Hotel Engine raises $65M at a $1.3B valuation as corporate travel rebounds

With the pandemic heading into its second year, people all over the world are traveling more for work again. If you’ve flown anytime in the past few months, the packed planes are in part evidence of that. Further evidence that travel is rebounding lies in the number of people staying in hotels, and the money […]

Mexican BNPL player Kueski secures $202M in debt & equity as it nears $100M+ in ARR

Kueski, a Mexico City-based “buy now, pay later” and online consumer lender, announced today it has secured $202 million in equity and debt funding. StepStone Group (which recently acquired Greenspring Capital) led the $102 million equity round and Victory Park Capital led the $100 million debt financing. StepStone was joined by other new investors including […]

Karamba Security raises another $10M for its IoT and automotive security platform

Karamba Security, an Israel-based security startup that focuses on the IoT and automotive industry, today announced a $10 million extension to its $12 million Series B round from 2017. This extension was led by automotive startup VinFast, a member of Vietnam’s Vingroup conglomerate, which itself is reportedly looking to raised $1 billion for VinFast. South […]

When grandma falls, SafelyYou is there to catch her (on video)

The life of a tech journalist can be soul-sapping. I talk to so many founders — capable, smart, well-connected, experienced founders — who are working on problems that genuinely just don’t matter. They might have successfully raised money. Perhaps they even rounded up a team of smart people like them. They are solving problems that […]

Kayak co-leads Life House’s $60M Series C to ‘reimagine’ the hotel experience

Life House, a boutique hotel operator that has built software aimed at helping independent hotel owners and operators, has raised $60 million in a Series C round of funding co-led by new investors Kayak and Inovia Capital. Existing backers Tiger Global, Derive Ventures, Thayer Ventures, JLL, Trinity Ventures, Sound Ventures and Cooley LLP, among others, […]

Toronto-based VFX startup MARZ raises $5.3M to develop AI technology solutions

Technology and visual effects startup Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies (MARZ) has raised $5.3 million in Series A funding. The investment was led by Round13 Captial with participation from Rhino Ventures and Harlo Equity Partners. MARZ plans to use the funding to grow its core VFX business and accelerate the development of its ‘AI for VFX’ […]

Francophone African super app Gozem grabs $5M to expand and offer more services

Gozem, a super app that provides a host of services — including transport, e-commerce and financial services in Francophone Africa — has raised $5 million in Series A financing, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The Togo- and Singapore-based company received investment from AAIC, Thunes (TransferTo), Momentum Ventures (SMRT), Innoport Ventures (Schulte Group), CMC Ventures (National […]

South African talent marketplace OfferZen gets $5.2M to deepen European expansion

South African tech talent marketplace OfferZen is one of the beneficiaries of the growing global demand for tech workers: It confirmed to TechCrunch that it has raised €4.5 million ($5.07 million) in Series A funding from South African investment company Base Capital. This is OfferZen’s first round of funding since Philip Joubert, Malan Joubert and Brett […]