Category: Startups
How Hoop hit #2 with its Tinder for Snapchat
Snapchat’s developer platform is blowing up as a gateway to teen social app users. Hoop is the latest Snap Kit blockbuster, rocketing to #2 on the overall App Store charts this month with its Tinder -esque swiping interface for discovering people and asking to message with them over Snapchat. Within…
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German drone delivery trial paves the way to replacing trucks for inter-office deliveries
Drone startup Wingcopter, working with partners Merck and the Frankfurt University of Applied Science, has completed a first flight of a new drone delivery trial designed to show the benefits of using drones instead of trucks or other road faring vehicles for moving small cargo between two physically separate office…
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In a gloomy portent for 2020 debuts, Casper lowers its IPO price range
Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between. Casper, the well-known D2C mattress company, has lowered its IPO price range in a new S-1/A filing made public this morning. The repricing leads to a lower expected valuation for…
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Clear gets $13M Series A to build high-volume transaction system on the blockchain
Clear is an early stage startup with a big ambition. It wants to build a blockchain for high-volume transaction systems like payments between telcos. Today it announced a $13 million Series A investment. The round was led by Eight Roads with participation from Telefónica Innovation Ventures, Telekom Innovation Pool of…
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Deliverr lands $40M Series C to bring two-day shipping to any merchant
Deliverr doesn’t own a warehouse or a delivery truck, but the startup is helping e-commerce companies not named Amazon achieve Amazon-like two-day shipping. The startup does it with intelligent algorithms, and today it announced a $40 million Series C investment. Activant Capital led the round. Other investors in the company…
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The Zebra raises $38.5M as the insurance marketplace race heats up
This morning The Zebra, an Austin-based insurance marketplace startup, announced it has closed a $38.5 million Series C. Accel led the funding event, which was participated in by prior investors Silverton Partners, Ballast Point Ventures, and the company’s CEO Keith Melnick. Floodgate and Weatherford Capital also invested in the round.…
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