New Money is BostInno's report on all the tech funding deals this week. Check back for updates with more new money. Or, get a daily dose of Boston funding news via email in The Beat. Sign up here.
Luxury E-Commerce Software Startup Raises $38M with General Catalyst
Demandware founder Stephan Schambach (pictured) has raised $38 million for his new e-commerce software startup, NewStore, which focuses on mobile e-commerce and has luxury fashion as its first market focus. General Catalyst Partners led the deal. NewStore has signed a big-name luxury retailer, the company announced today in a news release. "It addresses the most substantial issue facing luxury retailers today: meeting the needs of demanding mobile consumers," said Mark West, CEO of LLX Global Business Services, which owns Jimmy Choo, Bally, and Belstaff, in a statement. LLX is NewStore's first customer, according to the release. General Catalyst also backed Demandware, which launched in 2004 as a cloud-based e-commerce platform. Demandware went public in 2012 and now has a market cap nearing $2 billion. Prior to that, in 1992, Schambach founded Intershop, one of the earliest e-commerce companies.
Acquia Raises $55M
The private equity affiliate of a boutique investment bank is leading a round of late-stage funding for Acquia. Centerview Capital Technology is leading a $55 million round for Acquia. Existing investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Split Rock Partners returned to participate in the round, according to a press release from Acquia. Boston firms North Bridge Venture Partners and Sigma Partners were backers of Acquia back in 2011, along with Tenaya. A 2013 Series E brought on Goldman Sachs and Accolade.
A bit about Centerview: The firm spun off from boutique bank Centerview Partners in 2010, led by former Gillette CEO Jim Kilts, who leads the consumer side. The tech side of Centerview has invested in Ayasdi, hostanalytics, Quantenna and richrelevance. Managing Director Ned Hooper gets the quote in the press release, which Acquia put out under embargo with several news outlets at 9 a.m. Monday.
Acquia, a Boston-based maker of content management system (CMS) software for the enterprise, had raised $119 million before this round, with the latest round a $50 million financing led by NEA in May 2014. Its CFO, Bill Sorensen, worked on IPOs at Qlik Technologies (2010) and BladeLogic (2007). Acquia hit $100M in revenue last year and has been talking about an IPO since at least 2014.
In its press release, the company said it's spending the funds on marketing, sales & software development, which seems to cover just about everything.
Renoviso announces NextView round
Renoviso, a startup offering an improved way to order replacement windows for your home, has raised $1.4 million in seed funding, lead investor NextView Ventures announced today. NextGen Angels and French angel investor Fabrice Grunda (OLX, Zingy) are also investors, alongside Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah. We first wrote about Renoviso's financing back in August, noting that Shah was leading an Angellist syndicate for the company. Shah told me he was introduced to Renoviso co-founder Eric Horndahl, a FlipKey veteran, through NextView, where he's an LP. >>>Renoviso Is Targeting Home Depot, Backed by Wayfair's Niraj Shah.
