Top 2023 resources on ventures

Best ventures resource in 2023.
Learn more about ventures to improve your e-commerce strategy.

• 10club raises $40 million seed funding to build Thrasio of India - 10club, a six-month-old Indian startup that is building a Thrasio-like venture, said on Tuesday it has raised $40 million in what is one of the largest seed financing rounds in the South Asian market. The round was co-led by Fireside Ventures (a prominent Indian investor in consumer and hardware tech space) and an unnamed global […]
  Topics: round, ventures, indian, thrasio, funding, startup, india, raised, techcrunch, seed, build, firms, million, ecommerce, 10club, brands, raises.
• 9am.health launches with $3.7M to tackle virtual diabetes care - The virtual diabetes clinic is designed to provide people living with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes access to personalized care and affordable medications from their homes.
  Topics: care, company, launches, healthcare, patients, 9amhealth, virtual, westermann, 37m, type, ventures, tackle, diabetes, living, techcrunch.
• A look back at the year that the Sub-Saharan African startup scene found its stride - African tech in 2017 was about the normalization of market events mostly absent even a decade ago.
  Topics: ventures, scene, startup, african, yearandelas, uganda, subsaharan, york, stride, venture, expansion, zuckerberg, vc, tech, look.
• AKUA lands $3.2M to turn kelp into burgers - AKUA aims to replace the unsustainable part of food — factory farming — with regenerative ocean farming.
  Topics: 32m, kelp, burgers, techcrunch, boyd, burger, product, company, lands, food, ventures, plantbased, akua, myers, turn.
• Acko, a digital insurance provider in India, raises another $65M at a $300M valuation - Acko — a startup out of India that has taken on the country’s antiquated insurance industry with a digital-first product for drivers and others in transportation-related scenarios (for example, cancelled ticket insurance) — has raised more funding as it passes 20 million customers on its books. The company has closed a Series C of $65 […]
  Topics: valuation, india, companies, ventures, acko, services, amazon, million, raises, provider, company, 65m, digital, 300m, insurance, market.
• Anvyl, looking to help D2C brands manage their supply chain, raises $9.3M - Growing D2C brands face an interesting challenge. While they’ve eliminated much of the hassle of a physical storefront, they must still deal with all the complications involved in managing inventory and manufacturing and shipping a physical product to suppliers. Anvyl, with a fresh $9.3 million in Series A funding, is looking to jump in and […]
  Topics: anvyl, supply, help, chain, funding, techcrunch, million, manage, d2c, brands, ventures, company, traveled, logistics, raises, looking.
• As post-pandemic e-commerce booms, Rally raises $6M for headless checkout platform - You might have heard of “headless” content management systems, whereby you can run a CMS without being locked into a front-end platform. Well, a similar movement is coming to e-commerce. The latest incarnation of this movement is the news that “headless checkout” startup Rally Commerce Inc. has secured $6 million in seed funding. The wider […]
  Topics: merchants, headless, booms, commerce, rally, platform, ecommerce, 6m, funding, postpandemic, checkout, build, raises, platforms, techcrunch, ventures.
• Bain Capital Ventures taps ex-Affirm exec as its newest partner to focus on early-stage fintech and commerce - Bain Capital Ventures has named Christina Melas-Kyriazi, a former Affirm executive and angel investor, as its newest partner. Melas-Kyriazi will be based in the firm’s San Francisco office and focus on seed and Series A investments in emerging fintech and commerce companies — two core areas of focus for the firm. “Christina’s expertise at the […]
  Topics: newest, focus, fintech, exec, earlystage, taps, capital, firm, melaskyriazi, companies, bain, areas, investing, partner, product, billion, techcrunch, ventures, exaffirm.
• Bandit ML helps e-commerce businesses present the most effective offer to each shopper - Bandit ML aims to optimize and automate the process of presenting the right offer to the right customer. The startup was part of the summer 2020 class at accelerator Y Combinator . It also raised a $1.32 million seed round in September from YC, Haystack Fund, Webb Investment Network, Liquid 2 Ventures, Jigsaw Ventures, Basecamp Fund, […]
  Topics: present, effective, stores, startup, ecommerce, technology, software, techcrunch, ml, ventures, helps, offer, bandit, conti, uber, shopper, tools, businesses.
• Bloomscape raises $7.5M to sell you plants of all sizes - Direct-to-consumer plant retailer Bloomscape has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding, with several high-profile D2C startup founders signing on as investors. Founder and CEO Justin Mast told me that his family has five generations of experience as greenhouse owners and operators, and that he first tried to get Bloomscape off the ground more than […]
  Topics: sell, techcrunch, sizes, mast, support, plant, mom, cofounder, service, plants, ventures, bloomscape, raises, 75m, experience.
• Brazil’s Divibank raises millions to become the Clearbanc of LatAm - Divibank, a financing platform offering LatAm businesses access to growth capital, has closed on a $3.6 million round of seed funding led by San Francisco-based Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV). São Paulo-based Divibank was founded in March 2020, right as the COVID-pandemic was starting. The company has built a data-driven financing platform aimed at giving businesses […]
  Topics: clearbanc, clients, divibank, ventures, brazils, better, platform, saas, ecommerce, growth, capital, latam, raises, techcrunch, taboada, millions.
• Carousell marks seventh anniversary with a new logo - Singapore-based online advertising platform Carousell has marked its seventh anniversary with the launch of a new visual identity.
  Topics: revenue, presence, way, online, visual, marks, seventh, selling, platform, logo, carousell, anniversary, southeast, ventures.
