HackerRank, the skills-based recruiting platform and online coding challenge community, today announced that it has raised a $30 million Series C funding round led by JMI Equity, a fund that specializes in helping software companies scale. Existing investors Khosla Ventures, Battery Ventures, Randstad and Chartline Capital Partners also participated in this round. As HackerRank co-founder and… Read More
If you’ve ever tried to order and source products from overseas you likely know the process is broken. Factories rarely talk directly to customers and middlemen are difficult to track down and there’s usually a significant delay while you wait for them to communicate back and forth with you and the factory. There’s also the trust factor, where you never really know what… Read More
February 13, 2018
JumpCloud, one of the fastest growing companies in Colorado, is looking for awesome Developers, QA engineers, DevOps admins, and Customer Success Engineers. Over the next year, they are planning to hire 50 people for the engineering team and about 70 across the entire company.
JumpCloud is focused on delivering cloud-based directory services via a SaaS model. They are trying to solve some very difficult problems around identity, authentication, security, and cloud scaling.
JumpCloudâs mission deeply resonates with me because they are disrupting a two decade old monopoly in directory services and giving IT organizations freedom of choice with their IT solutions. Itâs an exciting space and we (Foundry Group, OpenView, and Techstars Ventures) are betting that the JumpCloud team has the winning approach.
Since 1994, Iâve worked with the CEO, Rajat Bhargava, on eight companies and Iâm psyched about the company and culture that the team is building there.
If you are up for a new challenge leveraging modern technology platforms at a well-funded startup in Boulder, drop the
Also published on Medium.
In a world where sensors are capturing ever-increasing amounts of data, being able to collect that high volume and measure it over time becomes increasingly important. InfluxData, the startup built on top of the open source time series database platform, announced it has received a $35 million Series C investment today led by Sapphire Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software… Read More
UJET, a startup that makes software to improve customer support, said today that it’s raised a $25 million Series B led by GV (formerly known as Google Ventures). Other participants in the round include returning investors Kleiner Perkins and DCM Ventures and new backer Citi Ventures. Read More
Frank and Oak, the direct-to-consumer clothing brand based out of Montreal, is today announcing the close of a $16 million USD Series C funding round led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, with participation from Goodwater Capital and Investissement Québec. Frank and Oak launched in 2012 offering personalized menswear, with a recommendations newsletter that let users shop without… Read More
Travis VanderZanden. If you’ve been following the fast-changing transportation industry, it’s a name that may sound familiar. Until September 2016, VanderZanden was VP of growth at Uber and before that, COO of its fierce rival Lyft, which had acquired his on-demand car wash company, Cherry, in 2013. It was a dramatic few years for VanderZanden, once he joined the ride-hailing race.… Read More
Starling, the U.K. challenger bank that offers a mobile-only current account, continues to execute on its marketplace banking strategy. Following the required regulatory approval, the Starling Marketplace is adding a number of financial services integrations, spanning pensions, savings, travel insurance and mortgage brokerage. Read More
Finnish fintech startup Zervant, which provides online invoicing software for small business and entrepreneurs across Europe, has raised €6 million in funding. The round was led by Tesi, with participation from Northzone, NFT Ventures, and Conor Venture Partners. Read More
Homebrew is announcing the close of its third fund. This time they’ve raised $90 million, an increase from $50 million in 2015 and $35 million for its debut fund in 2013. Led by Hunter Walk and Satya Patel, the seed-stage venture firm has spent the past five years investing in U.S.-based startups at the onset. Read More
The Super Bowl is over, but Tom Brady is still at work. The quarterback who will undeniably go down in NFL history as one of the greatest of all time is already thinking about his next act. Alongside Michael Strahan (another football great turned pop cultural icon) and Gotham Chopra (producer, director and former war correspondent), Brady is launching a new sports media startup. Read More
February 12, 2018
Announcing the Greater Colorado Venture Fund!
I am proud to share that the Colorado Venture Capital Authority (VCA), in conjunction with the Office of Economic Growth and International Trade (OEDIT), has selected the Greater Colorado Venture Fund to steward the stateâs rural venture capital allocation.
Following a competitive application process, the state will be funding an initial $9.1 million of a target $15 million venture fund to be invested in startups across 54 eligible Colorado counties. This fund will be a cornerstone in the stateâs larger initiative to support entrepreneurs in smaller communities in Colorado, an effort I have been heavily involved in.
Led by Marc Nager, former CEO of Startup Weekend and UP Global (where I was on the board, now part of Techstars), the GCVF team members are already leaders in Coloradoâs Rural Startup Community. Since joining the Telluride Venture Accelerator in 2016, Marc has already led many initiatives for entrepreneurs outside of the Front Range. Marc is joined by Cory Finney, the fundâs full-time Fund Director, and Jamie Finney, Venture Partner. The Finney brothers, originally from Durango, are sixth-generation Coloradans and partners at Kokopelli Capital. Together, this team is already at the center of Rural Coloradoâs rising startup.
Having worked with the team throughout the application process, the GCVFâs application embraces this fundâs national spotlight, while remaining grounded in rural Colorado communities. They have earned endorsements from local leaders across the state, as well as national players such as the Kauffman Foundation, the Economic Innovation Group, Village Capital, Seth Levine and myself.
As I first documented in 2012 in my book Startup Communities, Colorado has become a leader in building entrepreneurial ecosystems. In selecting the GCVF to invest its funds, the state is showing its commitment to building healthy communities by empowering entrepreneurs first. I look forward to collaborating with the GCVF team to redefine venture capital in small and rural communities.
Also published on Medium.
XebiaLabs, the Boston-based software startup that helps companies automate DevOps functions, announced a healthy $100 million Series B investment led by Susquehanna Growth Equity and Accel. Today’s investment brings the total raised to $121.5 million. Derek Langone, Xebia’s CEO says they raised the money out of a desire to expand more rapidly. “You always want to raise money… Read More
nOCD, an app created to help people treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, will launch an Android version and add more features after raising a $1 million seed round from early-stage healthcare investment firm 7wire Ventures. Read More
Magic Leap is the gift that keeps on giving. The company has been working for years on augmented reality technologies and raised a gigantic pile of cash on the way. German media company Axel Springer is announcing today that it is investing an undisclosed amount in Magic Leap. The German company is taking a stake in Magic Leap through its Axel Springer Digital Ventures division. In its… Read More
Sramana Mitra: Can you take us through a couple of your portfolio companies that are really interesting? What can we learn from them? T.M. Ravi: In the Internet of Things space, the big shift is the...
___
The online multimedia collaboration space is rich with opportunities for entrepreneurship. Read on for an in-depth perspective. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to HighFive and...
___
In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:
___
Sramana Mitra: Interesting. When did you crack your first multi-million enterprise deal in this mode? Rob Douglas: A couple of years ago. Now it’s a regular course for our company. Sramana Mitra:...
___
Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with T.M. Ravi was recorded in September 2016. T.M. Ravi...
___
Copyright © 2020 iStart Valley.
