SparkLabs Global Ventures' Technology and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review 1130 2014

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology
and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review

November 30, 2014
Bi-monthly Highlights
Global Trends
comScore: Ecommerce spending on Thanksgiving tops $1B for the first time, passes $1.5B on Black Friday
comScore has announced that Thanksgiving Day this year passed the US$1 billion mark for the first time, and Black
Friday managed to surpass the $1.5 billion figure. More specifically, Thanksgiving Day saw a 32 percent gain, to
$1.01 billion in spending. In addition to breaking the $1 billion record (which Black Friday first achieved in 2012), its
also worth noting that this Thanksgiving (November 27) marked the first day of the 2014 season to reach such a
level of spending. Naturally, the record was immediately broken the following day. Black Friday (November 28)
spending was up 26 percent over the same day in 2013. This pushed online sales for the 24-hour period to $1.51
billion. Adding the two days together, the combined spending in the U.S. was $1.96 billion in 2013. This year, that
number grew to $2.51 billion.
Mobile Advertising Is Exploding And Will Grow Much Faster Than All Other Digital Ad Categories
Mobile is growing faster than all other digital advertising formats in the US, as advertisers begin allocating dollars to
catch the eyes of a growing class of "mobile-first" users. BI Intelligence expects that this gap will narrow
substantially, as enthusiasm grows for mobile-optimized ad formats (such as interactive rich media and native ads),
as targeting improves, and more and more advertisers learn how to effectively use the platform. New data from BI
Intelligence finds that US mobile ad spend will top nearly $42 billion in 2018, rising by a five-year compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 43% from 2013. Display and video will be the fastest-growing mobile ad formats as digital ad
dollars quickly shift from desktop to mobile, and ad products improve. US mobile display and mobile video ad
revenues will grow at an astonishing CAGR of 96% and 73%, respectively, between 2013 and 2018. But search and
social media will still account for the largest share of US mobile ad revenue during the forecast period. Search is a
strong format on mobile because of its convergence with local-mobile targeting. Mobile programmatic ad revenues,
including ads sold through real-time bidding (RTB), will account for 43% of US mobile display-related ad revenue in
2018, up from only a 6% share in 2013. But programmatic will still be limited by the lack of robust cookie-based
targeting on mobile.
The Surprising Facts About Who Shops Online And On Mobile

In the first quarter of 2014, 198 million U.S. consumers bought something online, according to comScore's quarterly
State Of Retail report. That translates to 78% of the U.S. population age 15 and above. In a new report, BI
Intelligence breaks down the demographics of U.S. online and mobile shoppers by gender, age, income, and
education, and takes a look at what they're shopping for, and how their behaviors differ. It is important for retailers to
know who their potential customers are online in order to market to them effectively. The conventional wisdom is
that women drive shopping trends, since they control up to 80% of household spending. However, when it comes to
e-commerce, men drive nearly as much spending online in the U.S. as women. Men are more likely to make
purchases on mobile devices. Fifty-seven percent of women made a purchase online in 2013, compared to 52% of
men, according to a study conducted by SeeWhy. But 22% of men made a purchase on their smartphones last year,
compared to 18% of women. Millennials, those consumers aged 18 to 34, remain the key age demographic for
online commerce, spending more money online in a given year than any other age group. They spend around
$2,000 annually on e-commerce. Boomers and seniors have adopted mobile commerce. One in four mobile
shoppers in the U.S. are over the age of 55. That's about even with their share of the overall U.S. population.
SparkLabs Global Ventures (http://www.sparklabsglobal.com) is a global seed-stage fund with partners in
Silicon Valley, Chicago, London Tel Aviv, Singapore, and Seoul.
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Asia Pacific
China
Logistics Solution Provider oTMS Raises Series A Funding from Investors Including Baidu
oTMS (open Transport Management System) is a Shanghai-based company that creates software to help suppliers
and transportation companies in China streamline transport processes. The company has just raised US$6 million in
Series A funding led by Matrix Partners China, along with Baidu and oTMS angel investor Buttonwood Capital. In
the fast-growing Chinese logistics industry, especially in the business-to-business trucking sector, transport involves
multiple parties, subcontractors and drivers. There are millions of logistics companies and about 30 million drivers in
China, according to oTMS founders. The top six logistics companies account for only 1% of the market, making it
highly fragmented. But the management and collaboration tools used by the industry are still Excel spreadsheets,
emails, phone and paper, resulting in low efficiency. oTMS founders, Mirek Dabrowski and David Duan both had
worked in logistics and transportation for over a decade before deciding to develop a software solution to tackle
those problems in 2011.
Hong Kongs Advanced Merchant Payments raises US$5M in Series A round

Advanced Merchant Payments (AMP), a Hong Kong-based financial technology company that enables banks and
other business service providers to deploy alternative-lending technologies to startups and MSMEs, has announced
a US$5 million Series A investment from SBT Venture Capital. The funds will be used to scale, expand into new
markets (it currently operates in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and London), build out underlying
technology and bring on board new partners. In an official statement, Thomas J DeLuca, CEO, Advanced Merchant
Payments said, Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a critical role in economic growth and
employment, yet many find it impossible to access traditional bank financing even where they have existing bank
relationships. DeLucas comment highlights the troubles many startups face in the early days before getting their
big break. AMP, established in 2009, claims to offer fast, efficient, and profitable short-term unsecured loans to
MSMEs.
Xiaomi To Invest Millions USD in Video Site Youku Tudou