• Cazoo, the used-car sales portal, raises another $116M - The rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic has put a freeze on many in-person sales and transactions for goods and services, so in what might be a sign of the times for funding in the startup world, today a company in the U.K. that’s been building a portal to carry out car sales in the […]
  Topics: world, ventures, vehicles, usedcar, techcrunch, raises, million, company, delivery, uk, sales, portal, car.
• Commerce platform ShopUp raises $75 million in Bangladesh’s largest funding - ShopUp, a startup that is digitizing neighborhood stores in Bangladesh, has raised $75 million in a new financing round that is also the largest in the South Asian market. Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures led ShopUp’s $75 million Series B round. Prosus Ventures as well as existing investors Flourish Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, and VEON Ventures […]
  Topics: small, shops, funding, ventures, platform, bangladesh, startup, raises, stores, round, bangladeshs, india, commerce, largest, million, techcrunch, shopup.
• Cookware startup Caraway raises $5.3M as it eyes new product categories - Caraway, a direct-to-consumer startup selling ceramic pots and pans, is announcing that it has raised $5.3 million in seed funding. Founder and CEO Jordan Nathan (previously a brand manager at e-commerce holding company Mohawk Group) told me that he became interested in cookware after burning a Teflon pan and learning more about the dangers of […]
  Topics: pots, startup, really, eyes, raises, cookware, ventures, nathan, 53m, teflon, pandemic, categories, product, techcrunch, launch, pans, caraway.
• Crossing Minds brings in new capital to provide recommendations that don’t require identifiable information - Up to 60% of consumers are often new users of a shopping or media site, so that “cold start” can be a problem in terms of recommendations.
  Topics: provide, information, recommendations, users, ventures, identifiable, techcrunch, minds, capital, customers, company, increase, inkbox, robicquet, crossing, require, dont.
• Cure Hydration raises $2.6M for its healthy sports drink alternative - Cure Hydration is announcing that it has raised $2.6 million in seed funding as it brings a healthier approach to the sports beverage market. Founder and CEO Lauren Picasso, whose past roles include serving as director of marketing at Jet.com, told me that she became interested in the market after training for a triathlon; she’d […]
  Topics: ceo, 26m, products, alternative, market, cure, uses, drink, health, techcrunch, picasso, training, hydration, ventures, healthy, water, raises.
• Curtsy, a clothing resale app aimed at Gen Z women, raises $11 million Series A - Curtsy, a clothing resale app and competitor to recently IPO’d Poshmark, announced today it has raised $11 million in Series A funding for its startup focused on the Gen Z market. The app, which evolved out of an earlier effort for renting dresses, now allows women to list their clothes, shoes and accessories for resale, […]
  Topics: items, supplies, gen, app, z, raises, women, clothing, resale, sellers, million, techcrunch, series, shipping, ventures, curtsy, selling.
• Customer support startup Gorgias raises $25M - Gorgias announced today that it has raised $25 million in Series B funding, bringing the startup’s pre-money valuation to $300 million. When the company raised its Series A just over a year ago, CEO Romain Lapeyre (who founded Gorgias with CTO Alex Plugaru) told me that it works with e-commerce businesses to automate responses to […]
  Topics: ventures, team, ecommerce, 25m, lapeyre, raised, startup, service, gorgias, customer, merchants, raises, techcrunch, support.
• Discount grocery startup Misfits Market raises $200M - Misfits Market, a startup known for selling “ugly” fruits and vegetables at discount prices, announced this morning that it has raised $200 million in Series C funding. The company says this brings its total funding to $301.5 million and moves its valuation into unicorn territory (i.e. above $1 billion). It isn’t getting any more specific […]
  Topics: million, ventures, raises, techcrunch, grocery, food, stores, misfits, ramesh, products, company, 200m, discount, startup, market.
• Dispatch Goods takes in $3.7M for restaurant, food delivery container reuse - The company takes on the heavy lifting of recapturing plastic containers, washing/sanitizing them and selling them back to restaurants for reuse.
  Topics: goods, team, containers, container, dispatch, plastic, delivery, reuse, takes, restaurant, food, techcrunch, 37m, hoell, company, ventures, infrastructure, tekle.
• Drip aims to provide thrill of live commerce to NFTs, physical collectibles - Drip is "Shopify for livestream commerce,” providing tooling so users can run live stream auctions, drops or buy it now formats via Drip’s existing marketplace.
  Topics: live, physical, techcrunch, super, product, nft, collectibles, thrill, aims, provide, ventures, users, nfts, commerce, drip, lawrence, selling, pokémon, video.
• Ecommerce Product Releases: January 2, 2022 - Here is a list of product releases and updates for late December from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on next-day and zero-emissions deliveries, in-app referrals, video content creation, early-stage financing, and non-fungible tokens.
  Topics: product, refersion, marketing, releases, social, delivery, ecommerce, ventures, million, video, enables, platform.
• Egyptian social e-commerce platform Taager raises $6.4M led by 4DX Ventures - The global social market is rapidly growing. With over 1.25 million online social sellers in Egypt alone, the Egyptian social e-commerce market is forecast to be worth more than $14.8 billion by 2024. One of its players, Taager, is a social e-commerce platform enabling online merchants with end-to-end logistics. Today, it is announcing that it […]
  Topics: taager, led, raises, 64m, online, business, products, egyptian, techcrunch, merchants, platform, ecommerce, growth, social, ventures, suppliers, lastmile.
• Egypt’s Flextock closes $3.25M in the largest pre-seed yet in MENA - Flextock, one of the 10 African startups from the recent Y Combinator winter batch, has bagged an impressive pre-seed round just two months after graduation.  The five-month-old company, which helps consumers and businesses manage e-commerce and fulfillment operations —  from warehousing and logistics to delivery and cash collection — has closed a $3.25 million pre-seed […]
  Topics: flextock, preseed, company, techcrunch, 325m, ecommerce, ventures, closes, logistics, largest, mena, investment, mossaad, egypts, merchants, region, egyptian.
