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Monthly Highlights

Global Trends
Newzoo: Mobile game revenue will grow 66% from $38 billion in 2016 to $65 billion in 2020
Mobile game revenue will grow from $38.6 billion in 2016 to $65 billion in 2020, according to market research
firm Newzoo. That represents a 66 percent growth rate. Most of this growth will come from Asia-Pacific and
the Middle East and Africa, while the more mature markets of North America and Europe will continue to grow
at a lower but stable rate. By comparison, the overall total for global app store revenues will grow from $46.2
billion in 2016 to $85 billion by 2020. As non-game apps catch on, games will fall from 84 percent of total
revenues in 2016 to 76 percent in 2020. Samsung is the leading smartphone manufacturer, with 859 million of
all smartphones used. Apple ranks second with 704 million smartphones. Together, they are responsible for
56 percent of the worlds used smartphones. In 2020, there will be 3.6 billion smartphone users, with Asia-
Pacific as the biggest growth region thanks to countries such as India, Indonesia, and China. Asia-Pacific will
have almost 2 billion smartphone users in 2020, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and North
America together will have 1.3 billion. Latin America will surpass North America in terms of smartphone users
in the coming years. Developing countries, such as Nigeria, will grow fast in smartphone users compared to
mature markets, such as Europe and North America.

Tech exits in Q1 2017: IPOs and M&A remain strong
The first quarter of 2017 was another good quarter for technology company exits. We saw a number of very
high profile tech company initial public offerings (IPOs) come to market, which is extremely encouraging given
the limited activity we saw in 2016. On the merger and acquisition (M&A) side of things, we saw an equally
positive trend with the number of technology M&A transactions coming in at 638 for the quarter, a healthy
increase over the prior two quarters.

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
Didi confirms $5.5 billion funding to boost global strategy
Didi, Chinas top ride-hailing startup, today revealed it has secured US$5.5 billion in funding. The investors
were not disclosed. The money is to support its global strategy and continued investments in AI-based
technologies, the startup said in a brief statement. With this, Didi has raised just over US$18 billion from
investors since it got series A in 2012. The service last year claimed to be profitable in 230 of the 300 cities
where it operated. It now covers more than 400 Chinese cities and has around 400 million users. It comes just
a day after rumors of a US$6 billion round that would value Didi at US$50 billion, making it Chinas second
most valuable startup behind Alibaba spin-off Ant Financial. Since acquiring Ubers China unit last August, Didi
has invested in a similar app in Brazil and opened a Silicon Valley lab focused on artificial intelligence.
Bike-rental startup ofo lands series D+ backed by Ant Financial
The funding spree continues in Chinas bike-rental sector. Bike-rental startup ofo announced over the weekend
that it raised an undisclosed amount in its Series D+ from Alibabas financial arm Ant Financial. Under the deal,
ofo cooperate with Ant Financial in the fields of e-payment, credit system and globalization process. Ant
Financial CEO Jing Xiandong said the company will set an example for the bike-rental sector through this
cooperation with ofo, and fully unleash their potential in the mobile platform, credit management, online
payment, risk management and safety control. Prior to the new funding round, ofo had already struck a
strategic cooperation deal last month with Sesame Credit, the social credit scoring system developed by Ant
Financial, allowing Shanghai ofo users with a Sesame Credit score of 650 or higher can register on the app
without making the RMB 99 deposit Dai Wei earlier revealed the company is worth US$ 2 billion, takes in over
RMB 10 million in revenue a day, and will hopefully turn a profit this year.
Tencent bets on online flea market with $200 million investment in Zhuan Zhuan
The competition between the two Chinese internet giants Tencent and Alibaba is nothing new. Now both giants
are pursing another field, second-hand goods trading market. According to the official announcement, Tencent
has injected a hefty US$ 200 million of funding for minority equity in Zhuan Zhuan, the used goods trading unit
of Chinas Craigslist, 58.com. Under the agreement, 58.com will integrate the Zhuan Zhuan app and certain
used goods related listing channels from the 58 and Ganji classified platforms into a separate group of entities,
according to a company statement. Launched in 2015, Zhuan Zhuan is an online marketplace where users run
their own stores to sell unwanted goods as well as make purchase from other sellers. More than 30 million
users have posted a combined 100 million second-hand items on the platform with an average monthly trading
volume of nearly RMB 2 billion. Chinas affluent population is now facing the new problem of how to deal with
their barely used second-hand stuff. The trend has seen by the rise of a group of second-hand trading
platforms like Xianyu and Zhuan Zhuan. Analysis agency CBNData predicted that the used-goods trade market
could reach 400 billion yuan in mainland China by 2016.
U-Parking raises RMB 12 million to ease parking pain for Chinas urban drivers
Chinese parking assistant startup U-Parking announced today that it raised RMB 12 million (US$ 1.74 million)
Series A led by Gobi Ventures. U-Parking, founded in Beijing in 2014, provides distributed parking space
supplies in big cities in China and secures decent parking experience for both individual users and car-sharing
businesses. U-Parking has implemented a parking spot booking and automated allocation system, using car
license plate numbers for identification, to maximize the parking space utilization across the city, and at the
same time to cut down marginal costs encountered in parking management. The funding will be utilized to
expand its business by providing parking services covering more nodes or parking lots in urban areas. U-
Parking has now covered more than 300 node in over 180 core business region in Beijings downtown area.
The startup will soon expand its service to other major cities in China. With Chinas motorization, parking is
becoming a concern in busy urban residents. The rising demand fostered a hot vertical of on-demand parking.