Chinese smart hardware and Internet service provider Xiaomi revealed further details for its ambitious US$1 billion
digital content plan. The burgeoning startup announced a strategic partnership with Youku Todou, one of Chinas
largest internet companies. It plans to acquire the latters circulating shares with eight-digit US dollar investment for
the development of a multi-screen media and entertainment ecosystem. Xiaomi is a proponent of the business
model of selling low price hardware and commercializing the back-end services, which means software and content
are essential components in generating revenue. Online video is obviously a crucial sector in this model. Due to the
lack of such resources, Xiaomi has been troubled by problems of streaming video from authorized licensees and
copyright infringement lawsuits in the past. But following the creation of the partnership, content from Youku is
expected to be available on Xiaomis smart set-top boxes, TVs, phones, and tablets.
Chinese Social Network Renren Invests In Hong Kong Startup GoGoVan

Chinese social network Renren took a roughly 10% stake in Hong Kong-based startup GoGoVan,, giving it an
additional US$10 million in funding to expand across Asia. GoGoVan is a free, van-hailing app available on Apples
iOS and Googles Android devices. It was set up in July 2013 in Hong Kong by five co-founders including Steven
Lam, a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, who wanted to solve a logistical problem in big cities like
Hong Kong. It aims to be the Uber of sorts for moving furniture, packages and other big items. Gabriel Fong,
executive chairman of GoGoVan, said in a recent interview that the startup plans to expand the app to Seoul,
Melbourne and Sydney in the fourth quarter and to Japan, India, China and Southeast Asia in the first quarter of
2015. GoGoVan, which makes money from ads on vans, currently has access to 20,000 vehicles and 74,000 drivers
registered with the Hong Kong government. It has about 500,000 user downloads from both iOS and Android
devices, said Fong. The startup, which partners with companies such as Fedex and Kerry Logistics to make
deliveries across the city, employs about 40 people full-time out of a 600-square-foot office in Hong Kong.
Chinese gaming PC startup Ngame closes US$10 million series A round

Some say mobile gaming is the future, but make no mistake: PC gaming is alive and well in China. The conclusion of
a US$10 million series A funding round for Ngame, a Chinese hardware startup that makes gaming PCs and sells
them online. The round, which was led by Fortune Capital, reportedly makes Ngame the first online PC hardware
startup to receive VC funding. Ngame was founded in 2007 with the goal of providing customers with custom PCs
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that offered a high quality-to-price ratio. The company was nearly destroyed in 2011 when the floods in Thailand
caused computer component prices to skyrocket. But Ngame managed to survive, and in 2012 it became the top
seller of custom PCs on Taobao. Now, it sells its products via an official branded shop on Tmall. According to
ChinaVenture, Ngame plans to use the US$10 million investment to strengthen its supply chain and improve its
customer experience as well as its employees quality of life.
Korea
Korean Delivery App, Baedal Minjeok, Secures US$36 Million From Goldman Sachs
Woowa Brothers Corp., a South Korean startup that operates the countrys most popular food-delivery mobile
service, attracted US$36 million in a new round of funding led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Woowa Brothers,
whose Baedal Minjok, or Delivery Nation, service processed about 4 million food-delivery orders from 145,000
registered restaurants last month, has attracted attention from a number of domestic investors. The current Goldmanled round, for US$36 million, will be a Series D investment, typically the fourth significant round of venture capital
funding, this person said. In March, the company raised about US$11 million in an earlier round of financing. Last
year, Woowa Brothers recorded about $424,000 in net income on $9.7 million in revenue. Woowa Brothers is on
pace to more than double its revenue this year.
Tencent and LINE Pour US$100M into Korean Game Designer 4:33 Creative Lab
Tencent and LINE Group have jointly invested around US$100 million into 4:33 Creative Lab, a leading game
designer in South Korea. The fund will be used for expansion outside South Korea and preparing for its 2015 IPO.
Gaming is currently a major revenue source for many mobile messaging apps, especially those in Asia, such as
Tencents WeChat and Mobile QQ, LINE and KaKao, the dominant mobile messaging app in South Korea. Tencent
has had a stake in KaKao for some time, and developed a number of mobile games similar to their most popular
titles. There are about 40 mobile games on Tencents WeChat and Mobile QQ, generating around US$42 million in
the third quarter of 2014. It is believed mobile games generally have a shorter life cycle than PC games, so mobile
gaming platforms like WeChat and LINE will always need more new titles. To introduce more popular PC-based and
mobile games, Tencent has invested in many developers outside China.
Koreas Yello Mobile secures US$100M investment, joins coveted billion-dollar club
Korean mobile platform company Yello Mobile announced an investment of just over US$100 million from Formation
8. The investment was made as a result of Yello Mobiles opportunity to continue to grow into overseas markets. It is
expected that the company will utilize Formation 8s extensive networks and experiences from Silicon Valley, in order
to lead the Asian mobile market in the future. Yello Mobile now has 50 ventures in their alliance, having acquired a
majority share in the companies, partly through cash injection, but mostly through stock swapping. While most of the
companys acquisitions are from Korea, last September they bought PriceArea, Indonesias largest price comparison
site, asa first step to expanding across Asia. Since 2012, they have bought lots of mobile services in travel, shopping,
ads, O2O (online to offline) platform, and it is expected that this investment will accelerate their growth across Asia.
Yello Mobile has now achieved a US$1 billion valuation, within just two years of launch. This is the fastest growth of
any Korean company in the nations history and will likely invigorate the local startup ecosystem, that has already
show rapid and sustained growth over the last three years.
Korean business communication app Jandi raises US$2 millon angel round
Korean startup Jandi confirmed that it has raised an angel round of nearly US$2 million, co-led by Softbank
Ventures and Cherubic Ventures. Jandi is a business communication platform for PC, iOS, and Android devices that
allows teams to securely and instantly communicate while also easily being able to share files, search through past
messages, and more. There are, of course, other apps that address these concerns, but Jandi sees an opening in
Asia, where it says many people have turned to consumer-focused chat apps Line and WeChat. Jandi says these
arent secure or convenient enough for efficient business use. The service already has offices in Korea, Japan, and
Taiwan, where it has launched in open beta. It also already features full support for Korean, Japanese, and
Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Jandi is not without competitors in the enterprise communication arena. One leg
up that the company does have, though, is its strong localization. With support for Asian languages and on-theground local offices that will allow its team to respond to local customers, Jandi should have a lot of appeal to
Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese businesses looking for an app like this that features local support.