• Fashion outlet Otrium raises €24 million - Otrium, an online fashion outlet platform from the Netherlands, has raised 24 million euros. This happened during a series B round, led by Eight Roads Ventures and current investor Index Ventures. With the money, Otrium wants to further expand its platform. Index Ventures is a well-known investor in the online… Continue reading
  Topics: outlet, fashion, million, raises, wellknown, brands, platform, online, ventures, otrium, storage, takes.
• Finnish startup Swappie expands in Europe - Swappie, which sells refurbished iPhones online, is expanding across Europe. Today, the Finnish startup launched its online store in Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Portugal. The news about the European expansion comes simultaneously with the announcement about a capital injection. The Helsinki-based startup raised a 42.5 million euros Series B… Continue reading
  Topics: sells, europe, expands, finnish, startup, refurbishment, raised, million, ventures, online, euros, swappie, store.
• Flip bags $28M to turn beauty, wellness social commerce on its head - Flip mixes a live commerce mobile app with real customer reviews to improve the buying experience and opportunity for the creator economy.
  Topics: head, agha, beauty, live, streamlined, turn, wellness, experience, ecommerce, brands, techcrunch, flip, bags, ventures, social, 28m, commerce.
• Flow raises $37M to simplify international e-commerce - Flow, a startup that helps brands and retailers build a cross-border e-commerce business, has raised $37 million in Series B funding. CEO Rob Keve said that thanks to the magic of social media and digital marketing, many direct-to-consumer brands are reaching consumers around the world. However, the actual shopping experience for those consumers often leaves […]
  Topics: flows, continue, 37m, wants, shipping, flow, brands, techcrunch, simplify, international, ventures, raises, business, ecommerce.
• Flyp wants to give power resellers enterprise-grade e-commerce tooling - There is no shortage of platforms out there to sell your old stuff. From thredUp and The RealReal to Facebook Marketplace to eBay, the tech world has long sought to capitalize on the generally wasteful attitude of consumerism over the last half century. But lurking among these platforms is a group not often thought about, […]
  Topics: used, wants, inventory, enterprisegrade, resellers, ecommerce, group, ventures, platform, power, tooling, million, startup, techcrunch, flyp, platforms.
• Foody cooks up marketplace for culinary creators - Husband-and-wife co-founders Daniel and Brenna Stitzel have developed a way for foodies to monetize their culinary creations.
  Topics: ventures, share, techcrunch, creators, software, foody, monetize, cooks, serena, food, culinary, stitzel, including, marketplace, recipes.
• Forerunner Ventures’ Kirsten Green demystifies the COVID-19 consumer era - “In general, the consumer has proven to be more resilient than I would have thought,” said Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures, which has investments in breakout D2C stars like Glossier, Hims and Bonobos. She joined us for an Extra Crunch Live conversation to help us better understand buying habits in the COVID-19 era. With […]
  Topics: era, ways, uncertainty, wrongher, work, value, consumer, understand, covid19, forerunner, techcrunch, worstcase, demystifies, ventures, kirsten, green, topline.
• Former Stitch Fix COO Julie Bornstein is rewriting the e-commerce playbook - Backed by Forerunner Ventures, NEA and True Ventures, The Yes is an AI-powered shopping platform.
  Topics: officer, techcrunch, capital, fix, coo, playbook, rewriting, bornstein, julie, yes, chief, technology, ecommerce, shopping, ventures, stitch.
• Francophone African super app Gozem grabs $5M to expand and offer more services - Gozem, a super app that provides a host of services — including transport, e-commerce and financial services in Francophone Africa — has raised $5 million in Series A financing, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The Togo- and Singapore-based company received investment from AAIC, Thunes (TransferTo), Momentum Ventures (SMRT), Innoport Ventures (Schulte Group), CMC Ventures (National […]
  Topics: company, costamagna, app, africa, techcrunch, grabs, expand, model, super, gozem, african, offer, francophone, financing, ventures, drivers, services.
• Ghost Financial whips up new capital into finance tools for ghost kitchens - After operating his own ghost kitchen, Keto Kitchen, in Austin for the past year, serial entrepreneur John Meyer saw that fintech resources for the industry were lacking. When Keto Kitchen had good sales in the first quarter, Meyer went to the bank to ask for expansion financing and recalled the banker asking him what a […]
  Topics: restaurants, industry, finance, tools, capital, ghost, kitchens, ventures, techcrunch, million, whips, financial, credit, restaurant, kitchen, meyer.
• Gig workers need health & benefits — Catch is their safety net - One of the hottest Y Combinator startups just raised a big seed round to clean up the mess created by Uber, Postmates and the gig economy. Catch sells health insurance, retirement savings plans and tax withholding directly to freelancers, contractors, or anyone uncovered. By building and curating simplified benefits services, Catch can offer a safety […]
  Topics: net, health, gig, benefits, retirement, tyrrell, ventures, users, workers, work, safety, need, insurance, catch, founder.
• Good Eggs raises $100M and plans to launch in Southern California - Grocery delivery startup Good Eggs is announcing that it has raised $100 million in new funding, and that it’s planning to launch in Southern California in either the summer or fall of this year. Parts of this story might sound familiar to readers familiar with Good Eggs — when the startup raised its most recent […]
  Topics: launch, california, hall, raises, 100m, good, officer, techcrunch, funding, plans, grocery, southern, products, chief, eggs, ventures, growth.
• Goodcall picks up $4M, Yelp partnership to answer merchant inbound calls - Goodcall’s free cloud-based conversational platform leverages artificial intelligence to manage incoming business phone calls and boost customer service while assisting to other patrons.
