Get a daily dose of Boston startup funding news in The Beat. Sign up here. New Money is BostInno's report on all the tech funding deals this week. Check back for updates.
Zagster (Cambridge)
- Amount: $1.5 million
- Investors: Ongoing investors including LaunchCapital, Fontinalis Partners and Launchpad Venture Group, a spokesman said
- Details: Zagster provides bike sharing systems with a model of public-private sponsorship; among its customers have been General Motors, Samsung and Workday, along with major universities such as Duke, Yale and Princeton. The company, which took part in the Spring 2012 session of Techstars Boston, had most recently raised $3.5 million in funding last June.
- SEC filing.
ViralGains (Boston)
- Amount: $7.68 million, out of a total possible offering of $12.27 million, according to an SEC filing; ViralGains said in a news release that it has just completed the first close on a $12.3 million Series A round
- Investors: Stage 1 Ventures (led the round), with other investors including 500 Startups, Hub Angels, Launch Capital, Pallasite Ventures and unnamed angel investors
- Details: The company specializes in software for video marketing, with a focus on giving videos a viral lift. Customers have included JetBlue, Lexus and Showtime; the startup says its clients now include 36 companies in the Fortune 500. ViralGains is at "the center of a new revolution in online video," which is defined by "genuine consumer engagement, insight, and choice,” said CEO Tod Loofbourrow in the news release. In mid-2013, ViralGains had disclosed raising $2.3 million led by Hub Angels. Other past investors have included rapper Nasir “Nas” Jones and 500 Startups’ Dave McClure, along with local angels Ty Danco, Joe Caruso, Jay Batson and Semyon Dukach. ViralGains also took home the top prize of $100,000 in the 2013 MassChallenge accelerator program.
- News release.
Fantasy Labs (Beverly)
- Amount: Not disclosed
- Investor: Mark Cuban
- Details: The startup aims to help daily fantasy players achieve greater results, utilizing "cutting-edge data, tools, and content." Fantasy Labs doesn't compete with existing companies in the industry like DraftKings or FanDuel, but pledges to help users on those sites.
- Full story.
GRIT (Cambridge)
- Amount: $650,000
- Investors: Angel investor Jeff Kushner (led the round), other undisclosed investors
- Details: GRIT (Global Research Innovation and Technology) has developed an all-terrain, off-road wheelchair known as the “Freedom Chair.” The company was one of the $100,000 prize winners in the 2012 MassChallenge accelerator and business competition. The funding will go toward expanding marketing, sales and customer support, along with development. In addition to the new equity, GRIT has also won a $400,000 grant from from the United States - India Science & Technology Endowment Fund “to continue its humanitarian work in developing countries,” GRIT said in a news release.
Isabella Products (Concord)
- Amount: $923,991, according to a Form D filing
- Investors: The Form D filing lists 13 unidentified investors.
- Details: Isabella Products is a a consumer device and services company that developed the Vizit, a two-way wireless digital photo frame that connects with various devices, and Fable, a seven-inch browser-free Android tablet that's designed for children ages 3-10. In 2013, the company said it had raised $9.2 million to develop and release the tablet. The Form D filed by the company on Tuesday indicates that it just raised short of the $1 million it's looking to raise for this financing round.
- Source: Form D
Toast (Boston)
- Amount: $30M Series B round
- Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners led the round, with participation from GV, the venture arm of Alphabet (formerly known as Google). A handful of other investors that weren't identified also participated.
- Details: Toast has developed an Android-based restaurant technology platform that provides point-of-sale systems, online ordering, customer loyalty programs, business analytics and other solutions for restaurants. The startup plans to use the new funding to hire more people and continue product development.
- Source: Story
LTG Exam Prep Platform (Boston)
- Amount: $812,928, according to a Form D filing
- Investors: The Form D filing lists five unidentified investors.
- Details: LTG Exam Prep is a MassChallenge alumni that has developed Prep4GMAT, a mobile app that helps students prepare for the GMAT standardized test. The Form D filed by LTG on Monday indicates the startup, which spun out of MIT, is looking to raise a total of $8 million for this round. In 2014, the startup raised a $3 million Series A round led by the TAL Education Group, Atlas Venture, the Yongjin Group, the Zhen Fund and former co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers Jamie McCourt.
- Source: Form D
Erecruit (Boston)
- Amount: $3.5 million, according to a Form D filing
- Investors: The Form D filing lists one unidentified investor.
- Details: Erecruit is a human resources software company that was founded by Judd Hoffman and Danko Fatovic in 1996. Back in the summer of 2014, the company had announced that it raised its first round for $25 million from North Bridge Venture Partners. The Form D filed by the company shows it's planning to raise a total of $5 million for this round.
- Source: Form D
BondLink (Milton)
- Amount: $775,000, according to a Form D filing.
- Investors: The Form D filing lists three unidentified investors.
- Details: As we reported in the BostInno Beat last month, BondLink is an early-stage startup that is "building software systems to help push the municipal bond market forward" that was co-founded by Carl Query, a Compete.com veteran who had co-founded FlipKey (now owned by TripAdvisor), and Colin MacNaught, Massachusetts' former longtime assistant state treasurer for debt management. The Form D filed by the startup on Monday indicates BondLink is planning to raise a total of $2 million for this round. The Boston Globe last year called MacNaught, who left his public sector job last March, "the important official in Massachusetts public finance you don't know."
- Source: Form D