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Japan
This new US$96M fund backs Japanese startups outside Tokyo

In 2009, as the financial crisis convulsed around the globe, Japan poured US$170 million into a public-private
organization responsible for propping up struggling businesses throughout the country. With its five-year mandate
ending, the Regional Economy Vitalization Corporation of Japan (REVIC) is changing its mission in order to support
startups instead. Nikkei reports that a total of US$96 million is now earmarked for startups. Preference will be given
to firms in healthcare and tourism. Those categories are often cited as important for supporting communities in
Japans countryside. The population there is rapidly ageing, and younger folks are not sticking around to pick up the
slack. The result is that tourism becomes a major part of the nations economic future. The creation of a new fund for
startups is always welcome news but there is a serious question of whether or not there are sufficient startups to
receive the money. Yet, there is now US$96 million in gleaming capital available for entrepreneurs looking to grow
businesses outside of the capital. Local tech ecosystems need entrepreneurs but they also need cash. REVIC is
doing its part for the latter and now it must wait to see if anyone will answer the call.
Japans recipe site Cookpad acquires Lebanese counterpart Shahiya for US$13.5M
Japanese cooking recipe portal Cookpad announced that it has fully acquired Lebanons Netsila, the company who
owns worlds leading Arabic recipe website Shahiya.com. The acquisition is the newest move in line with Japanese
companys global expansion program for 2014, which includes previous acquisitions in Spain, USA and Indonesia.
Shahiyas team, including the top management, will continue working in company headquarters in Beirut as part of
Cookpads international team. Shahiya claims over 3 million monthly visitors of whom 90% are women and one third
coming from Saudi Arabia. Tomoya Yasuda, Head of Cookpad International, said the acquisition will enable
Cookpad to tap into the Arabic speaking market, continue to boost Cookpads user base, and accelerate the global
launch of Cookpads recipe services. Hala Labaki, co-founder and CEO of Netsila said We have always known that
Shahiyas future should be aligned with such a global player. Like Cookpad, we obsess over our users and the
simplicity of our offering, and look forward to expanding and doing more for our community.
The startup behind screenshot app Gyazo became a Kyoto-Silicon Valley hybrid, nets US$2M
Nota Inc., the Kyoto-based startup behind cloud-powered screenshot app Gyazo, announced a US$2 million series
A fundraising round led by Opt and joined by Yahoo Japans YJ Capital subsidiary and Miyako Capital (Kyoto
Universitys investment fund). Gyazo currently boasts more than 8.5 million monthly active users and 4 million
registered users. The reason the number of registered users is lower than active users is because our web service
can be used by non-registered guests, explains Isshu Rakusai, Nota Inc. founder and CEO, adding that the new
capital will be used for product and business development. The startup is also weighing various partnership
proposals. Gyazo, which allows users to instantly upload screenshots to the cloud and share them with custom
URLs, recently won best pitch at Innovation Weekend Osaka and will be competing for the grand prize in Tokyo next
month. Gyazo, which launched in 2011, previously attracted US$500,000 in seed funding from a variety of domestic
angel investors, including DeNAs Shogo Kawadan, SmartNews co-founder Ken Suzuki, and current Gyazo CTO
Toshiyuki Matsui (who was formerly an Apple engineer).
India
Indian startup funding up 261%