  Topics: partnership, summers, merchants, goodcall, answer, phone, techcrunch, inbound, picks, merchant, yelp, calls, businesses, service, 4m, small, ventures.
• Haute Hijab raises US$2.3 million for expansion - Fashion and lifestyle startup targeting Muslim women, Haute Hijab, has raised US$2.3 million in seed funding.
  Topics: melanie, expansion, million, online, ventures, raises, muslim, lifestyle, women, haute, ball, us23, hijab.
• Heroes raises €55 million to acquire and scale Amazon brands - Heroes, a company from the United Kingdom, has raised 65 million dollars (55 million euros) in a round led by Fuel Ventures and 360 Capital Partners. The company acquires, operates and scales small and medium-sized ecommerce brands that sell on Amazon. Heroes is a new ecommerce business that’s focused on… Continue reading
  Topics: raises, seen, heroes, amazon, brands, company, team, scale, acquire, million, vision, ventures, seed, largest.
• Indian beauty e-commerce Purplle raises $45 million - Purplle, an e-commerce platform for beauty products in India, said on Monday it has raised $45 million in a new financing round as it looks to expand its presence in the world’s second-largest internet market. The new round, a Series D, was financed by Sequoia Capital India and existing investors Verlinvest, Blume Ventures and JSW […]
  Topics: beauty, million, india, ecommerce, brands, purplle, ventures, indian, round, techcrunch, raised, raises, growth, products.
• India’s ElasticRun raises $75 million to grow its commerce platform for neighborhood stores - A startup that is helping more than 125,000 neighborhood stores in India secure working capital, inventory from top brands and work with e-commerce firms to boost revenues said on Thursday it has raised a new financing round as it looks to further its reach in the world’s second-largest internet market. Pune-based ElasticRun said it has […]
  Topics: raises, indias, elasticrun, firms, startup, stores, neighborhood, ecommerce, startups, platform, techcrunch, round, ventures, commerce, million, grow, secure.
• India’s Simpl raises $40 million for its buy now, pay later service - Bangalore-based fintech startup Simpl has raised $40 million as it looks to expand its online buy now, pay later service’s offerings in the world’s second-largest market. Valar Ventures and IA Ventures led the six-year-old startup’s Series B round. LFH Ventures and some existing investors also participated in the round, said the startup, which has raised […]
  Topics: service, pay, customers, indias, ecommerce, startup, services, raises, million, checkout, later, ventures, buy, experience, techcrunch, merchants, simpl.
• Investment Firm Wants to Revive RadioShack as a Major Ecommerce Site - The acquisition occurs as online shopping and demand for electronics and affordable computing has soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Expect RadioShack.com to relaunch soon.
  Topics: retail, revive, shopping, firm, radioshack, site, company, investment, brands, brand, ventures, ecommerce, major, online, wants.
• Italic launches its marketplace for affordable luxury goods from top manufacturers - A new startup called Italic says it’s already received more than 100,000 signups for a marketplace where you can buy handbags, eyewear and other luxury products directly from the manufacturers who work with the world’s best-known brands. The marketplace is officially launching today. Italic is also announcing that it’s raised $13 million in funding from […]
  Topics: ventures, products, product, model, launches, manufacturers, italic, affordable, goods, cai, luxury, cost, brand, marketplace.
• Kabbage founders raise $11M for Drum, an SMB marketplace for sourcing salespeople, goods and services - It’s often said that smaller businesses get the short end of the stick when it comes to technology solutions: they are more high-maintenance than consumers, but not as lucrative as larger enterprises, leaving them caught somewhere in an unsatisfying middle. But today, two serial entrepreneurs who have already built one big startup catering to SMBs […]
  Topics: salespeople, kabbage, founders, drum, raise, services, frohwein, techcrunch, work, marketplace, goods, smb, ventures, businesses, platform, sourcing, sales.
• Kencko takes in new capital to shake up how we consume our fruits, vegetables - Today, the company has over a dozen flavor options for its organic smoothies, four flavors of gumdrops and is entering the hot bowls space in February.
  Topics: shake, vegetables, capital, million, ventures, fruits, funding, smoothies, consume, poised, takes, company, kencko, techcrunch.
• Kenya-based Powered by People gets $5 million seed to scale operations of its wholesale e-commerce platform - A wholesale e-commerce platform based in Kenya, with hubs in the Americas, Asia and Europe, Powered by People, has secured $5 million in seed funding to increase its transaction volume by growing the number of small brands using its B2B online marketplace to reach international buyers. The equity funding was led by Susa Ventures and […]
  Topics: orders, startup, brands, scale, kenyabased, million, gets, traders, small, markets, techcrunch, platform, ventures, seed, powered, wholesale, operations.
• Kenyan startup Wowzi secures $3.2 million from 4DX Ventures, Andela co-founder to expand across Africa - Kenyan startup Wowzi has secured new funding to expand the reach of its platform, which turns social media users into brand influencers, to West and Southern Africa — as it taps the increasing usage of social sites across the continent driven by the proliferation of smartphones and a deepening internet penetration. Wowzi, which connects social […]
  Topics: influencers, cofounder, secures, campaigns, users, africa, techcrunch, expand, brands, social, million, kenyan, media, marketing, wowzi, startup, ventures, andela.
• Kilo, a Vietnamese B2B e-commerce platform for MSMEs, bags $5M pre-Series A - Kilo, a Vietnam-based B2B e-commerce platform that connects wholesalers with micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), wants to digitize the local retail value chain via technology. “In Vietnam, micro, small and medium enterprises are the backbone of the retail economy — serving 80% of all purchases,” CEO and founder of Kilo Kartick Narayan said. Kilo’s […]
  Topics: b2b, kilo, capital, ventures, platform, medium, small, msmes, techcrunch, bags, 5m, narayan, retail, preseries, ecommerce, vietnamese, vietnam.