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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Japan
UX design firm Goodpatch raise $3.6 million in series C to better serve FinTech businesses
Japanese UX/UI design agency Goodpatch, revealed on Wednesday that they have raised US$3.6 million
from SBI Investments and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital in a series C round. In addition to receiving the
funds from SBI Investment, Goodpatch announced along with the funds raised this round that they are
undertaking of a project to improve the UX/UI design of SBI Investments SBI Securities. From this month,
Goodpatch launched an in house UX/UI design team specialized in the area of FinTech, and they are planning
to open a lab to dispatch and share useful design and development knowhow to both the FinTech and design
industries in the future. Goodpatchs UX/UI portfolio in the FinTech world includes Money Forwards public
release in May of 2014, MYDCs public release in January of 2017, and the public release of Quicks Shinkly in
2017.
LabBase, job-matching platform for science students, raises seed round funding
Tokyo-based startup POL, which operates a human resource database consisting of science students
called LabBase, announced on Monday that they secured an US$452,000 seed round. This round was led by
Beenext with participation from CyberAgent Ventures, Draper Nexus, Beyond Next Ventures, and angel
investors also participating. POL will strive to strengthen their system development process with the funds
received this round. POL is working on correcting imbalances in supply and demand for science students
seeking employment and those looking to employ them. Nearly 80% of graduating students using the typical
job hunting sites and attending job fairs that make up the employment marketplace are from the humanities,
while the remaining 20% hail from the sciences. In order to solve such a problem, LabBase provides an
environment where students can post profiles to the Accademia such as research portfolios, papers,
presentation history at academic, etc. and connect with companies. Pre-registration began for companies in
December of last year with about 100 companies total signing up. Meanwhile, they have gathered about 550
student users so far. The company does not advertise or engage in marketing, but they do have a network of
50 ambassadors around Japan and thus have been able to accumulate such a number of core users.

