Investment Round-Up August 15-31: Acquisition
Tel Aviv, Israel-based Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP), provides and protects customers from cyberattacks. On August 30, 2021, the company acquired New York, United States-based Avanan, for an undisclosed amount. Avanan uses AI to protect cloud email and collaboration suites from cyber attacks. Avanan will integrate into the Check Point Infinity consolidated architecture to deliver the world’s most secure email security offering.
San Francisco, California, United States-based Zendesk (NYSE: ZEN) is a customer service platform that develops software to empower organization and customer relationships. On August 30, 2021, Zendesk acquired Cleverly.ai for an undisclosed amount. San Francisco, California, the United States-based- Cleverly.ai helps companies find the best answers to their customer’s questions by creating a knowledge layer on top of the applications they use every day. Previously, Zendesk acquired Smooch Technologies, Base, Outbound.io, Zopim, and BIME Analytics.
San Francisco, California, United States-based Patreon connects musicians and other artists with their fan base. On August 31, 2021, Patreon acquired Clear Talent for an undisclosed amount. New York, United States-based Clear Talent helps startups rapidly scale their talent acquisition efforts through best-in-class engineering, product, and design team. Previously, Patreon acquired Memberful, Subbable, and Kit.
Temple, Texas, United States-based PDI Software, an acquiree of TA Associates, is a global provider of enterprise software solutions to the convenience retail, wholesale petroleum, and logistics industries. On September 1, 2021, PDI Software acquired Orbis Tech for an undisclosed amount. London, England, United Kingdom-based Orbis Tech is a computer software company that offers custom software development for companies, businesses, and organizations. Previously, PDI Software acquired GasBuddy, Cybera, ZipLine, SwiftIQ, CStorePro, Outsite Network, DM2 Software, FuelsPricing, and Excentus.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based, Pixieset provides software solutions for professional photographers. On August 30, 2021, Pixieset acquired Flothemes for an undisclosed amount. Los Angeles, California, United States-based Flothemes offers customizable WordPress themes for photographers & creative businesses. This is the first acquisition for Pixieset.
Investment Round-Up August 15-31: Funding
Los Angeles, California, United States-based Cribl is an observability pipeline company that provides administrators control over their data in motion. On August 25, 2021, the company raised a Series C fund of $209.8M from Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, CRV Venture Capital, Redpoint Ventures, IVP (Institutional Venture Partners), and two others. Earlier, the company raised a Series B funding of $35M from Sequoia Capital and CRV Venture Capital. According to the company, “Our investors are validating this vision for a new architecture for enterprise observability, where enterprises can maintain a portfolio of data collectors, and a portfolio of data stores, where the right data can be stored in the right data store based on the enterprise’s requirements.”
Los Angeles, California, United States-based Databricks is a data-and-AI company that interacts with corporate information stored in the public cloud. On August 31, 2021, the company raised a Series H fund of $1.6B from Counterpoint Global, New Enterprise Associates Global Venture, Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners, Tiger Global Management, Gaingels Investment Venture, among others. Earlier, the company raised a Series G funding of $1B from Franklin Templeton Investments, and 24 other investors Databricks CEO and Co-founder Ali Ghodsi believes that its new capital will help secure market leadership.
Los Angeles, California, United States-based Oomnitza is an Enterprise Technology Management solution providing a single source of truth for endpoints, applications, cloud & networking. On August 26, 2021, the company raised a Series C fund of $20M from C5 Capital, Shasta Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Riverside Acceleration Capital, and Gula Tech Adventures. Earlier, the company raised a Series B funding of $12.5M from Riverside Acceleration Capital Shasta Ventures. According to Arthur Lozinski, CEO and Co-Founder of Oomnitza, “With our new capital partners’ deep experience in technology and security, we are boosting product innovation, market reach and are innovating on new ways to address this fast-growing and dynamic market.”
New York, United States-based Simplebet is a B2B product development company using machine learning and real-time technology to make every moment of every sporting event a betting opportunity. On August 26, 2021, the company raised a venture fund of $30M from Anti Fund and Nakisa Bidarian. Earlier, the company raised a Convertible Note funding of $500K from an unknown source. According to Chris Bevilacqua, Co-Founder and CEO of Simplebet, “These types of offerings represent the next evolution of sports betting and deliver enhanced opportunities for operators and fans alike.”
New York, United States-based Walnut offers a failure-free, codeless, and 100% customizable sales demo platform. On August 31, 2021, the company raised a Series A fund of $15M from Eight Roads Ventures. Earlier, the company raised a seed funding of $3.5M from undisclosed investors. According to one of the founders, Yoav Vilner, the new funding will “help grow the team across the U.S, Europe and Israel and continue developing its technology and platform, including tools to embed demos into a website for product-led growth.”
San Francisco, California, United States-based Uptrust is a legal tech startup that connects and engages low-income defendants to the services and support they need to avoid jail. On August 31, 2021, Uptrust raised a seed fund of $250K from the Fund for Health. Earlier, the company raised a seed funding of $2M from the De-Carceration Fund, Luminate Group, and Stand Together Ventures Lab. According to one of the founders, Jacob Sills, the new funding will help “target funds that were deeply steeped in criminal justice issues who would understand both the problem being solved and how Uptrust could both succeed in its mission and also succeed as a business.”
Our investment round-up between August 15-31 informs of global funds well allocated.
Dear Reader,
First, thank you for your precious time reading the stories (without paywalls) I publish on Startups to Enterprises covering the EU, China, the US, and India. Second, I request you to contribute financially (any amount) to help me sustain this as an independent digital business news media.
If I receive a request for a sponsored post, I ensure I see merit that is meaningful for erudite and informed readers like you. In the bargain, I lose out on sponsorships wherein I need funds to sustain this effort. Your contribution helps me stay afloat.
Please note that your contribution is treated as revenue generated and not a donation; hence, there are no 80G or other donation certificates. In fact, as I am eligible to pay for the revenue generated, I will pay taxes on the same.
You deserve to know that I abide by journalistic ethics and practices to ensure I tell the stories as is, unbiased. You can follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter, bookmark us on Google News, and finally, PayPal us here.
Founding Editor
Linda Ashok