• Kudos, with its cotton-based, eco-friendly diaper, soaks up $2.4 million in seed funding - If you’ve experienced parenthood, you’re well versed in the surprisingly small world of disposable diapers. Help may be on the way. Kudos, a startup that is looking to reinvent the disposable diaper with sustainability in mind, announced the close of a $2.4 million seed round of financing today. Investors include Foundation Capital, XFund, PJC, Precursor […]
  Topics: ventures, funding, product, diapers, ecofriendly, million, kudos, cottonbased, saigal, disposable, techcrunch, parents, sustainable, seed, diaper, performance, cotton, soaks.
• Kyklo raises $8.5M to bring electrical distributors online - Kyklo, a startup that helps wholesale distributors of electrical and automation products launch e-commerce stores, is announcing that it has raised $8.5 million in seed funding. The industry may sound a bit arcane, but it’s one that founders Remi Ducrocq (Kyklo’s CEO) and Fabien Legouic (CTO) know from having worked at Schneider Electric. Ducrocq said […]
  Topics: electrical, online, ducrocq, kyklo, distributors, products, ventures, sales, raises, techcrunch, bring, process, store, million, 85m.
• La Poste creates venture capital fund for startups - French postal service company La Poste has launched a new investment fund for startups that have a positive impact. With La Poste Ventures, the French company wants to anticipate changes in important sectors for the Group and explore new business models. The launch of La Poste Ventures is part of… Continue reading
  Topics: startups, venture, creates, company, fund, launched, ventures, innovation, la, million, poste, capital, investment.
• Linktree partners with Shopify to allow users to add storefronts on its platform - Linktree, the popular “link in bio” service, is launching a Shopify integration to give users a way to promote their businesses and products directly on its platform. With this integration, Linktree users can launch a Shopify storefront on their Linktree to showcase their products and services to drive more sales. The feature is available now […]
  Topics: shopify, add, products, links, partners, launched, music, collections, ventures, platform, storefronts, users, linktree, link, allow, techcrunch.
• Live video shopping startup Talkshoplive brings in another $6M - Five months after announcing a $3 million seed round from Spero Ventures, shopping-focused live video host Talkshoplive is back, this time with a $6 million seed extension led by Raine Ventures.
  Topics: moore, startup, video, 6m, talkshoplive, round, million, brings, commerce, raine, seed, shopping, live, techcrunch, company, ventures.
• Lula’s delivery tool gives convenience stores, pharmacies second sales channel - Lula helps convenience stores, pharmacies and consumer packaged goods brands use its zero-commission tools to establish a second sales channel and third-party delivery companies.
  Topics: lulas, tool, gives, gupta, delivery, online, sales, companies, convenience, ripple, second, stores, techcrunch, lula, ventures, store, pharmacies.
• Montonio is building the payment and checkout solution to rule them all - Meet Montonio, an e-commerce checkout solution created by a small startup based in Tallinn, Estonia. The company just raised a $12 million Series A funding round (€11 million) led by Index Ventures. It wants to become the only tech partner you need to run a small and medium e-commerce shop. Montonio is a multi-faceted product […]
  Topics: product, building, handles, ventures, techcrunch, solution, payment, montonio, startup, pay, process, rule, company, payments, checkout.
• Nomagic picks up $22M for its e-commerce warehouse picking robots - Robotics are playing a growing role in the world of e-commerce logistics and fulfillment — where they are seen not just as a way to speed up operations but to drastically reduce the costs of running them — and today a startup developing software and hardware specifically in the area of robot picking is announcing […]
  Topics: nomagic, work, robotic, smaller, nowicki, tech, techcrunch, ventures, ecommerce, identify, robots, warehouse, 22m, small, picking, picks.
• Nomagic, a startup out of Poland, picks up $8.6M for its pick-and-place warehouse robots - Factories and warehouses have been two of the biggest markets for robots in the last several years, with machines taking on mundane, if limited, processes to speed up work and free up humans to do other, more complex tasks. Now, a startup out of Poland that is widening the scope of what those robots can […]
  Topics: nomagic, ai, robots, startup, nowicki, poland, work, market, warehouse, fulfilment, robotic, 86m, picks, techcrunch, ventures, way, pickandplace.
• Nuvemshop, a Latin American answer to Shopify, raises $30 million - After several failed startup attempts and nine years spent building Nuvemshop into Latin America’s answer to Shopify, the four co-founders of the company have managed to raise $30 million in venture capital funding as they look to expand their business. The new funding came from previous investor Kaszek Ventures and new lead investor Qualcomm, with […]
  Topics: sosa, ventures, solutions, nuvemshop, raises, company, latin, sales, shopify, qualcomm, techcrunch, roughly, million, american, answer.
• Opendoor raises $300M on a $3.8B valuation for its home marketplace - Last month, we reported that Opendoor — the startup that is taking on the real estate industry with its own platform for buying up homes and selling them on to interested buyers — filed to raise $200 million on a $3.7 billion valuation. Now, we can confirm that the round has closed, and it has […]
  Topics: 300m, selling, buying, techcrunch, company, marketplace, round, pricing, 38b, opendoor, ventures, markets, raises, work, valuation.
• Orderchamp raises 16.5 million euros - Dutch wholesale platform Orderchamp has raised 16.5 million euros for further expansion in Europe. The Series A-round was led by venture capital firm Prime Ventures, while existing investors henQ and several business angels also participated. The fresh funding follows only two years after Orderchamp’s inception in September 2019. The b2b… Continue reading
  Topics: way, euros, orderchamp, million, retailers, technology, raises, prime, sales, wholesale, unique, store, ventures.
