Germany-based private car rental service Blacklane raised a mid-seven digit euro funding round on Monday at a nine-digit euro valuation, with investment coming from human resources provider Recruit Holdings. Blacklane raised $14m in December from Moovel, the mobility services subsidiary of automotive manufacturer Daimler, online vehicle marketplace Car4you, Alstin, B-to-V Partners and RI Digital Ventures.
Verizon Ventures, the corporate venturing unit owned by telecommunications firm Verizon, led a $5m series A round on Thursday for Apio Systems, the US-based creator of a spatial awareness system for drivers. The round, which also included France-based public transport operator Transdev, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and East Rock Capital, boosted Apio’s overall funding to more than $6m.
Denim LA, the US-based owner of denim jeans brand DSTLD, has received $4.4m in seed funding from CAA Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of talent agency CAA, as well as Plus Capital, Zillion, TenOneTen, Amplify LA, CrunchFund, Baroda Ventures, WaveMaker, and assorted angel investors, TechCrunch reported on Monday. The startup produces premium quality denim products it sells directly to the consumer over the internet.
Elevate Digital, a US-based developer of street-level interactive visual advertising technology, raised $4m in the first tranche of a series B round that was led by Advantage Capital Partners, a venture capital firm that also contributed to the $2.7m first tranche of Elevate’s series A round in 2012. Elevate has raised $7.2m across three series A tranches from investors also including live event promoter SFX Entertainment and family office Partners Path Investments.
RepairPal, the US-based creator of an estimator platform for auto repair, secured an undisclosed sum from military financial services provider USAA on Tuesday that will be used to expand RepairPal’s nationwide network of auto repair shops. It raised $13m in a February 2013 series B round backed by lubricants producer Castrol and auto marketplace Cars.com, while previous investors also include VC firms TugBoat Ventures and Wasabi Ventures.
Full Circle CRM, a US-based developer of marketing performance management software, received $3.8m in series A funding on Wednesday led by VC fund Aligned Partners that also featured Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of cloud computing company Salesforce.com, and VC firm WI Harper Group. The startup, which has developed its software to work in conjunction with Salesforce, raised $500,000 from WI Harper in September 2013.
China-based internet company Tencent Holdings has invested an undisclosed sum in US-based high-altitude balloon developer World View Enterprises, China Daily reported on Tuesday. A spokesperson from World View, which aims to use the technology for space tourism, told China Money Network the funding would support the next phase of research, development and testing.
Loverly, a US-based marketplace for wedding planning, has secured $3.5m in a series A round led by VC firm Montage Ventures that also included Softbank Capital, one of telecommunications firm SoftBank’s corporate venturing units, Comcast Ventures, which fulfils the same function for cable service provider Comcast, Female Founders Fund, Great Oak Capital and additional angel investors. The company had already raised $1.5m in various seed rounds.
Randstad Innovation Fund, the corporate venturing unit launched by staffing firm Randstad, has led a joint series A round for Netherlands-based recruitment marketing firm Vonq and Netherlands-based recruitment system developer Qandidate. The round, which involved an undisclosed amount of funding, also included enterprise software developer Qmulus.
US-based event promoter SXSW has invested $2m in Eventbase, the Canada-based creator of the event guide app it uses, TechCrunch reported on Thursday. SXSW formed a dedicated fund to invest in Eventbase, but currently has no plans to extend it to other investments, chief technology officer Scott Wilcox told TechCrunch.
SoftBank Ventures, another of SoftBank’s corporate venturing subsidiaries, has co-led a $2m angel round for South Korea-based workplace communications app developer Jandi, TechCrunch reported on Monday. Angel fund Cherubic Ventures co-led the funding, which will go towards product development and geographical expansion in Asia.
Japan-based marketing firm Opt has led a $2m series A round for Nota, the Japan-based creator of screenshot capture app Gyazo, Tech in Asia reported on Tuesday. The round also featured YJ Capital, which is an investment subsidiary of internet company Yahoo Japan, and Miyako Capital, the investment unit for Kyoto University, and followed an angel round that raised $500,000.
Networking technology producer Cisco invested $2m in US-based system-on-a-chip technology developer Ineda Systems on Tuesday, adding to the $17m the company raised in a series B round backed by Qualcomm and electronics producer Samsung in March this year. The cash will support development of Ineda’s wearable processor units.
Searchmetrics, the Germany-based developer of a search engine optimisation platform for businesses, secured an undisclosed amount of funding on Monday. The investors were Holtzbrinck Digital, a corporate venturing subsidiary of media company Georg von Holtzbrinck, corporate-backed VC firm Iris Capital and VC fund Neuhaus Partners. The three invested $18.4m in Searchmetrics in March this year.
US-based socially responsible e-commerce platform Vida launched on Wednesday with $1.3M of seed funding from backers including Google Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of internet company Google, entertainment company Universal Music Group, Nanon, The Valley Fund, Beehive Holdings, Slow Ventures and Jesse Draper. Vida will invest the funds in recruitment and product development.
Finland-based mobile payment startup IroFit has secured $600,000 in a seed round led by VC firm Inventure that also included payment software developer Solinor and Nigerian angel investor Rasheed Olaoluwa, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday. IroFit will use the funds to enhance its platform, which will shortly be launched in Nigeria.