BBG Ventures, a corporate venturing unit owned by mass media company AOL, has participated in seed rounds for US-based startups HopSkipDrive and Spoon University, which have raised $5.9m in total.
Launched in March 2015, HopSkipDrive’s app allows Los Angeles families to safely schedule rides with caregivers for children over the age of seven. It raised $3.9m in a round led by Upfront Ventures and backed by investors including BBG and FirstMark Capital.
HopSkipDrive will use the funds to expand its services to the rest of California, and to lower the price it charges per ride.
Spoon University runs a food media network aimed at millennials that is powered by a large network of university chapters. It secured $2m from BBG, SoftTech VC, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Box Group, VaynerRSE, Math fund, Joanne Wilson, Howard Morgan, Project Mayhem Ventures, Kosinski Ventures and RuggedVC
Spoon University’s student users are organised into teams that autonomously write, edit, photograph, publish and promote their own food media content. The seed funding will support the company’s expansion to new chapters at universities across the world.