• Otrium raises $26 million to sell end-of-season fashion items - Otrium has raised a $26 million Series B funding round (€24 million), with Eight Roads Ventures leading the round. Existing investors Index Ventures and Hans Veldhuizen also participated. Otrium works with clothing brands to help them sell items when they reach the end-of-season status. Due to fast fashion, you have to regularly clear some space […]
  Topics: sell, fashion, items, round, million, raises, brands, inventory, ventures, otrium, endofseason, techcrunch.
• Package Free picks up $4.5 million to scale sustainable CPG products - The climate crisis continues to be just that… a crisis. And it’s spurring people across the country (and globe) to take action, particularly when it comes to their own lifestyle. Lauren Singer is one such person. After studying Environmental Science and Politics at NYU, she started a blog called Trash Is For Tossers to make […]
  Topics: cpg, brands, scale, company, million, sustainable, products, free, picks, ventures, package, singer, warehouse, techcrunch.
• Pandas wants to give Latin American businesses buying power in Asia - Pandas connects Latin America's small businesses directly with Asian manufacturers to reduce logistical problems and high fees often imposed by importers and intermediaries.
  Topics: capital, china, wants, buying, xin, pandas, techcrunch, america, ventures, technology, latin, preseed, power, american, asia, businesses.
• Pandemic-driven boom in e-commerce helps Huboo’s warehousing platform close $81M - Many e-commerce businesses run their entire order fulfillment process in-house because outsourcing it can be expensive. But the COVID-19 pandemic has supercharged many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as consumers switched to home deliveries and “digitized” their lifestyles to a far greater extent. It means this surge in e-commerce sales is subsequently leading to a […]
  Topics: software, online, helps, ecommerce, fulfillment, close, boom, warehousing, huboo, businesses, million, sizes, platform, techcrunch, shopify, 81m, ventures, pandemicdriven, huboos.
• PayPal to acquire shopping and rewards platform Honey for $4B - PayPal announced today it has agreed to acquire Honey Science Corporation, the makers of a deal-finding browser add-on and mobile application, for $4 billion, mostly cash. The acquisition, which is PayPal’s largest to date, will give the payments giant a foothold earlier in the customer’s shopping journey. Instead of only competing on the checkout page […]
  Topics: paypal, consumers, paypals, technology, techcrunch, shopping, rewards, platform, offers, 4b, million, honeys, ventures, acquire, honey.
• Pepper brings in $16M, gets back to its roots of spicing up ordering experience for food distributors - The ordering system is specifically designed so food distributors can launch mobile apps and websites to accept orders and payments online.
  Topics: food, industry, company, ordering, brings, cheung, distributors, technology, ventures, pepper, customers, roots, gets, techcrunch, restaurants, spicing, experience.
• Placer.ai, a location analytics startup, finds $100M at a $1B valuation - Many of us are moving around these days a lot less than we used to — because of COVID, we’re working from home instead of an office; and we are traveling and going out less. Now, as we shift back into more “normal” behavior, a startup that’s helping to better understand where and how we […]
  Topics: finds, startup, physical, company, 1b, valuation, placerai, data, using, ventures, real, 100m, platform, placer, analytics, location, techcrunch, customers, round.
• Pod Foods bags additional funding to overhaul the grocery supply chain - The company offers a data-driven approach to streamlining the retailer procurement process with brands while connecting consumers to a wider variety of products.
  Topics: brands, grocery, pod, ventures, techcrunch, chain, million, foods, products, shelves, supply, round, bags, company, funding, overhaul, russell, additional.
• Rise Gardens grows with $9M Series A to help anyone be an indoor farmer - As more consumers embrace plant-based diets and sustainable food practices, Rise Gardens is giving anyone the ability to have a green thumb from the comfort of their own home.
  Topics: adams, series, grow, 9m, ventures, techcrunch, company, rise, help, food, water, farmer, grows, telus, indoor, gardens.
• Russell Westbrook, Chainsmokers join group pouring $13.5M into prebiotic soda brand Poppi - Poppi is on a mission to lead in the new category of “functional soda” by offering a better-for-you product that also tastes good.
  Topics: russell, ellsworth, group, allison, vinegar, soda, prebiotic, pouring, techcrunch, join, tastes, westbrook, ventures, chainsmokers, category, product, poppi, company.
• Sendo wins funding, overtakes Tiki in Vietnam - Vietnamese e-commerce marketplace Sendo has secured a US$61 million Series C funding, just as its overtakes local archrival Tiki into second place in the market.
  Topics: vietnam, tiki, wins, marketplace, softbank, vietnamese, funding, ecommerce, million, ventures, overtakes, sendo, sellers.
• Senegalese logistics and delivery company PAPS raises $4.5M led by 4DX Ventures and Orange - Multinationals like Amazon and Alibaba have leveraged logistics infrastructure such as UPS and FedEx to create large businesses. It’s not the same in Africa, where few third-party infrastructure players exist to provide end-to-end logistics to e-commerce companies. PAPS, a Senegal-based logistics and delivery company, is filling this gap in its region by offering customers various logistics […]
  Topics: company, clients, orange, techcrunch, lo, infrastructure, raises, senegalese, deliveries, logistics, delivery, paps, ventures, led, businesses.
• Shipper, a platform for e-commerce logistics in Indonesia, raises $5 million - Indonesia has one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world, but the logistics industry there is still very fragmented, creating headaches for both vendors and customers. Shipper is a startup with the ambitious goal of giving online sellers access to “Amazon-level logistics.” The company has raised $5 million in seed funding from Lightspeed Ventures, […]
  Topics: centers, shipper, raises, sellers, techcrunch, logistics, ventures, providers, indonesia, ecommerce, vendors, fulfillment, platform, million.
