tools helps organizations reach and acquire email addresses from supporters, engage existing supporters beyond Likes, Comments, and Shares, and leverage the social network to amplify their off Facebook activities and fundraising efforts. From petition signing to donating, ActionSprout helps nonprofits grow fundraising efforts by reaching and engaging millions of supporters around mission related actions. ActionSprout can be found at www.actionsprout.com and www.facebook.com/ActionSprout.

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Bivarus raises $1.9 million

Bivarus is a patient-centered analytics service that works with healthcare companies to measure the patient experience. Bivarus has raised $1.9 million in funding. Excelerate Health Ventures led this round of funding. More details below:

PRESS RELEASE

DURHAM, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bivarus, a patient-centered analytics company working with healthcare organizations to measure and analyze the patient experience, announces that it closed a $1.9 million round to capitalize on demand for its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. Excelerate Health Ventures led the round, joined by other investors.

Bivarus is the response to the frustration that exists among leaders of hospital-based outpatient service lines, community-based clinics and group practices and their inability to acquire statistically precise data around the patient experience and its impact on care delivery. Current measurement tools are burdensome to patients, plagued by low response rates, and are neither timely nor actionable.

Bivarus has flipped the current method of surveying patients by providing sophisticated yet simple cloud-based services and analytics. This approach dramatically reduces response fatigue, improving patient response rates 3-5x over traditional methods.

“As a member of the UNC Healthcare Heart & Vascular Network, every patient encounter becomes an opportunity to learn and improve,” observed Joel E. Schneider, MD, FACC, Cardiologist at North Carolina Heart and Vascular. “With Bivarus, we’re now able to measure the patient experience with much higher response rates, increasing our confidence in the validity of the data and our ability to exceed our primary goal of improving our quality of care.”

Bivarus has experienced rapid growth, doubling its customer base over the past few months. The company is hiring additional customer success managers, sales professionals and software developers to support its continued growth.

“The market is well established, but has seen little innovation throughout the years. Physicians and nurses continue to express their frustration with tools that are overly focused on external benchmarking. It’s a market ripe for disruption,” noted Gary Abrahams, Managing Partner, Excelerate Health Ventures. “We have talked with dozens of physicians and healthcare leaders who haven’t been well served by the status quo and are desperately searching for alternatives. With Bivarus, providers ‘in-the-trenches’ now have more precise data they can actually act upon to make appropriate improvements.”
Bivarus is committed to building its operations in the Research Triangle region. For more information on current job openings, please refer to http://bivarus.com/company/#openings.

About Bivarus
Bivarus brings an entirely new science of measuring patient experience with its cloud-based analytics platform to hospital-based outpatient service lines, community-based clinics, and large group practices. Measuring and improving care delivery and quality of life outcomes – from the patient’s perspective – has become one of the top priorities of the healthcare system. Bivarus is at the forefront of providing a patient-centered analytics platform for accurately measuring meaningful and actionable insights into drivers impacting organizational and provider performance. With Bivarus, healthcare organizations can more easily identify service recovery opportunities, as well as improve quality, care coordination, team performance and patient safety. For more information, please visit www.bivarus.com.

About Excelerate Health Ventures
Excelerate Health Ventures is a management team of experienced healthcare entrepreneurs with start-up, corporate and investment expertise. EHV leverages the domain experience and contacts of their network of healthcare providers, payers and strategic partners to select, validate, mentor and grow their portfolio companies. This focused approach accelerates the adoption and revenues of a portfolio companies’ products and associated services. EHV offices are located alongside fellow entrepreneurs at the First Flight Venture Center, a technology incubator in the Research Triangle Park of NC. For more Information, please visit: http://www.ExcelerateHealth.com.