Venture capital funding to Indian startups is up 261% from 2013, totaling US$3.86 billion to date, according to
PrivCo. "If you look at India's growth and demographic, you can see that the next hot tech market after China is
India," said PrivCo senior analyst Matt Turlip. Flipkart Online Services -- an Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and Alibaba
(BABA, Tech30)-like marketplace -- received $1 billion in funding in July. Flipkart rival SnapDeal also captured $653
million in October, for a total of $1 billion just this year. SoftBank, the Japanese VC firm that was an early investor in
Alibaba, has been funneling money into the Indian marketplace. In the last couple months, it invested $800 million in
SnapDeal and Olacabs (the Uber of India). It also took a 36.5% stake in ScoopWhoop (India's Buzzfeed). Also
actively investing are major VC firms Sequoia Capital (known for early-stage investments Google (GOOG) and
Apple (AAPL, Tech30)) and Accel Partners (an early investor in Facebook (FB, Tech30)). Investors and
entrepreneurs are smart to capitalize on the Indian market.
Instamojo secures series A funding from Kalaari Capital to simplify ecommerce payments
Mumbai-based payments solution provider Instamojo has secured an undisclosed amount of series A funds from
Kalaari Capital. Previous investors like Blume Ventures, 500 Startups, and others also participated in the same
round. The raised sum would be utilized to boost marketing, product development, and the hiring of new talent while
the startup shifts its base to Bangalore. Vani Kola, managing director at Kalaari Capital, will join the board. Instamojo
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offers a uniform ecommerce solution that includes instant payment collection through a simple URL. For now, the
company offers solutions for trading in digital goods, ticketing, services, invoices, and more. The sellers can quickly
set up their shop online and sell products by simply sharing a corresponding link. To create a buzz about the
product, the startup offers SocialPay tool, which lets individual pay with a post on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter
instead of money. While Instamojo aims to establish a broader payments ecosystem, it competes with other
payment solutions providers such as Paytm, PayU India, and Pay With Amazon.
India is worlds biggest food delivery market: foodpandas Ralf Wenzel

Global online food delivery marketplace foodpanda recently acquired Delivery Hero-backed TastyKhana in India, to
expand its position in the food-loving country. foodpanda also acquired Mexican food delivery businesses
PedidosYa, SeMeAntoja and Superantojo. The group has been operating in the Mexican market since December
2012 under the hellofood brand. With these acquisitions, foodpanda wants to accelerate growth and become the
Amazon of food ordering in emerging markets. TastyKhana will remain an independent brand; however, it will work
closely together with the foodpanda team. Together, they will partner with over 10,000 restaurants in India. Similarly,
Mexico is a huge market for food delivery. After the acquisitions, Mexican customers in 10 cities have selection of
over 2,500 restaurants. In a separate acquisition deal, Delivery Hero also acquired the hellofood businesses in
Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In all, it aggregates 17,500 restaurants across 11 countries in Latin
America.
Indonesia
Indonesias Female Daily Network raises US$1M in series A funding

Female Daily Network (FDN), one of Indonesias leading online beauty portals, announced that it received US$1
million in series A funding from a group of investors led by Ideosource. Sinar Mas Digital Ventures and Jakartas
new venture capital player Convergence Accel pitched in as well. FDN will use the new funds to advance its web
and mobile social platform, which combines content, community, and commerce to create a unique shopping
experience for its 25 million target audience. Since its inception five years ago, FDN grew by providing high quality
editorial content and cultivating a user base through forums and reviews. Currently, FDN receives several million
monthly visits and expects to exceed 100 million annual pageviews before the end of the year. FDNs position in
Indonesias female audience segment could make it an attractive partner for multinational and local brands looking
to capitalize on the archipelagos billion-dollar cosmetics and beauty market.
Indonesian jewelry shopping site Orori grabs seven-figure funding led by Ideosource
Indonesian jewelry ecommerce site Orori announced that it received a seven-figure pre-series A investment led by
local venture capital firm Ideosource, and followed by IMJ Investment Partners, East Ventures, and 500 Startups.
Orori will use the new funds to incorporate more products and services into its operation. We believe it will speed
up our company growth, and we are expecting [to more than triple] our revenue by next year in June, says Orori
founder Budi Sumantri. Orori is a Singapore-registered ecommerce company that holds stock of goods sold through
its portal. Sumantri claims Indonesia is one of its key markets. Currently, Orori sells products such as gold,
diamonds, and other jewelry, but also offers investments products like gold bars. Its services include providing a
common space for users to trade second-hand jewelry, scrap gold for refinement, or simply pawn precious gems for
cash. Sumantri says Orori will launch a new website early next year, which will be geared toward a more intuitive
mobile user experience. According to him, mobile users now account for the majority of Ororis traffic. Orori works
with multiple payment partners in Indonesia to facilitate bank transfers.
Indonesias eFishery bags (up to) US$1.2 million investment from Get in The Ring
Indonesian fishtech startup eFishery won a competition called Get in The Ring, which promises grand winners
investment of up to US$1.2 million. eFishery offers a smart fish feeding machine for commercial aquaculture. The
feeder can sense the fishs appetite through motion sensors, and if the fish are feeling agitated and hungry, the
machine will feed it automatically. The startup has also created the software for it, allowing fish farmers to see these
feeding activities in real-time on their phones, and control the system if needed. According to Food and Agriculture
Organization, the total farmgate value of food fish production from aquaculture is estimated at US$119.4 billion for
2010. And because Asia accounts for 87 percent of total production volume for aquaculture products, theres a lot
of market to grab for Indonesia-based eFishery. This is the first time that an Indonesian startup has won this
competition, which has been running since 2009. Get in The Ring is a startup competition based in Rotterdam,
Netherlands where it claims to have received over 2,000 submissions for this years competition.
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Philippines
Diptyc launches dating community for single professionals in the Philippines