• Shopback wins investment from Singapore state fund - Singaporean cashback startup Shopback has secured around US$30 million in investment from state fund Tamasek, alongside existing investors.
  Topics: investment, capital, million, deal, shopback, us113, wins, fund, cashback, singapore, ventures, state, total.
• Showfields raises $9M for a more flexible approach to brick-and-mortar retail - Showfields, which helps online brands move into offline, brick-and-mortar retail, is announcing that it has raised $9 million in seed funding. “Our thesis was simple: Make the process of becoming physical as easy as becoming digital,” co-founder and CEO Tal Zvi Nathanel told me. I’ve written about other companies, like Bulletin, promising a more flexible […]
  Topics: brands, flexible, space, nathanel, store, raises, brickandmortar, approach, company, showfields, retail, 9m, brand, ventures, staff.
• Silq spins its technology into visibility for apparel manufacturing - The company's approach is to bring visibility and real-time data from the manufacturing floor to brands so that brands can source, make and ship apparel.
  Topics: quality, silq, supply, techcrunch, spins, technology, apparel, company, radhakrishnan, chain, manufacturing, infrastructure, ventures, data, visibility.
• Six Toronto VCs discuss COVID-19 and the post-pandemic era - As North America’s fourth-largest city, Toronto is one of the world’s top startup ecosystems. After spawning companies like Eventbrite and Crowdmark, Ontario’s capital has attracted international talent that complements its homegrown population of entrepreneurs and technical talent. Six investors we surveyed who work and live in the area said they believe Toronto will continue to […]
  Topics: fintech, shah, toronto, local, postpandemic, founding, torontos, city, startup, discuss, era, ventures, techcrunch, vcs, covid19, teams.
• Snackpass gobbles up $70M at a $400M+ valuation as its social food ordering platform crosses 500K users - While every food delivery company is trying to get an edge on its rivals with discount codes, faster service, and a turn into the realm of spooky with ghost kitchens and dark stores, a startup built on a lighter, social concept — letting people see what their friends are chomping on, making it possible to […]
  Topics: ordering, food, ventures, markets, techcrunch, tan, delivery, snackpass, valuation, users, platform, order, crosses, social, gobbles.
• Soona, a virtual photo shoot platform for e-commerce, raises $35 million Series B - Alongside the dramatic growth in e-commerce, in part fueled by the pandemic, there’s also increased demand for services that can help merchants more easily participate online. A startup called Soona, now backed by an additional $35 million in Series B funding, has been tapping into this market with its platform that allows brands to create […]
  Topics: techcrunch, video, virtual, platform, business, series, shoot, merchants, million, soona, customers, ventures, shoots, raises, b, model, ecommerce.
• Stonehenge Technology Labs bags $2M, gives CPG companies one-touch access to metrics - Stonehenge Technology Labs wants consumer packaged goods companies to gain meaningful use from all of the data they collect.
  Topics: bowman, data, techcrunch, company, metrics, labs, stopwatch, onetouch, companies, stonehenge, bags, cpg, team, right, ventures, gives, technology.
• Super raises $50M to cover home repairs and maintenance via a subscription model - The real estate sales market has been in an upswing this year, and today a startup that’s addressing one of homeowners’ biggest needs — repair and maintenance services, and specifically the stress of sorting these out when things break down — is announcing some funding on the heels of strong growth. Super — which has […]
  Topics: number, service, plans, super, model, insurance, business, cover, services, maintenance, 50m, ramer, raises, ventures, subscription, repairs, techcrunch.
• Sweden’s Hedvig raises $10.4M led by Obvious Ventures to build ‘nice insurance’ - Hedvig, a Swedish startup, is following in the footsteps of Lemonade, building a new generation of insurance platforms that use AI to help evaluate customers and operate on a policy of using surplus for social good. Today the company announced the next stage of its growth. The startup has closed a SEK100 million ($10.4 million) […]
  Topics: uses, nice, company, million, claims, insurance, led, money, raises, ventures, carlsen, techcrunch, build, help, swedens, hedvig, obvious.
• Syte snaps up $21.5M for its smartphone-based visual search engine for e-commerce - Visual search has become a key component for how people discover products when buying online: If a person doesn’t know the exact name of what he or she wants, or what they want is not available, it can be an indispensable tool for connecting them with things they might want to buy. Now, one of […]
  Topics: engine, ecommerce, retailers, 215m, sytes, fryman, way, vision, smartphonebased, syte, techcrunch, company, search, visual, platforms, ventures, snaps.
• Syte, an e-commerce visual search platform, gets $30 million Series C to expand in the US and Asia - Tel Aviv-based visual search and product discovery platform Syte, already used by brands like Farfetch and Fashion Nova, plans to expand in the United States and Asia-Pacific region after its latest funding. The startup announced today it has raised a $30 million Series C, with an additional $10 million in debt. The round was led […]
  Topics: techcrunch, visual, platform, sytes, gets, ecommerce, search, expand, increase, ventures, technology, product, syte, discovery, million, series.
• The Expert jumps into home goods e-commerce - The Expert, which provides video consultations with top designers, expands into e-commerce to become what co-founder Leo Seigal referred to as “Farfetch for home.”
  Topics: ecommerce, designers, seigal, jumps, brands, clients, vintage, company, goods, experts, ventures, techcrunch, expert, million.
• Tiger Global backs Accrue Savings’ ‘save now, pay later’ approach to consumer purchases - When the consumer opens an account and hits savings milestones for products they want to buy from their favorite brands, they can receive cash contributions from the brands.
