FireHydrant announces $23M Series B to grow disaster management platform

No matter how carefully you set up your systems, sooner or later something fundamental breaks. How you react during those times and how quickly you respond to the crisis is what people remember after it’s over. FireHydrant, a startup that helps companies prepare for and manage such crises, announced a $23 million Series B investment […]

FreshBooks reaches $1B+ valuation with $130.75M for its SMB-focused accounting platform

FreshBooks, a Toronto-based cloud accounting software company focused on SMBs, announced today it has secured $80.75 million in a Series E round of funding, as well as $50 million in debt financing. Existing backer Accomplice led the equity financing, which the company described as “an inside round” that propelled FreshBooks to unicorn status with a […]

Latent AI, which says it can compress common AI models by 10x, lands some key backing

Roughly a year ago, Latent AI, a now three-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based startup, pitched a handful of investors during TechCrunch’s Battlefield competition. It didn’t win that contest, but that hasn’t kept it from winning the interest of investors elsewhere. It just closed on $19 million in Series A funding in a round co-led by Future […]

Car-sharing startup Turo has filed confidentially for an IPO

Turo, the peer-to-peer car-sharing startup, has initiated the confidential process of filing for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. The number of shares to be offered in the IPO and the price range have not yet been determined, the company said in a statement. Turo declined to provide additional information to […]

SpaceX to acquire satellite connectivity startup Swarm Technologies

SpaceX will be acquiring satellite connectivity startup Swarm Technologies, the first such deal for the 19-year-old space company headed by Elon Musk. Swarm operates a constellation of 120 sandwich-sized satellites as well as a ground station network. The deal would transfer control of Swarm’s ground and space licenses to SpaceX, in addition to any licenses […]

Turkey’s first decacorn: Trendyol raises $1.5B at a $16.5B valuation

Trendyol, an e-commerce platform based in Turkey, has raised $1.5 billion in a massive funding round that values the company at $16.5 billion. General Atlantic, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Princeville Capital and sovereign wealth funds, ADQ (UAE) and Qatar Investment Authority co-led the round.  The deal marks SoftBank’s first in the country. The new financing […]

RentCheck raises $2.6M in seed funding to help renters get their security deposits back

We’ve all been there. (Or at least I have.) You’re getting ready to vacate a property you’ve rented, only to be told by the landlord that you won’t be getting your security deposit back. This happened to me the first time I ever rented a place in the late 90s. I was shocked, but more […]