Watch Out Google, Zoho Just Launched A Better DIY Website Builder (And It Does Mobile, Too) Web-based productivity suite Zoho is launching a new app today which, again, puts it head-to-head against its biggest competitor, Google, while filling a much-needed hole in Zoho’s business tools lineup.
The company is debuting Zoho Sites, a drag-and-drop website builder that allows anyone to build a professional website in minutes, without needing to know HTML or CSS. The product takes on two of Google’s own offerings in one shot, including Google’s simple website builder known as Google Sites, as well as Google’s latest addition, a mobile website conversion tool powered by DudaMobile. WebPesados: marketplace de máquinas e veículos pesados, náuticos e aéreos simplifica mercado bilionário. Look Out: Pinterest Marketing Platform Curalate Lands $750k Seed From NEA, First Round, MentorTech. A new breed of social media sites led by visual rather than text-based interactions is now spawning a new breed of marketing service catering to the new format.
Pinterest's $100 Million Infusion: It's the E-Commerce, Stupid. Social bookmarking site Pinterest has landed a $100 million round of funding on a $1.5 billion valuation today.
The investment was led by Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten. By taking money from a foreign technology company, Pinterest bucks the trend of U.S. startups clamoring for money from U.S. venture capital firms. Qualtrics Raises $70M From Accel And Sequoia: “The Biggest Software Company You Haven’t Heard Of”? Two of the top venture capital firms have written a big check for Qualtrics, a 10-year-old company offering online data collection and analysis.
The $70 million round is Qualtrics’ first institutional investment — the company says it has been profitable since it was founded in 2002. The money comes from Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital, which both have growth funds targeting investments like Qualtrics — mature companies that have already achieved some success but have bootstrapped thus far. Apparently it’s the largest investment the two firms have ever made together.
(Past joint investments include AdMob, the mobile ad network acquired by Google for $750 million.) Co-founder and CEO Ryan Smith says Qualtrics is offering a new approach to market research. Quipper Raises $3.6m For Its Fun Take On E-Learning. There are lots of different approaches to the amorphous market of ‘e-learning’ but only a handful ever feel much like fun.
I think amongst the best of these are sites like MangaHigh which teaches Math, or Moshi Monsters which has subtle learning tasks for kids. Another which works well is Quipper, which, in a Q&A format, helps people learn things in a sort of game. Today it’s announced that it has raised $3.6m (£2.3m) of Series A funding led by Globis, the Japanese VC. The round has been two other investors: Atomico, the London-based VC firm led by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström and Benesse, a major Japanese education and publishing company. The fundraising, which seed funding from Atomico last year, will be used expand with an emphasis on increasing the amount of content on the platform. SaaS For SMBs: InsightSquared Picks Up $4.5M From Atlas, Bessemer, Salesforce and NextView.
As the software-as-a-service market continues to mature, there are companies emerging that are targeting specific sectors within the enterprise with solutions especially tailored and priced for them: the latest of these is InsightSquared, which has announced a Series A round of $4.5 million for its a business intelligence platform aimed specifically at small and medium-sized businesses.
The round was led by Atlas Venture, with participation also from NextView Ventures and new investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce.com. This brings total funding in the company since February 2011 to $5.5 million. As part of the news, InsightSquared is also announcing that it is integrating with Salesforce for the latter company’s visualization services to be integrated into the service. These services are offered in packages that begin at $99 per month, says the company.
Líder mundial em recrutamento mobile lança no Brasil o serviço TrabalhoJá, que mistura web e SMS. TrabalhoJá anuncia hoje o lançamento de seu serviço que conecta os brasileiros às oportunidades de trabalho em todas as regiões do País via telefone celular.
O revolucionário serviço que une web e telefone celular permite que candidatos encontrem gratuitamente em suas cidades as melhores vagas nas áreas de Vendas, Administração e Operação, mesmo que não tenham acesso constante à Internet. Simplee Raises $6 Million Series A For Its Mint-Like Approach To Tracking Healthcare Expenses. Simplee, a Mint-like platform for tracking healthcare expenses and then paying them online, is today announcing the close of its $6 million Series A round of funding.
The round was led by The Social+Capital Partnership (aka “s23p”), and includes current investors, Greylock Partners Israel. As a part of the investment, s23p’s General Partner Ted Maidenberg and Greylock’s Tilli Kalisky joined Simplee’s Board of Directors. The funding will help Simplee extend its product from bill tracking and payments to other areas, including plan recommendations, care recommendations, and more. The company is also preparing to roll out its B2B offering to partners, and launch its first mobile app. Bitly Kinda Says It’s Not Raising $20M, But Also Hints That It Is. Is link shortener Bitly raising $20 million in new funding?