South Korea
Korean accelerator SparkLabs expands into China
International companies struggle when entering China, Chinese companies often run into challenges when
trying to take their business overseas. Thats the opportunity SparkLabs wants to capitalize on. The Seoul-
based accelerator launched SparkLabs Beijing today, the first of many China-based branches. Accelerators in
Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen are slated to open on May 15th. SparkLabs is also aiming to launch a
fintech-specific accelerator in Hong Kong in September. The first batch will start in mid-July. SparkLabs
Beijings focus will be broad, looking out for startups in AI, VR, AR, IoT, gaming, mobile, fintech, and
healthcare. We will just avoid industries that take a lot of capital to prove out, such as pharma and cleantech,
says Co-Founder Bernard Moon. SparkLabs is launching its Beijing branch together with its local partner,
Guoan Academy, a subsidiary of CITIC Guoan Group, which is an industrial subsidiary of state-run financial
institution CITIC Group. SparkLabs Beijing will be led by managing partner Colin Qu, and is backed by two
venture partners: Gang Lu, founder and CEO of media company TechNode, and Sun Shaw, the former CTO of
Kingsoft. Its advisory board includes Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch and former partner at Y Combinator, Lili
Cheng, the general manager of Fuse Labs at Microsoft, and Eric Ly, co-founder and founding CTO of LinkedIn.
Solution providor raises $1.2 million to penetrate Southeast Asian Market
Swingvy, a cloud-based HR Management software company, announced that it has received $1.1 million in
initial investment from two US-based VCs, Big Basin Capital and Walden International. Swingvy provides all-in-
one HR management software for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Southeast Asia. It helps
SMBs manage their employees lifecycles more efficiently by automating all the processes of employee
recruitment, vacation and performance management, and payroll. Southeast Asia, with over 70 million SMBs,
is one of the largest mid-markets in the world. Based on this market demand, Swingvy has acquired 1,000
enterprise customers in Malaysia and Singapore in six months since its launch in October 2016, and has
achieved 30% conversion rate to its paid service. The company plans to concentrate on boosting profits by

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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launching Payroll service in June. Swingvy currently operates in English-speaking countries such as Malaysia
and Singapore, and plans to expand services to Indonesia in the second half of this year.
Netmarble Games raises $2.3 billion in South Koreas second-biggest IPO
Netmarble Games, South Koreas largest mobile games maker, has raised $2.3 billion in the countrys second-
biggest share sale, just weeks after one of its domestic-only titles sold so well it was named the worlds best-
selling mobile game. The firm priced its initial public offering at the top of an indicative range as largely
expected, analysts said, due to its ability to consistently publish hit games in the highly competitive mobile
sector. Netmarble said it sold 17 million shares about 20 percent of the firm for 157,000 won each, the top
of an indicative price range whose bottom was 121,000 won. That earned the firm about 2.66 trillion won ($2.3
billion) and valued it at 13.3 trillion won. The firm, backed by Chinas Tencent Holdings Ltd, earlier this week
said it planned to use the proceeds, plus cash flow and borrowings, to raise 5 trillion won for acquisitions.
hrough acquisitions, Netmarble wants to expand its share of the gaming market in North America and Europe
to become a top-five games company by 2020, its founder told Reuters in January.

Singapore

Paktor is merging with the startup it bought to create a social entertainment company
Singapore dating app Paktor announced it has merged with its recent acquisition, livestreaming service 17
Media to form M17, a company focused on social entertainment. Paktor acquired a controlling interest Taiwan-
based 17 Media for an undisclosed sum at the end of last year. The new company claims to have a combined
team of 200 and reports a 10-time increase in revenue across its teams in the last six months to US$100
million in annualized revenue. It expects to achieve US$200 million in annualized revenue by year-end. It
claims to reach a combined user base of 50 million. 17 Media reported a user base of 15 million when Paktor
bought a controlling interest in it, although a press release mentions 30 million. M17 is expecting to close a
new funding round in a few weeks with participation from Korean venture capital firm KTB, through its KTB
China Synergy Fund. Paktor had announced its ambition to grow into the social entertainment space as early
as last November, when it raised US$32.5 million.

