Jupe Inc. has some new funds to help it make off-grid living a little easier for people.
The San Francisco startup, which has developed a yurt-like portable dwelling structure, raised $9.5 million in seed funding to further develop its product. The company designed its mobile, soft-sided cabin to be used at music festivals, as relief housing following natural disasters or as temporary guest accommodations.
The structures, which include queen-sized mattresses, LED lights and battery-supplied electricity, are far less expensive, much easier to set up and less costly to ship than traditional temporary housing, Jupe CEO Jeff Wilson said in a press release.
"Beyond creating a solution that scales the $4 billion glamping market, Jupe is a step forward in solving the housing crisis that impacts 1.6 billion people annually," Wilson said.
The company plans to use its new funds to hire a chief technology officer and expand its engineering team.
Here's more on its round an other seed funding news from this past week:
Lynx MD Ltd., Palo Alto, $12 million: MizMaa Ventures led the round for this developer of a service that helps health care providers and biotechnology companies share medical data while maintaining patient privacy. New York Life Ventures, Amdocs, iAngels, Triventures and UpWest also invested.
Jupe Inc., San Francisco, $9.5 million: Initialized Capital led the round for this developer of yurt-like portable dwelling structures. Y Combinator, Cathexis Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners also invested.
FlyFin AI Inc., San Jose, $8 million: Accel Partners led the round for this provider of an artificial intelligence-powered tax preparation service for freelancers. Falcon Edge also invested.
NextVivo Inc., Palo Alto, $7.9 million: Khosla Ventures led the round for this developer of a method for growing tumors and tissues in a lab for use in developing cancer and auto-immune treatments. Alexandria Venture Investments and Wilson Sonsini also participated.
Factor Technology Inc., San Francisco, $6 million: Gradient Ventures, Google’s artificial intelligence-focused fund, led the round for this provider of supply chain management and payment services. Xfund, Afore Capital and South Park Commons also invested.
Pontoro Inc., Mountain View, $6 million: Ulu Ventures led the round for this provider of a service that securitizes and sells off piecemeal loans for physical infrastructure construction. Franklin Templeton, Neva Sgr., Illuminate Financial, Adit Ventures, Fin Venture Capital, Viking Maccabee Ventures, Bloccelerate Ventures, Nevcaut Ventures and Quest Venture Partners also invested.
Keep Life Stories, Inc., (dba Honeycomb), San Mateo, $4 million: Stellation Capital led the round for this developer of an app that helps parents regularly record and collect photos, videos and voice recordings of their children.
Mnemonic Inc., San Francisco, $4 million: Kenetic led the round for this provider of a service that tracks and analyzes the market for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Monochrome Capital, Sound Ventures and Tribe Capital also invested.
Dispatch Goods Inc., San Francisco, $3.7 million: Congruent Ventures led the round for this provider of reusable to-go containers for restaurants and a service to collect them after they've been used. Bread and Butter Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Incite Ventures, MCJ and Berkeley SkyDeck also participated.
StudyFree Inc., San Francisco, $3 million: I2BF Global Ventures led the round for this developer of a website that connects students with study abroad programs and scholarships. TMT Investments and Techstars also invested.