Manila-based startup Diptyc has launched what it claims is the first exclusive online dating community for single
professionals in the Philippines. The website officially launched last week, but full access will not be given to
members until November 26. Between now and then, only the ability to sign up and create a profile is available.
Whilst there are other dating websites/apps out there (local and international, such as Peekawoo and Tinder), this
is the first time a premium dating website launches in the Philippines, an event long awaited by urban, educated
individuals, Jean-Jacques Lafon, Founder, Diptyc. Lafon says the concept of Diptyc is to use conversations as a
way to get to know people. Interactions are based around status updates and Q&As that make for friendly
icebreakers shown on the activity feed. Meanwhile, to ensure that all members of Diptyc are single professionals
and share fairly similar lifestyles, admission to the site is only allowed after accepted members vote on applicants
detailed profiles.
Singapore
Singapore security startup V-Key gets US$12M investment and a new customer: Alipay
Singapore and California-based startup V-Key, which specializes in mobile security and cryptography, has raised a
US$12 million series B round from existing backer IPV Capital as well as Ant Financial Services, the operating
company of Alipay, the payment processor started by Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Ant Financial now has a minority
stake in the startup. V-Keys technology will be used to secure Alipays services. Besides online payment
processing, it operates mobile payment service Alipay Wallet, online investment fund Yue Bao, Zhao Cai Bao, a
loans marketplace for small businesses, Ant Credit, and MYbank. Alipay says its the largest third-party online
payment provider in China by total payment volume. It handles 80 million transactions a day, out of which 45 million
are done through Alipay Wallet. It controls just under half of the Chinese online payments market, with Tenpay in
distant second at 20 percent. Wallet has 190 million users who transact or transfer money at least once a year.
Besides gunning for global expansion, Alipay is also looking to increase its dominance domestically. It is exploring
the possibility of integrating with Apple Pay.
United States
Pluto TV takes US$13M for its free linear TV streaming service

Los Angeles-based startup, Pluto TV announced that it has closed a fresh US$13 million round of funding. The
series A round was led by USVP, with participation from United Talent Agency, Sky, Chicago Ventures, Great Oaks
Venture Capital, and Luminari Capital. Pluto TV said it plans to use the new capital to increase its video content and
add support for the streaming TV service on more platforms. Pluto TV offers free access to over a hundred different
video streams, which are preprogrammed the way TV channels are. And those channels are filled with things youd
actually want to watch, such as anime, gadget reviews, and original web series. In addition to the funding, Pluto TV
also announced that its adding a handful of seasoned media-tech industry execs to its list of advisers, including
Spotify chief content officer Ken Parks, King COO Stephane Kurgan, and former Yahoo/Guggenheim Media/Fox
Interactive exec Ross Levinsohn.
Indice Semiconductor raises US$6M to launch energy-saving chips

Indice Semiconductor has raised US$6 million to fund global rollout of its energy-saving chips. The company makes
mixed signal power control chips and conversion integrated circuits. They are used in a wide range of applications,
including light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, high-quality audio, and electric vehicles. Indice is also relocating its
headquarters from Melbourne, Australia, to Tualatin, Ore. Allen Alley, former chief executive of Pixelworks and
managing partner of The Alley Group, led the round and has joined as executive chairman. Aaron Brown, chief
executive of Indice, said that the greatest source of clean energy is to use less of it. He said that we waste too much
energy through inefficient conversion and transmission of electricity. Indice will use the money to expand its sales
and operations. Indice has created a technology dubbed Continuous Sigma, a new encoding method that the
company says will revolutionize performance and efficiency for audio amplifiers, Internet-of-things devices, and
electric vehicles.
Kik Messenger Takes US$38 Million in Funding, Buys GIF Startup Relay
Messaging app Kik has raised US$38.3 million in new funding and acquired Relay, a messaging network focused on
sending and receiving GIFs. The round was led by Valiant Capital Partners, and included new investors Millennium
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Technology, Value Partners and SV Angel. Existing investors Foundation Capital, RRE Ventures, Spark Capital and
Union Square Ventures were also in on the round, bringing Kiks total funding to just north of $70 million since its
2009 launch, according to co-founder and CTO Chris Best. The startup bought Relay in a combination of cash and
stock, according to Relay co-founder Jon McGee, although neither company offered financial details. Kik plans to
use the money to focus on hiring, hoping to double its workforce in the next year. Its also dipping its toes into
revenue-generating projects, including promoted chats that allow brands to send content like videos or promotions
to users via the app. As part of the Relay acquisition, Kik will soon roll out a native tool for sharing GIFs on the the
service, and McGee and fellow co-founder Joe Rideout will join Kiks chat product team.
Ecommerce juggernaut Bigcommerce nabs US$50M

