Nuro’s self-driving vehicle is a grocery-getter and errand-runner

 Not every self-driving car has to be able to move passengers from point A to point B. Take, for example, Nuro: The startup just revealed their unique autonomous vehicle platform, which is more of a mobile small logistics platform than a self-driving car.
The company, which has been working away in stealth mode in Mountain View until now, has raised a $92 million Series A round led by Banyan… Read More

NEA leads $21m round for Drop, a rewards app for millennials

 Everyone loves free stuff, apparently including VC investors. Toronto-based Drop, whose app allows consumers to collect points for transactions they make and then receive reward offers, has secured a $21 million Series A round led by Rick Yang at NEA. The company has previously raised about $5 million in seed capital over the past year. Drop’s concept is simple. Unlike traditional… Read More

Relx acquires ThreatMetrix for $817M to ramp up in risk-based authentication

 Another startup in the area of cyber security has been snapped up as platform businesses serving enterprises look for more ways of securing their own networks and working with customers to secure theirs. Today, the RELX Group (formerly known as Reed Elsevier) announced that it would acquire ThreatMetrix for £580 million (about $817 million) in cash. This is a big exit for ThreatMetrix, which… Read More

Heetch raises another $20 million to compete head-to-head with Uber in Europe

 French startup Heetch has an ambitious goal. The company wants to become the second ride-sharing service in France and in the other European countries where it operates. The startup just raised $20 million from Félix Capital, Via ID, Alven Capital, Idinvest Partners and InnovAllianz. This is the same funding round as last year’s $12 million round, but new investors joined the round.… Read More

YouCaring acquires Generosity.com as Indiegogo pulls out of personal causes fundraising

 Some consolidation is underway in the world of crowdfunding and online fundraising: YouCaring — which competes with GoFundMe and others in the area of sourcing fundraising for compassionate and charitable causes — is buying Generosity.com from crowdfunding giant Indiegogo (which originally launched as Indiegogo Life). The latter is using the divestment to further hone its focus… Read More

Front raises $66 million to replace Microsoft Outlook

 Front is raising a $66 million Series B round led by Sequoia with DFJ and existing investors also participating. There are now 2,500 companies using Front to manage shared inboxes and collaborate. The startup now wants to go one step further and become the definitive email product. “I decided that I wanted to raise money, I scheduled 11 partner meetings over a single week,”… Read More

Sumo Logic expands security toolset with FactorChain acquisition

 When we heard from Sumo Logic last June, the company was announcing a $75 million Series F. Today, they announced they were acquiring FactorChain, a security startup that has raised $3.6 million. The companies would not disclose the purchase price, but indicated the acquisition closed at the end of Q4 and all 12 FactorChain employees have joined Sumo Logic, including CEO Dave Frampton and CTO… Read More

Cargo raises $5.5M to let Uber drivers sell snacks and essentials nationwide

 Cargo, a startup that wants to let every rideshare driver open their own convenience store in their car, has just raised $5.5M in a round it’s calling seed preferred financing. Over the summer we covered the company’s $1.75M seed round, at which point they were just getting started. Now they have 2,500 cars on the road in NYC, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis, with 20,000 driver… Read More