LiveLike raises $9.6M to get more broadcasters streaming in VR

 LiveLike, a startup that powers VR streaming experiences for broadcasters like FOX Sports and Sky, has raised a $9.6M Series B round led by Greycroft Partners and Lepe Partners. This brings total funding raised to just over $23M. As a refresher, LiveLike’s VR experience let you select different camera angles, sit in and look around a virtual “suite”, view pre-produced content… Read More

Varsity Tutors lands $50 million in Series C funding

 Varsity Tutors, the learning platform founded in 2011, today announced the close of a $50 million Series C funding round led by Learn Capital. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and existing investor TCV also participated in the round. Varsity Tutors started as an offline service, connecting the best tutors on campus with those who needed help for IRL study sessions. Fast forward seven years and… Read More

InfluxData scores $35 million Series C to expand time series database business

 In a world where sensors are capturing ever-increasing amounts of data, being able to collect that high volume and measure it over time becomes increasingly important. InfluxData, the startup built on top of the open source time series database platform, announced it has received a $35 million Series C investment today led by Sapphire Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software… Read More

Simplified investing app Stash raises $37.5 million Series D as it heads into banking

 Stash, the micro-investing app that’s been a hit with first-time investors, announced today it has raised an additional $37.5 million in Series D funding in a round led by Union Square Ventures. Existing investors Breyer Capital, Coatue Management, Entree Capital, Goodwater Capital and Valar Ventures also participated. The company competes with a range of new investment apps –… Read More

Raise softly and deliver a big exit

 In the world of venture capital, the prospect of a successful “exit” looms large in the minds of investors. A VC’s business model is less about the money that goes into a startup than it is about what comes out. It’s true that most companies fail to exit gracefully, and of those that do, surprisingly few exit by going public. Read More

Cardlytics up 3% following IPO, raised $70 million

 Atlanta-based Cardlytics made its public debut on Friday, closing the day at $13.37, just a little above the IPO price of $13. The company sold 5.4 million shares, raising $70 million. Cardlytics works with financial institutions like Bank of America and 2,000 others to run cash back programs. It partners with brands across restaurant, retail, travel, grocery and home subscription categories… Read More

Grove raises $2.1M to find the sweet spot between old-school financial advisors and chatbots

 Right now if you want financial guidance and planning help you basically have two options – shell out thousands (or more) a year for an old-school Wall Street-affiliated advisor, or test your luck with one of the free financial planning chatbot startups that have been popping up over the past few years. Neither of these are ideal for most people; traditional advisors give good advice but… Read More

Twitter is now worth more than Snap

 Adding to what’s already a Very Weird 2018, Twitter now has a bigger market cap than Snapchat maker Snap after posting a thoroughly interesting earnings beat for its fourth quarter this morning. Shares of Twitter rocketed more than 25% this morning following the report, which showed the service is actually able to generate a profit on a GAAP basis. Twitter already wrapped up 2017 with a… Read More

Captain401, now Human Interest, raises $11M to open build a 401(k) for small businesses

 Pushing through a funding round is never an easy process — and for Captain401 co-founder Roger Lee, it was even more tricky this time around. That’s because Lee and his team raised $11 million right around the birth of his first baby. That gave Lee an even deeper appreciation and understanding for the need of robust employee benefits, which was part of the original goal of… Read More

CloudBees acquires CodeShip as devops consolidates

 More consolidation is afoot in the busy world of backend developer tools. Today, CloudBees — the company closely associated with support and services for the open source Jenkins continuous integration and delivery engine — has announced that it will acquire CodeShip, another startup in the dev-ops space focusing on continuous integration and delivery. Terms of the deal are not… Read More