Ecommerce startup Bigcommerce has secured a fresh US$50 million in funding to make sure it continues growing
like wildfire. The startup offers a cloud-based platform that makes it easy for small- and medium-sized businesses to
create an online store. This is important because many brick-and-mortar retail shops arent able to properly compete
without an online store due to a lack of resources or technical background. Bigcommerce fixes that and has over
55,000 businesses across the globe using its platform that have generated nearly $5 billion in revenue. More
recently, the company announced a partnership with international online retail giant Alibaba. Bigcommerce said it
plans to use the additional capital to invest in product development, continue its steady pace of growth, and expand
into new markets. SoftBank Capital led the round, with participation from Telstra Ventures, American Express,
General Catalyst, and Revolution Growth. As part of the funding deal, SoftBank Capital partner Steve Murray will
join Bigcommerces board. Founded in 2009, the Austin, Texas-based startup has raised a total of $125 million in
funding to date.
Shutterfly acquires mobile photo book app GrooveBook for US$14.5M

Photo publishing service Shutterfly announced the US$14.5 million acquisition of GrooveBook, a subscription-based
service that every month turns a clients mobile photos into a keepsake book. If GrooveBook sounds familiar, you
may have seen it on the television show Shark Tank back in January. Founders Julie and Brian Whiteman took an
investment of $150,000 in exchange for 80 percent of licensing rights from Kevin OLeary and Mark Cuban.
Shutterfly makes its bread and butter on turning digital photos into books, enlarged posters, and stationary cards. In
a bid to expand to the mobile market, it has scooped up GrooveBook. The Android and iOS mobile app turns
accumulations of mobile photos (up to 100) into tangible, sharable objects for $2.99 a month. GrooveBook differs
from Shutterfly in that its service is monthly rather than a la carte. The acquisition will help Shutterfly expand its
services and better access the mobile photo market. For GrooveBook, the acquisition presents an opportunity to
scale its business. Shutterfly is the industry leader and by leveraging their technology platform, expansive
manufacturing footprint, and expertise in quickly scaling brands, we will be able to scale GrooveBook operations and
grow it into a profitable, nationally recognized brand, said GrooveBook founder Brian Whiteman in a press release.
Teespring nabs US$35M because t-shirts last longer than tweets

