Flybridge Capital general partner Jeff Bussgang (photo by Kyle Alspach / BostInno)
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.
Burst (Boston)
- Amount: $5.3 million in equity and debt, according to an SEC filing
- Investors: Not disclosed
- Details: Burst offers mobile video software that lets users capture video and upload it to the cloud, and then integrate the content into broadcast TV and social channels.
b.good (Boston)
- Amount: $2 million
- Investors: Form D filing lists 15 investors
- Details: Founded in 2003, b.good is a quick service restaurant based in Boston, MA. The concept is explained best by their founders Anthony Ackil and Jon Olinto, "see, we loved fast-food but hated how it made us feel. So, we created a place where you can feel good about the food you eat." Form D filing notes that b.good aims to raise a total of $6.2 million in this round.
Zerto (based in Israel with a Boston office)
- Amount: $50 million
- Investors: IVP (led the round), Access Industries (via its Israeli entity, Claltech), 83North, Battery Ventures, Harmony Partners, RTP Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, and board member Mark Leslie
- Details: Zerto, which focuses on providing disaster recovery software for protecting data, has now raised $110 million since it launched in 2009. The new funding will go toward product development and expansion, the firm said. Sandy Miller, general partner at IVP, said in a news release that “Zerto’s business growth, strong team, execution track record, and proven ability to address a market need by simplifying data center operations motivated IVP to add Zerto to our portfolio.” Zerto employs 70 in Boston and 300 overall, a spokesperson said.
Flybridge Capital Partners (Boston)
- Amount: Partial close of the firm's 4th venture capital fund, amount not disclosed
- Details: The fund is open for another 45 days, so the amount raised so far is not being shared yet, according to the firm. Flybridge general partner Jeff Bussgang wrote in a blog post that the new fund "is smaller and more focused. We expect to partner with 20-25 companies, as compared to the 45 in our third fund." Flybridge's third fund had totaled $280 million. The firm is focused on backing tech firms and is an investor in companies including Jibo, DataXu and Valore. For the fourth fund, Flybridge plans to continue focusing on cloud and data-related technologies, but will also be looking more at next-gen enterprise computing and technologies related to "the rise of the 'urban millennial,'" Bussgang wrote in his post. In addition, Bussgang disclosed that Matt Witheiler, a partner with Flybridge in New York, is leaving to join Wellington Management Company.
Goodwall (offices in Boston and Geneva, Switzerland)
- Amount: $2.1 million
- Investors: Francis Clivaz, co-founder of the European Council of International Schools (led the round); Ulrich Essmann and Tim Schumachers, co-founders of Sedo.com; angel investor Martin Steinmann; and other unnamed investors
- Details: Goodwall offers students an online community and mobile app that lets them showcase their academic achievements, get recognized by colleges and connect with peers. Goodwall says its community now includes more than half a million students from 150 countries, and is connected to more than 3,000 universities. The new funding “will allow us to extend our reach and offerings,” said Taha Bawa, Goodwall’s co-founder/CEO, in a news release.
SmashFly Technologies (Concord)
- Amount: $22 million Series B round, according to a press release
- Investors: The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from OpenView Venture Partners.
- Details: SmashFly, a recruitment marketing platform startup, plans to use the new funding to accelerate product development, open a Boston office and add 70 employees in engineering, customer service and sales and marketing to its existing 73-person headcount. Bob Goodman, partner at Bessemer, is joining the startup's board as a result of the Series B round, which brings its total investment to $31 million. SmashFly aims to make the recruitment process more efficient for customers like Nestle Purina and The Cheesecake Factory by automating the "process of attracting and nurturing candidates and converting them into job applicants." Goodman said in a statement that "the next wave of innovation in HR technology is happening in the front-end of talent acquisition, and SmashFly is leading this change by modernizing how employers attract and build relationships with today’s talent." The startup reported more than 100 percent client revenue retention last year.
- Source: Press Release
Evergage (Somerville)
- Amount: $10 million Series B round
- Investors: The round was led by Arrowroot Capital, with participation from existing investors Point Judith Capital and G20 Ventures.
- Details: The startup—which provides real-time personalization services to companies like Rue La La, Zumiez and LendingTree—said it will use the new funds to accelerate product development and add about 35 employees to its existing 50-person headcount. Matthew Safaii, managing partner at Arrowroot Capital, became Evergage's newest board member in tandem with the new funding. Personalization is the word on every marketer’s lips for 2016, and Evergage stands above in our eyes. Their end-to-end personalization platform empowers marketers in any industry to harness the power of machine learning, analytics and big data–in real time–to effortlessly provide unobtrusive and meaningful interactions with customers across channels,” Safaii said in a statement.
- Source: Story
Heuresis (Newton)
- Amount: $2.7 million, according to a Form D filing
- Investors: The Form D filing lists seven investors.
- Details: Heuresis is a startup that has developed the Pb200i Lead Paint Analyzer, a piece of hardware that utilizes advanced x-ray technology. It was founded by Hal Grodzins, the former longtime president and CEO of Niton Corp., and Peter Rothschild, the former longtime chief scientist and director of research and development at American Science and Engineering. The Form D indicates the startup is looking to raise a total of $4.8 million for this round.
- Source: Form D
