Freshdesk Raises $5M To Expand Online Help Desk Tool
Erin Bury
April 26, 2012
Online help desk tool Freshdesk announced today it has raised $5 million in funding from Tiger Global Management and existing investor Accel Partners. Started in 2010, the SaaS customer support tool launched to the public in June 2011, and raised $1 million in funding from Accel Partners in October 2011. They have tripled their customer base in the last quarter, though didn’t comment on how many customers they have to date. Read more
LocalBonus Raises Funding, Expands Merchant Reward Program
Darrell Etherington
April 24, 2012
New York-based loyalty startup LocalBonus announced today that it will be expanding beyond its first pilot market of New York City to four new cities, including Denver, Portland, Sacramento and Seattle. The company provides local merchants with turn-key rewards programs, allowing them to offer customer loyalty incentives to shoppers using just their existing credit or debit card. LocalBonus is also announcing over $500,000 in seed funding today, raised from Payment Ventures, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator and other angel investors. Read more
Lifecrowd Raises $5M for Social Activity Marketplace
Erin Bury
April 19, 2012
Santa Monica-based startup Lifecrowd announced today that it has raised $5 million in Series A funding from Chicago-based VC firm Lightbank and several other investors for its social activity platform. The tool, which launched in public beta in March and was part of Los Angeles startup accelerator MuckerLab‘s first class, allows people to find and sign up for offline activities in their area, and lets local experts offer activities for people in their neighborhood. Read more
TransferWise Raises $1.3M for Cross-Border Money Transfers
Darrell Etherington
April 18, 2012
Today, UK-based TransferWise announced a seed funding round of $1.3 million, from investors including IA Ventures, Index Ventures and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin among others. The international money transfer startup plans to use the funds to help grow its team and expand its business, which currently handles foreign-currency conversion only between British pounds and euros, but plans to expand to additional European currencies in about a month, company co-founder Taavet Hinrikus told BetaKit in an interview. Read more
Coursera Launches Online Education Platform with $16 Million in Funding
Erin Bury
April 18, 2012
Online educational marketplaces are on the rise, with tools like Udemy and Khan Academy allowing people of all ages to become an expert in any topic. New company Coursera is targeting higher education by offering university-level courses from top institutions to students all over the world, all for free. Read more
Chartbeat Raises $9.5M, Debuts Redesign of Analytics Platform
Cheronne Thurab
April 16, 2012
Real-time analytics startup Chartbeat has unveiled a new design and announced $9.5 million in Series B funding led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Index Ventures and several angel investors. CEO Tony Haile told BetaKit in an interview that they decided to raise the funding, which comes after a $3 million Series A round in August 2010, to scale the team. Read more
Beamit Raises $2.4M for International Remittance Service
Darrell Etherington
April 13, 2012
Seattle-based Beamit announced a round of $2.4 million in equity financing this week, from investors including Bezo Expeditions, TomorrowVentures, and Eric Schmidt, among others. The startup intends to bring new life to what its founder and CEO Matt Oppenheimer sees as a stagnant, dated industry: international remittance. International remittance, or sending money home from abroad, is an industry that hasn’t kept pace with technology, according to Oppenheimer. Read more
WalkMe Raises Funding for On-Screen Support Tool
Erin Bury
April 12, 2012
Tel Aviv-based startup WalkMe has secured an undisclosed amount of funding for its support tool, which allows companies to create interactive on-screen “Walk-Thrus” to help visitors with on-site tasks. The funding comes from Mangrove Capital Partners, an investment firm with a focus on Europe and emerging markets like Russia. The company launched in beta in November 2011 and officially launched on April 2, and has signed up over 1,000 people to date. WalkMe co-founder and president Rafi Sweary said the idea Read more
Pebble Smart Watch Blows Past Funding Goal, Hits $1M on Kickstarter
Darrell Etherington
April 12, 2012
A lot of companies, including electronics industry leaders like Sony, have been trying to find the right formula for a smart, connected watch to help users gain an accessible entry-point for wearable computing. Read more
OneID Raises $7M to Consolidate Digital Identity
Erin Bury
April 11, 2012
San Jose-based OneID, which offers one-click sign-in and check-out for individuals, businesses and developers, has announced $7 million in new funding from Khosla Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners. The company, which was founded in June 2011 and launched its developer version in March 2012, will use the funding to bring its service to market. In addition to the funding, the company also appointed Alex Doll, a former executive at PGP Corp., as CEO. Read more