Well-known VC names are giving big dollars to a t-shirt company. Teespring, a company that, from the outside,
looks like a Kickstarter for custom t-shirt designs, announced that it has raised a whopping US$35 million in new
funding from Khosla Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Anyone can create a t-shirt through the service (uploading
or creating a design on the spot), pick out fabrics and other features, receive a quote for the wholesale price of each
shirt (depending on quantity goals), set a campaign deadline (or not), and set a sale price. So far, Teespring has
had all sorts of folks use the service, from school organizations to sports teams to startups selling swag to fans.
Some people have even built their own businesses out of Teespring campaigns. When cofounders Walker Williams
and Evan Stites-Clayton were in college and found out that a beloved local dive bar was closing down, the two
decided to commemorate the bar and put together a simple one-page website to crowdfund t-shirts for the bars
fans. Teespring was founded in 2012 and has offices in San Francisco and Providence, Rhode Island. The company
was part of Y Combinators Winter 2013 batch. Previous investors include Fritz Lanman, Fuel Capital, and
FundersClub.
Redbooth takes US$11M to sell task tracking, file storage, & video chat software to your company
Redbooth, a startup with software that employees can use to manage and communicate about projects, has raised
an US$11 million funding round. The startup integrates with cloud-storage tools from Google, Box, and Dropbox,
and it offers an application programming interface (API) developers can use to tie Redbooth into other software. But
part of the appeal of Redbooth is its wide portfolio, which features file storage, chat, high-definition video
conferencing, and project management tools for a price that wont make a company bankrupt. Our ability to tie
chat into the workflow of getting things done makes us different from any other vendor out there, said Dan
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November 30, 2014
Schoenbaum, Redbooths chief executive. Companies offering multiple collaboration tools and therefore
representing competition to Redbooth include Citrixs Podio and Huddle, among others. As for companies with
dedicated chat, video, file storage, project-management, or note-taking software theyre mere point solutions, at
least in Schoenbaums opinion. Customers include Airbnb, Apple, Deutsche Telekom, Harvard University, Spotify,
and Volkswagen Audi.
Document security startup Veradocs raises US$14M in preparation for 2015 launch
Still in stealth, secure document software company Veradocs has raised US$14 million since its founding in January
and is launching a private beta of its product. Though there are many companies that help corporate consumers
send protected documents, few are platformless. Veradocs is geared towards users that already have accounts with
Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, and One Drive but need a way to maintain privacy control of those documents.
Veradocs is a downloadable application that allows users to add a layer of privacy to any document, whether made
in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or any other document extension. It also protects images and emails. Users can
specify whether a sent document can be forwarded and can dictate the level of access a recipient has to that
document. Senders can also revoke access to a recipient after a document has been sent and protect against
screen captures. Weve created technology to protect those documents no matter where they are across cloud
services, said Veradocs chief marketing officer Robin Daniels in an interview. Of its total raise, $4 million was raised
in April. The company closed on the remaining $10 million in late October of this year, with Battery Ventures leading
the round. Amplify Partners and industry-leading angel investors, including Mike Kail, CIO of Yahoo also participated
in the round.
Amid Uber controversy, taxi-hailing app Flywheel raises US$12M, adds new management
While ride-sharing competitor Lyft has likely received a publicity bump from Ubers massive fumble, its likely no
ones benefiting more from this right now than Flywheel. Flywheel announced a new round of funding, to the tune of
US$12 million, which it will undoubtedly use to maximize on this opportunity Uber has given it. The company also
has a new chief executive, Rakesh Mathur, as well as a new chief technology officer and chief financial officer.
Unlike Uber, or even competitors Lyft and Sidecar, Flywheel is not an alternative to taxis. It merely outfits licensed
taxis with the same technology. Cab drivers join Flywheels network, and in exchange for 10 percent of their
proceeds, enjoy the benefits of access to Flywheels customer base. And Flywheel can be a fairly easy sell to
consumers just as with ride-sharing apps, users can call, or hail, a car from their smartphone, track when and
where it will arrive, and pay within the app without having to worry about carrying cash. Flywheel raised its new
funding from TCW/Craton, RockPort Capital, and Shasta Ventures. RockPort Capitals Abe Yokell and Shasta
Ventures Rob Coneybeer will be joining the board of directors as part of the deal. Flywheel was founded in 2009
and is based in Redwood City, Calif. The company previously raised $22.9 million in funding.
Scopely nabs US$35M to build its mobile gaming touchscreen entertainment network
Scopely, the Los Angeles mobile-game publisher, has raised US$35 million in a new round of funding. The company
will use the money to build out its vision for a mobile-first, touch-screen entertainment network. The funding shows
that investors are still bullish about mobile games. Market researcher Newzoo recently said it expects global mobile
games to grow from $25 billion in revenue in 2014 to $30.3 billion in 2015, with the dollars eclipsing those generated
by console games next year. Its a very large round compared to amounts raised by other game companies, but
Scopely has figured out how to make casual mobile games go viral and hit No. 1 on the charts in downloads. Now it
hopes to step up its search for better games, talent, and brands across the globe, said Walter Driver, the chief
executive of Scopely, in an interview with GamesBeat. Scopely makes its own casual games, but it also publishes
content created by a small group of game developers that it views as elite teams. It publishes the games and works
on optimization, distribution, player growth, retention, live operations, and monetization. Scopely was founded by
Driver, Eytan Elbaz, Ankur Bulsara, and Eric Futoran in 2011. The company has 100 employees and 35 million
downloads to date. Scopely has hired a number of senior executives and team leads from Disney Interactive,
Electronic Arts, Gree, Kabam, Activision, and more.
Europe
U.K. Government Funds Free Online Courses Teaching Startup Skills

A tech industry-backed, U.K. government-funded initiative offering free online courses to those wanting to learn
commercial digital business skills goes live today, aiming to upskill Brits to work for tech companies or even start
their own startup. The wider narrative here is of course the need to reconfigure the skills of the working population to
8

November 30, 2014
ensure theyre fit for a more digitally focused national economy. The newly launched Digital Business Academy is
being overseen by Tech City, working in partnership with a range of educational institutions and tech mentorship
organizations including Cambridge University Judge Business School, University College London (UCL), and
Founder Centric, which in turn works with tech accelerators such as Seedcamp and others. Tech City is a publicly
funded body which initially focused efforts on supporting the East London tech cluster but now generally advocates
for entrepreneurship in the U.K. The entire initiative is being funded by 400,000 in public money, specifically
coming out of the U.K. government Business, Innovation and Skills departments budget.
Austrian language-intelligence startup Cortical.io adds US$1.25M in funding

Austrian language-intelligence startup Cortical.io has announced that they have picked up US$1.25 million in
funding from Dutch venture firm Reventon, which previously backed the startup with 1.7 million Euro last October.
The prototype that Cortical.io rolled out in 2012 was bankrolled by an Austrian national research grant, a
representative from the company tells me. Cortical.io launched in beta back in August 2013 and then officially
released their API this June. According to the representative, they have thus far attracted roughly 100 public API key
holders and 4 enterprise customers. The service aims to create language fingerprints in order to add context to
words understood by a computer. The platform can serve a variety of purposes, including sentiment analysis
(opinion mining), automatic abstracting (generating abstracts from large texts like scientific papers and books), and
dialogue systems (platforms capable of interacting with humans). The companys PR director tells me that they have
monetized the service by offering scalable packages of their public API to SMEs for 80 Euro monthly and by offering
enterprise-level customers Amazon Server Images, which can be accessed through the AWS Marketplace.
Helsinki-based Oppex announces funding round worth US$1.5 million