Insurance startup came out of nowhere to raise $50 million series A
Insurtech firm Singapore Life announced today it has raised a blockbuster US$50 million for its series A round.
Investors include Impact Capital Holdings and IPGL. The investment is one of the largest series A fundraises
in Singapore and Southeast Asia in recent years. The private company claims to provide state-of-the-art,
long-term life and savings solutions for customers that value simplicity, safety, and security. Its website
doesnt offer much information about its products or how its using technology to achieve its goals, even
though the firm was founded in 2014. Walter de Oude, CEO and Co-founder has said Credit China FinTech
and IPGL bring the best of technology-led business success in support of Singapore Lifes long term strategy.
In a statement. Having the support of these strong international shareholders attests to the strong confidence
in Singapore Lifes strategy, and in Singapore as a financial center and a destination for global investment.
Insurance is the next big opportunity in fintech for many startups. Established insurance companies are getting
on board as well. Providers like AIA, MetLife, and NTUC Income all have accelerator programs or innovation
centers in Singapore, inviting startups to develop new products and services.
Startup tackles Southeast Asias hidden esports opportunity
Competitive computer gaming, or esports, has turned from a fringe activity into a genre thats getting millions
of viewers and doling out millions of dollars in prize money. In Southeast Asia, it may be on the cusp of
becoming mainstream. The Manila Major, a prominent Dota 2 competition, filled a stadium and had a US$3
million prize pool. Spout Entertainment has already raised a US$2.1 million seed round exclusively
from Reapra. Founder Daryl Teo hopes to turn that audience into a lucrative market. Its first plank
is Spout360, which aims to be the ESPN-Twitch hybrid of Southeast Asian esports. While the site only has
textual content for now, itll incorporate video in the near future, particularly live coverage of gaming
competitions. Besides video, Spout360 will launch a fantasy league featuring esports athletes, and that
involves building a database about their performance. Its second plank is Spout Agency, which will help

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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manage the career of pro gamers. Spouts fate is tied directly to the future of esports. A huge unknown would
be how big the genre can get, and thats left to the imagination.

India

Startup sues AI to detect breast cancer from the cloud
Bangalore-based startup Niramai is using a combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and cloud-
based screening to tackle the problem of access and cost of breast cancer screening. The startup has now
announced a seed funding led by Pi Ventures, with participation from Axilor Ventures, 500 Startups, Ankur
Capital and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal. Niramai is an acronym for Non-Invasive Risk Assessment with
Machine-learning and Artificial Intelligence. It uses a low-cost device that takes high-resolution thermal images
which require no radiation. Artificial intelligence is applied to the images on the cloud to detect breast cancer.
This provides an alternative to costly traditional mammography. The startup claims that its patented
Thermalytix technology using thermography can detect tumors five years earlier than mammography or clinical
exams. This investment will help us strengthen our IP portfolio, expand operations, and ensure our cancer
screening tool is readily available for commercial use, says CEO Geetha Manjuath.

Hong Kong

What VCs thing about startup rating tool Oddup, which just raised $6 million
Hong Kong-based Oddup, a rating tool that tells you whether a startup is likely to succeed or not, has raised a
US$6 million series A round, bringing its total funding to date to US$7 million. The round was led by the Times
Group, and with existing investors 500 Startups and Click Ventures as well as new investors Silicon Valleys
Moneta Ventures and White Capital also participating. Oddup says it provides investors from angels to venture
capitalists and private equity firms data that is otherwise difficult and time-consuming to acquire. The company
will use the financing to expand across Asia, particularly India. The question becomes: how useful are tools
such as Oddup for investors? Jenny Lee, managing partner at GGV Capital, said theyre not using such tools
since startups fail or succeed because of many factors which sometimes cannot be quantified or may not be
public. However, Click Venture and 500 Startups seem to use Oddup for referrals and for research and
competitor study.
A startup that connects people to experts from all over the world just raised $4 million
Lynk, an online service that connects enterprise users to experts in a variety of fields, announced a US$4
million series A round. The round was led by Hong Leong Financial Group, and joined by Zhuhai Da Heng Qin
and CRE Venture Capital. Previous backers Wavemaker Partners also participated. Lynk operates on a
software-as-a-service model, where business customers pay the company for access to its pool of mentors.
Lynk claims to have over 35,000 experts across 70 countries and a growing number of industries. They
include C-level executives, scientists, engineers, independent consultants, and specialist advisor. The
company works with enterprise customers that include both startups and larger organizations like investment
companies and consultancies. Lynk sources its advisors through internal network referrals and checks their
background and expertise. Lynk will use the funding to expand its market coverage and continue developing its
tech. It will also hire more people across its offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Mumbai.

