The Founding Box: The Latest Startup And Funding Stories

The Funding Box provides information on venture capital/private equity and startup funding. Here’s a list of top startup funding stories.

DocuSign Inc., a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a digital transaction management platform (also known as paperless document), has raised an additional $233m in its latest financing round. Brookside Capital and Bain Capital Ventures led this round. Overall, the company has raised more than $440 million. DocuSign said it plans to use the capital for continued growth and global expansion. 

DocuSign provides companies, businesses, professionals with a DTM platform supporting legally compliant electronic and digital signature processes globally with localization in 43 languages. It has more than 50 million users in 188 countries. DocuSign’s platform is used in any industry ranging from financial services, insurance, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, communications, real estate, retail, consumer goods, higher education, non-profit organizations and many more.

MarkLogic Corporation, a San Carlos, CA-based NoSQL database platform provider, has raised $102 million  in funding round. Wellington Management Company LLP led this round with participation from new investor Arrowpoint Partners and existing investors Northgate Capital, Sequoia Capital, Tenaya Capital and Gary Bloom (president and CEO MarkLogic). The company intends to use the funds to accelerate global market expansion , expand its partner ecosystem and to support continued development of its database platform. MarkLogic provides an enterprise NOSQL database platform that enables organizations and companies to turn all data into actionable information. MarkLogic’s customers include Aetna, BBC, Dow Jones, FAA, McGraw-Hill Financial, USDA, US Navy and many more. 

Cyanogen Inc., a Palo Alto, and Seattle, WA-based mobile operating system developer, has raised $80 million in Series C funding round with strategic investment from contract manufacturer Foxconn. Cyanogen said it plans to use the funds to accelerate hiring and development of its open OS platform, as well as commercial adoption and market growth. Cyanogen develops an alternative version of Google’s Android mobile operating system. 

Transpose, a Seattle-based information management platform, has raised $1.5 million in funding round. Founder’s Co-op led this funding round with participation from Alliance of Angels and Gramercy Fund. The fresh funds will be used to continue to develop the product and hire additional manpower.

Wave, a Toronto-based free small business financial solution, has raised $10 million in series C funding round. Investors included CRV, The Social+Capital Partnership and OMERS Ventures. The company intends to use the funds for ongoing innovation and development of small business financial tools. Wave offers small businesses with a free cloud-based software which includes accounting, invoicing, payments, payroll, receipt scanning and personal finance.

Kapost, a Boulder, CO-based provider of marketing content platform, has raised an additional $10.25 million in funding round. The funding round was led by Access Venture Partners, Cue Ball Capital, Iron Gate Capital and Salesforce Ventures with participation from existing investors Lead Edge Capital and High Country Ventures. The funds will be used to accelerate growth. Kapost provides an end-to-end solution for customers content and  simplifies the management of B2B content lifecycle.

Wallflower, a Charleston, MA-based developer of connected solutions for cooking and other home appliances, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. Investors were not disclosed. The company intends to use the fresh funds to grow its engineering staff and expand trials with consumers and insurance providers in the US market. Wallflower  is a provider of a suite of connected products and services that focused on improving safety and control for home appliances and smart homes.

Talkspace, a New York City-based web and mobile platform connecting people with licensed therapists for online therapy, has raised $9.5 million in Series A financing round. Spark Capital and Softbank led this round with participation from existing investors Metamorphic Ventures and TheTime. The funds will be used to continue to grow its operations. Talkspace is a global online therapy platform that connects patients with licensed therapists via web and mobile apps.

Nimble Collective, Palo Alto, CA-based content development and distribution platform startup, has raised $1 million in seed funding round. Investors were not disclosed. Nimble Collective is making a cloud-based content development and distribution platform  for the animation industry.

Cleeng, an Amsterdam-based video-ecommerce specialist, has raised €1.1 million in Series A funding led by Pascal Cagni. The fresh funds will be used for product development and international growth. Cleeng provides a video-ecommerce platform for LIVE concerts, sport events, conferences and celebrities. Its platform is used by leading online video platforms like Ooyala, Brightcove, Livestream, Ustream, Kaltura and many more.

Knod, a Salt Lake City-based provider of an online experience-based learning program, has raised $6.2 million in funding round. Investors included Epic Ventures and Impact Investment Leaders. The new funds will be used to expand globally. Knod provides an online experience-based employment and learning program in the US. It allows students to build a professional portfolio with a real projects completed for real companies while earning a degree in general business or management.

Blue Danube Systems, a Mountain View and Warren, NJ-based provider of mobile wireless access solutions, has raised $16 million in Series B funding round. Sequoia Capital led this round along with new investor Northgate and strategic investor AT&T. The company will use the funds to accelerate the commercial deployment of its new radio system. Blue Danube is developing a novel radio system, based on its proprietary integrated circuits and software, which promises to enable up to 10 times increase in average cell capacity with existing LTE infrastructure and devices.

Bit Stew Systems, a Vancouver, CA-based provider of software defined operations platform for the industrial internet, has raised an additional $17.2 million in series B funding round. GE Ventures led this round with participation from Cisco Investments and Yaletown Venture Partners and new investors BDC Capital and others. Bit Stew Systems provides a platform which automates data ingestion, applies machine intelligence to learn patterns in the data, allowing industrial companies to discover actionable insights that optimize operational performance.

Vested Finance, an Austin, Texas-based financial tech startup, has raised $5 million in seed funding round led by Sandleigh Ventures. The funds will be used to expand its operations and presence in Austin, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., and hire developers to create mobile apps. Vested  is a fintech startup dedicated to overcoming debt crisis, its focuses on equity financing for higher education. 

MediaGamma, a London-based automated futures and option exchange for digital advertising, has raised a seed round of funding. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. MediaGamma provides the ability for buyers and sellers to agree on a price and volume for future real-time media placements across digital channels. Investors included John Taysom (CEO and founder of the Greenhouse fund and RVC), Angus Bankes (founder and CTO of Moreover Technologies and current CIO of Skimlinks).

Webydo, a New York City-based web design platform for designers, has raised $5 million in B1 funding round. The funding came from Israel-based Singulariteam Ltd, which is headed by Moshe Hogeg (founder of Yo and Mobli). The new funds will be used to implement new features and redesigned its website. Webydo is a B2B website design platform that allows graphic and web designers to craft, manage, and host pixel-perfect responsive websites, all without writing any code. 

NerdWallet, a San Francisco-based consumer finance startup, has raised $64 million in Series A funding round. Institutional Venture led this round with participation from RRE Ventures, iGlobe Partners and additional angel investors Arjan Schutte of Core Innovation Capital, Aaron Lee, Brian Lee, Dharmesh Thakker, Emilie Choi, Eric Bahn, Josh Tonderys, Mike Grishaver, Parker Barrile, Raymie Stata, Richard Jun, Ryan Roslansky, Scott Roberts, Shirshanka Das and Sumir Meghani. NerdWallet provides tools, research and expert advice for consumers to navigate financial choices and provide transparency around their financial options.