Helsinki-based Oppex announced that they have pulled in US$1.5 million in new funding and launched a new
search engine for sales opportunities, according to a release from the company. Announced just in time for this
years SLUSH conference, this round includes investment from Alma Media, startup accelerator Veturi, Tekes
(funding arm of the Finnish government), and 7 undisclosed angel investors. The Oppex database, which is used to
help businesses search through public tenders, currently boasts more than 3.5 million public-sector tenders, with 1
million added annually. Oppex, whic was founded back in 2009 by the duo of Ville Heinonen and Mikko
Lehmuskoski, currently claims 4,000 users from 120 countries around the world, including heavy-hitters like
Samsung, Abbott, and Roche. In terms of competition, Global Tenders appears to me the primary international
competition. The EU actually offers its own searchable database, while other rivals compete in individual markets
such as the UK and Canada.
Premium food-delivery service dinein.co.uk acquires competitor My Delivery Cab

London-based Dinein.co.uk, a premium restaurant delivery service, has announced that they have acquired My
Delivery Cab and, in the process, increased their coverage area to an additional 60 local restaurants. The 3-year-old
startup says that this latest acquisition enables them to deliver from more than 250 restaurants across London. Per
a release from the startup, this will not be their only major news for the foreseeable future, as the company intends
to close a VC deal and unveil several new partnerships. Further, the startup says that the co-founders of My
Delivery Cab will come over as advisers as part of the deal. The local food-delivery market has really heated up in
recent years, as publicly-traded Just Eat announced just last week that they have acquired Irish rival Eatcity.ie,
which serves 1,500 restaurants, while Rocket Internet-supported Foodpanda announced back in August that they
have picked up $60 million (to bring their total backing to more than $100 million in all). And dont forget about
Delivery Hero, which reeled in $350 million (for a total of $635 million) back in September and Deliveroo, which
announced in June that they have raised roughly $4.25 million to fuel their own growth.
Australia
Adelaide startups receive welcome boost from the University of South Australia
Adelaide is well on its way to achieving its goal of becoming a city for entrepreneurs, with a number of university
students and entrepreneurs winning prizes and receiving seed funding for their startups in recent weeks. Jemsoft, a
startup founded by University of South Australia students Jordan Green and Emily Rich, recently won a five-figure
sum in seed funding from their universitys Venture Catalyst program. The startup aims to revolutionise security in
the retail industry without jeopardising the customers shopping experience. It works by analysing people as they
approach the store, and determining whether they are a customer or pose a threat thereby reducing the chance of
an armed hold-up. Green, who is 21 years old and studies IT, networking and security at the University of South
Australia, told StartupSmart he has lived all over the country and considers Adelaides startup community to be one
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November 30, 2014
of the most vibrant. Because of the low cost of living in Adelaide its more viable for people to take that plunge and
risk because if something goes wrong its much easier to bounce back he says. Green says the seed funding from
the University of South Australia has meant he and his co-founder can now pay for a market research firm to help
them find out the value of their service and line up industry partners to test the product.
Atlassian's Scott Farquhar Led A US$2M Investment In A Safety Startup

Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar has led a US$2 million investment round into Queensland-based app developer
SafetyCulture. It is understood Farquhar has chipped in $750,000 in the latest round which valued the company at
$17 million. Farquhar, who along his Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes tops the BRW Young Rich List with
a combined fortune estimated at just over $2 billion, is now working directly with the SafetyCulture occasionally on
some of their key challenges. SafetyCulture CEO Luke Anear launched the startup after witnessing the impact of
workplace accidents. The company provides workplace safety documentation and systems that staff are likely to
use, as well as safety auditing tools. Last year Commercialisation Australia and Blackbird Ventures invested $4
million into the company. Anear said Farquhar makes himself available every couple of weeks to help solve
SafetyCultures engineering and scaling challenges. Over the weekend Farquhar flew up to Townsville to work with
the startups team. The safety audit app iAuditor will use the funds to open a Sydney engineering office in December
and has appointed Anton Mazkovoi as its VP of engineering.
Israel
Gaza's only startup accelerator looks to crowd funding

The Israeli war on Gaza may have left the tiny Palestinian territory in ruins, but its only startup accelerator refuses to
abandon its mission and has turned to crowd funding to keep its programs going. If we don't fundraise successfully,
our co-working space, incubator, and accelerator will shut down at the end of December, Gaza Sky Geeks said on
its website, appealing to donors to help the group remain in operation. Funding was coming to an end anyway,
GSGs director Iliana Montauk told Wamda. GSG is a Mercy-Corps-funded accelerator that has been serving Gaza
startups since 2011, mentoring four budding entrepreneurs and working on seven others. But its original funding,
Google and Mercy Corps, ended a few months ago. In October, the GSG successfully launched a fundraising
campaign to collect $70,000 and has now raised the bar to $125,000 to keep the accelerator in operation. While
Mercy Corps continues to contribute whatever they have, new pledges are emerging such as Bank of Palestine, the
Source of Hope foundations and other individual donors, according to Wamda. Montauk said that local Gazan
entrepreneurs have also donated to the GSG fund up to $100 at a time.

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