The Verge says it is. In response to my email, a company spokesperson denied The Verge’s story, but in vague enough terms that it could probably turn around and announce a new round in the next few weeks or months. Here’s what the spokesperson told me: Want to quickly let you know that they’re always discussing potential funding and stay in touch with potential investors on an ongoing basis. Though, this article is not based on any facts.I’ll work with the folks at bitly to connect with you for the next funding announcement, whenever that does happen. Electric Imp Raises $7.9M From Redpoint & Lowercase Capital To Power The Internet of Things. One trend we’ve been tracking is the “Internet of Things” — the idea that at some point, all devices will be intelligent and connected, allowing for things like whole home automation.
The problem is that most new systems equipped to connect to the Internet are reliant on proprietary software and hardware tacked on by the vendor. So whatever devices do come to market Internet-ready tend to be overly expensive, and don’t play well with others. That’s where Electric Imp comes in. The startup was founded on the premise of decoupling all the connectivity and intelligence for these connected systems from the devices themselves, and instead, letting those applications be powered by a single tiny chip, lovingly called an “Imp.”
The startup was founded by CEO Hugo Fiennes, who was engineering manager on the first four iPhones, along with former Gmail designer Kevin Fox and software architect Peter Hartley. Lenddo Raises $8M To Use Online Reputation For Lending In Emerging Markets. Online reputation and financial services startup Lenddo has raised an $8 million Series A Round from institutional investors Accel Partners, Blumberg Capital, Omidyar Network, iNovia Capital, and Metamorphic Ventures, as well as angel investors such as Geoff Judge, David Kidder, Scott Heiferman, and Barry Silbert. The startup plans to take that funding and help make loans available to customers who normally wouldn’t have access to them. Lenddo’s mission is to help consumers in emerging markets develop creditworthiness and gain access to financial services, using online activity as a way to judge their reliability in paying back loans.
The startup is already active in markets like the Philippines and Colombia, where it uses activity on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to judge their online reputations and provide capital that otherwise wouldn’t be available to them. DoctorsElite Wants To Build A Network To Better Link Up Patients, Specialists And Medical Records. As a culture, we are getting ever-more accustomed to using social networks as our primary hubs for all information, and that trend is leading to the rise of yet more services constructed like social networks to improve accessibility: one of the latest in that line is DoctorsElite, a new site aimed at linking up patients, general physicians and specialists through a social network framework to make it easier for people to find specialists in certain fields when they need them.
Started by a group of physicians working with other medical advisors and technology experts, DoctorsElite is entering the market bootstrapped and with a database of some 500,000 doctors and centers for advanced treatment in the U.S. — and with some strong firsthand experience of why the founders think this service fills a gap in the market. Moonfruit Finally Exits For $29 Million In Cash To Re-energise Yell. In the white heat of the current tech market it’s sometimes easy to forget that some companies, although taking their time, simply become viable businesses – instead of waiting for a call from Facebook or Twitter that may never come.
I’ve been covering web site and shop builder Moonfruit for longer than I care to remember (they launched in 2000), but along the way husband and wife team Joe and Wendy White kept on pushing the company until it was one of the most innovative of its kind out there. Social Syndication Startup Mass Relevance Raises $3.3M. Mass Relevance, a startup that helps media companies and brands tap into this crazy Twitter thing, has raised $3.3 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Austin Ventures, with money from Battery Ventures, Floodgate, Allegro Venture Partners, and Metamorphic Ventures. The startup previously raised $2.2 million in seed funding from most of the same backers — Battery is the only addition. Contactually’s Lightweight CRM Makes Public Debut With Tons Of New Features, $500K In Angel Funding.
News Discovery Site Prismatic Gets More Social With User Profiles. Startup Prismatic claims to show you news related to “what you’re actually interested in.” Starting today, users can to reveal those interests to others with newly launched profiles. Pearson Buys Certiport For $140M To Beef Up Its IT Testing Business Globally.
Social Talent Management Solution SilkRoad Secures $35M Series C Round, Preps For Potential IPO. Online human resources and social talent management solution SilkRoad just announced that it has raised a $35 million Series C financing round. Quora Raises $50M At $400M From Peter Thiel, D’Angelo Puts In $20M Of His Own Money. Q&A site Quora has raised $50 million at a $400 million pre-money valuation according to a report by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed to me by the founders themselves. We had reported that Quora was raising in this range back in April and it looks like Facebook board member Peter Thiel has beat out many other investors including a much-rumored KPCB to lead the round.
Also investing is Matrix’s Josh Hannah and Northbridge’s Jonathan Heiliger. According to our own sources, Quora co-founder Adam D’Angelo put $20 million of his own money into the Series B financing. Auction-Meets-Group-Buying Site BagThat Bags $3.2M From Oxford Capital. BagThat, a new UK entrant to the daily-deals/e-commerce space, has picked up an investment of £2 million ($3.2 million) to develop its service, a mash-up of two well-known models for selling products online: auctions and group buying. The funding is being led by Oxford Capital and is the first close on this round. BagThat says it is expecting additional institutional investment in the round.
Market Research Startup EyeTrackShop Raises $3M.