Delving into Digital Marketing?: Funding Daily: All funding you can eat

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Funding Daily: All funding you can eat

Image Credit: David Joyce/Flickr

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Get your silverware and hand wipes, because we’ve got plenty of funding news for you to consume today.

500 Startups is crowdfunding its new $100M fund

If crowdfunded investments become the norm for startups trying to raise capital, accelerator/investor group 500 Startups will definitely be at the forefront. Yesterday 500 announced a new $100 million investment fund that will come in part from public fundraising. News of 500 Startups’ new fund, its third to date, first emerged back in October after the group filed paperwork with the SEC — and about a week after 500 closed $44.1 million for its second fund.

Discount shopping app Wish gets $50M

Investors are not done pouring money into shopping apps. Proof: Wish just landed a sweet new round of funding for its “wishlist” app for discounted shopping. The San Francisco-based company just announced that it has raised $50 million, its third round of institutional funding. Wish, as its name suggests, provides a wishlist-like experience on its mobile app. Wish raised its $50 million round from Founders Fund and previous investors Formation 8, GGV Capital, and Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang, along with others. Szulczewski said that the company will use the new funding to get more merchants on board and expand its team.

Read more on VentureBeat: Discount shopping app Wish gets a premium $50M investment

Tastemade takes $25M

Foodies who prefer Android, prepare to rejoice: Tastemade, the massive food media network, will soon give you the means to consume user generated food videos while you consume your next locally sourced, sustainably farmed meal.Launching later this month as a Samsung-exclusive for the first 90 days, the Tastemade Android app will bring the same features to the Android camp that iOS users have been enjoying for almost a year now. Oh, and the company just announced a massive $25 million funding round yesterday.

Chloe + Isabel grabs $15M

Jewelry company Chloe + Isabel has announced a new $15 million funding round for its social ecommerce business. SoftBank Capital led the round, with additional participation from existing investors General Catalyst Partners, First Round Capital, Forerunner Ventures, and Floodgate Fund. Chloe + Isabel employs more than 4,500 independent sellers for its jewelry, and equips them with their own customizable online storefront and the tools and training required to run those mini-businesses. The company launched its first perfume in April. Chloe + Isabel was founded in 2011 by Chantel Waterbury, and is based in New York City.

BetterDoctor takes another $10M

San Francisco-based BetterDoctor, which operates an online referral service for dentists and doctors (including specialists), is almost finished raising $10.4 million in new venture funding, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The new round will bring the company’s funding total up to $13.7 million. Dentists and doctors can create a profile page hosted by BetterDoctor where they can promote their service and take appointments.

CrowdTwist hauls in $9M

CrowdTwist, a Manhattan-based SaaS intelligence data platform, has taken in $9 million in venture cash, the company announced today. CrowdTwist focuses on collecting data intelligence, which it then buttresses with analytics so its clients can better understand their customers’ buying behavior. The company was launched in 2009 and has raised $20 million in total venture funding to date.

StarVest Partners led the new round. Fairhaven Capital and SoftBank Capital also participated.

Read more on VentureBeat: CrowdTwist hauls in $9M for SaaS data intelligence

Readz raises $1.3M

From an email to VentureBeat: “Readz, a startup in the content marketing space, received a 1.3 M USD credit facility from Parana Management BVBA. Readz is a SaaS content creation platform, allowing brands to rapidly create beautiful online content. Readz offers designers and marketers an online drag-and-drop editing platform solution to create and publish content marketing tools such as micro-sites, interactive magazines, brochures and other content marketing products. Customers already include brands like Verizon, Hilton Grand Vacations, Shire and Costa Coffee, with other large brands in the pipeline… The funds will be used to further develop and launch the company’s 2.0 version, which is already seeing massive interest in the design community.”