Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the Crunchbase News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.
Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily
Octopus Deploy picks up $172.5M
Octopus Deploy, developer of a deployment automation tool, raised $172.5 million in a funding round led by Insight Partners.
Founded in 2012, the Brisbane, Australia-based company was previously bootstrapped. It bills itself as a single place for teams to manage releases, automate deployments and automate the runbooks that keep software operating.
— Joanna Glasner
Classy picks up $118M for nonprofit fundraising platform
Classy, operator of an online platform used in nonprofit fundraising, reportedly raised $118 million in a new funding round backed by Norwest Venture Partners and other investors.
The San Diego-based company also said co-founder and CEO Scot Chisholm will step down and become the executive chairman. Chief Operating Officer Christopher Himes will assume the role of CEO.
Founded in 2009, San Diego-based Classy previously raised around $65.5 million in venture funding, per Crunchbase data.
— Joanna Glasner
Clearbanc becomes Clearco, raises $350M
Toronto growth capital firm Clearbanc announced $100 million in equity and $250 million of debt financing in a Series C round, as well as a rebrand to Clearco, to fuel the company’s ambitious growth plans. Oak HC/FT led the round.
The new investment brings the company’s total known funding to $585.3 million, including $170 million in equity, since it was founded in 2015, according to Crunchbase data. Its new valuation is approximately $2 billion, according to the company.
Co-founder and President Michele Romanow said in a statement that Clearco has invested $2 billion in more than 4,000 companies, and the company’s new name “reflects our broad commitment to partnering with founders to build thriving businesses.”
The new funding comes two months after the unveiling of Clearco’s new investment vehicle, ClearAngel, from which the company intends to lend $100 million to support founders who don’t have access to angel investors, an experienced board or adviser network.
— Christine Hall
Funding rounds
Dott raises $85M for e-scooters: Amsterdam-based Dott, a provider of electric scooters to many European cities, raised $85 million in equity and debt financing, with Sofina leading the investment. Founded in 2018, Dott previously raised around $57 million in known funding, per Crunchbase data.
Fintech and e-commerce
Injective Protocol banks $10M: Palo Alto-based decentralized derivatives exchange Injective Protocol closed on a $10 million round of funding to value the network at more than $1 billion, the company said. Backers in the new round include Pantera Capital, BlockTower and Hashed. Injective streamlines fully decentralized trading with a fast and secure layer-2 exchange that enables individuals to trade on any market, including stocks, cryptocurrency, Forex, NFTs and synthetic assets with zero fees.
The Tifin Group inks $22.3M: The Tifin Group, a Boulder, Colorado-based fintech platform that invests in technology companies that bridge the gap between investors and investments, closed on $22.3 million in Series B funding and added J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Morningstar and Broadridge as strategic partners. The new funding round follows a $22 million Series A round in late 2020, the company said. It will be deployed to support Tifin’s growth, additional acquisitions and strategic partnerships.
Candex raises $20M: Payment processing platform Candex raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Altos Ventures. The company was founded in 2011 by Jeremy Lappin and Shani Vaza to act as a master vendor for small suppliers, enabling companies to pay Candex directly, and then Candex remits payment to the suppliers. The company will deploy the new funding into technology development.
Biomicrogels Group brings in $13M: U.K.-based environmental biotech company Biomicrogels Group raised $13 million in funding to expand its products into the global market. The round was led by Gregory Berenstein. Biomicrogels is using its technology from the medical and pharmaceutical industry to create an eco-friendly line of home care products for cleaning water and hard surfaces from any type of oils, petroleum products and integrated pollutions.
— Christine Hall
Cybersecurity
HYPR closes $35M Series C: New York-based cybersecurity company HYPR landed a $35 million Series C led by Advent International through its technology fund Advent Tech. Previous investors in the company include RRE Ventures, .406 Ventures, BoldStart, Top Tier Capital, MESH, Alumni Ventures Group, Allen & Co, Samsung NEXT and Mastercard.
HYPR provides passwordless authentication for users, a market that has picked up momentum as more employees work from home and better authentication security is needed. The company has raised $70 million to date.
— Chris Metinko
Enterprise Software
RippleMatch raises additional $23.5M: New York-based RippleMatch, a recruiting platform, closed an additional $23.5 million in additional funding. The round was led by Invus Opportunities with participation from Renegade Partners and Gaingels as well as existing investors G20, Work-Bench, Alleycorp, Bullpen Capital and Accomplice.
RippleMatch’s platform automatically identifies candidates from more than 1,300 college campuses for recruitment teams — helping with things such as candidate sourcing, diversity recruitment and recruiting analytics.
— Chris Metinko
Illustration: Dom Guzman
Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the Crunchbase Daily.
67.1K Followers