  Topics: global, save, michael, million, employees, backs, hershfield, tiger, later, techcrunch, ceo, saving, consumer, pay, ventures, merchants, savings, purchases.
• Tone raises $4M to help e-commerce brands text with their customers - While many companies are using chatbots and other forms of automation to manage their communication with customers, Boston-based Tone is betting that humans will remain a key part of the equation. “The traditional models of bots and humans is, ‘Hello, I’m a bot, now you get to battle with me to finally get to a […]
  Topics: help, thats, 4m, tone, customers, amour, ventures, bicycle, ecommerce, brands, human, raises, fortified, text, team.
• TopUp Mama looking to solve sourcing challenges for restaurants - Stock-outs, unpredictable prices of farm produce and a lack of working capital are among the challenges that plague small restaurants and food vendors in emerging markets. These are some of the pain-points that TopUp Mama (previously Kibanda TopUp) is working to alleviate since its launch in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, last year, and it appears to […]
  Topics: startup, food, supply, mama, vendors, ventures, techcrunch, sourcing, small, challenges, looking, topup, solve, platform, restaurants.
• Treet, with $2.8 million in seed funding, gets brands involved in the resale market - Treet, a company rethinking the resale retail market, announced the close of a $2.8 million seed round today. The financing comes from Bling Capital, Matchstick Ventures, Techstars, BAM Ventures, BBG Ventures, Green Meadow, Interlace Ventures, V1.VC and Alante Capital. Despite the fact that selling old clothes is the most sustainable and most financially beneficial way […]
  Topics: market, techcrunch, seed, funding, brand, resale, million, involved, items, gets, brands, list, treet, sellers, ventures, real.
• Trouva, marketplace for boutiques, raises €20 million - Trouva, an online marketplace for bricks-and-mortar boutiques, has raised 17 million pounds (20 million euros). The UK company wants to use the money to accelerate its expansion across Europe and beyond. Currently, Trouva is active in the United Kingdom and several big cities across Europe. In June last year, it… Continue reading
  Topics: trouva, online, products, wants, data, million, ventures, raises, marketplace, shops, boutiques.
• UK’s Bloom & Wild raises $102M to seed its flower delivery service across Europe - Bloom & Wild, a London-based startup that takes an updated and online approach to the very traditional business of ordering and delivering flowers, has seen business blossom in the last year. And today, it is announcing a big round of funding to help it double down on the opportunity ahead. The company has raised £75 […]
  Topics: million, ventures, seed, delivery, flowers, techcrunch, weve, team, uks, wild, seen, flower, service, bloom, raises, europe, company.
• UK’s Drover raises $26M to take its car subscription marketplace to Europe - The future of transportation is in flux, and that continues to provide opportunities for tech companies to build solutions to provide new ways for us to get from A to B. In the latest development, a startup out of the U.K. called Drover that provides access to flexible car subscriptions for private users — longer […]
  Topics: global, leuschner, drover, techcrunch, subscription, car, cars, ownership, europe, 26m, private, vehicles, marketplace, uks, companies, raises, ventures.
• Wardrobe picks up $1.5 million for a new fashion rental marketplace - Wardrobe, a new peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace, has today announced the close of a $1.5 million seed round and its public launch out of beta. The funding was led by angel investor Cyan Banister and Ludlow Ventures, with participation from GroundUp Ventures, Shrug Capital, Airbnb cofounder Nate Blecharczyk and HQ Trivia founder Rus Yusupov, among […]
  Topics: marketplace, alphons, wear, wardrobe, users, rental, shipping, techcrunch, picks, ventures, dry, million, clothes, items, fashion.
• What Square’s acquisition of Afterpay means for startups - The main takeaways? "Buy now, pay later" may be effective at driving retail conversion, but scale matters and long-term margins look slim for BNPL startups.
  Topics: billion, acquisition, vcs, square, bnpl, means, afterpay, million, ventures, techcrunch, deal, companies, squares, startups.
• White-label SaaS shipping startup Outvio closes $3M round led by Change Ventures - Outvio offers online stores of any size a post-purchase shipping setup, which seeks to replicate an Amazon-style experience where customers can also return packages.
  Topics: outvio, retailers, fulfillment, stores, experience, startup, led, shipping, ventures, saas, techcrunch, tools, closes, online, solutions, round, whitelabel.
• White.Inc Raises Over $1 Million Seed Fund - The company's goal is to reach a revenue of over INR 1000 crore in the next 4 years by creating 5 to 6 differentiated D2C brands
  Topics: fund, million, d2c, ventures, reach, whiteinc, digitally, seed, entrepreneur, space, native, company, brands, raises.
• Whitebox raises $5M for its e-commerce logistics platform - Whitebox, a startup that CEO Marcus Startzel said is working to “power the direct-to-consumer economy,” has raised $5 million in Series A funding. The company works with both startups and more established brands, giving them the tools they need to run direct-to-consumer e-commerce businesses. Customers include McCormick, Starbucks, KitchenAid, Bare Bones and Super Coffee-maker Kitu. As Startzel […]
  Topics: team, whitebox, company, logistics, platform, techcrunch, raises, startzel, tdf, ecommerce, need, products, warehouse, tools, 5m, ventures.
• Wholesale marketplace Abound raises $22.9M - Abound, an online marketplace that helps independent retailers stock their shelves with new products from up-and-coming brands, is announcing that it has raised $22.9 million in its first institutional round of funding. CEO Bill Shope founded the company with Niklas de la Motte and Drew Sfugaras. He told me that small retailers are constantly on […]
  Topics: retailers, shope, products, raises, marketplace, abound, ventures, 229m, trade, thats, brands, wholesale, techcrunch, team, store.