Malaysia
AirAsia acquires 50% stakes in Malaysian travel planning startup
Budget airline AirAsia has bought 50 percent of trip planning service Touristly in a deal worth US$2.6 million.
In exchange for the stake, AirAsia will extend a US$1.1 million convertible loan to Touristly, and transfer the
digital component of its inflight magazine, Travel 3Sixty, to the startup. The asset is worth US$1.5 million.
Kuala Lumpur-based Touristly will use the proceeds of the loan for working capital and development, it says
in a statement. It will also own 100 percent of Travel 3Sixty digital after the completion of the deal. Founded
in 2015, Touristly helps travellers customize their holidays, allowing them to book activities in 70 destinations
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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around Asia-Pacific. It offers over 13,000 discounted deals on tours, attractions, theme parks, spas, and
restaurants. With the alliance, Touristly will tap into AirAsias customer base of 60 million travellers annually
through promotions on the airlines website, its inflight magazine, and ads on its cabins and seat trays. In
return, AirAsia hopes to grow its revenue from ancillary services by adding tours and activities.
123RF buys Pixlr to bring more photo tools into its creative suite
Stock-photo startup 123RF announced that it has acquired mobile image editor startup Pixlr. The terms of the
transaction were not disclosed. In a press statement, 123RF stated that the acquisition will help its parent
company Inmagine Group achieve its mission to create a holistic creative ecosystem that makes great design
accessible to all. Pixlr is a cloud and mobile photo editor whose tools include the Pixlr-O-Matic photo editing
app for iOS and Android. It was owned by 3D software maker Autodesk. Inmagine Group is looking to secure
50 million monthly active users (MAUs) through the acquisition, as Pixlr is said to have secured over 100
million installs of mobile apps. Previously, 123RF acquired UK-based TheHungryJPEG for a seven digit US
valuation, and has received a capital injection through venture debt from InnoVen Capital. 123RFs in-house
production team of over 200 will begin working to expand the Pixlr content library as a value add to its users,
ensuring Pixlr communities will continue to have access to new tools and content.

Israel
Softbank leads $16.5 million investment into cloud infrastructure security startup Dome9
SoftBank is leading a $16.5 million strategic investment into Dome9 Security, a cloud infrastructure security
company. Founded out of Tel Aviv in 2010, Dome9 targets enterprises with a SaaS (software as a service)
platform that helps them assess their network security and detect potential misconfigurations, while
simultaneously protecting against cyberattacks. The company recently moved its headquarters from Israel to
Mountain View, California. A recent Gartner report suggested that the global public cloud services market is set
to grow 18 percent in 2017 to reach a whopping $247 billion. This latest cash injection takes the companys
total amount raised to $29 million, and Dome9 says that it will use its newfound wealth to boost its global
growth. SoftBanks involvement here is no accident as part of the deal, SoftBank will become the leading
distributor of Dome9s security platform in Japan.
Microsoft reportedly to acquire Israeli cloud monitoring startup Cloudyn for around $60 million
Microsoft is lining up a bid to buy Israeli cloud-monitoring and analytics startup Cloudyn in a deal thought to be
worth between $50-$70 million. Founded in 2012, Cloudyns software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform helps
companies automate the process of monitoring their cloud costs by providing analytics and optimization tools.
Its all about improving cloud performance and efficiencies, with companies garnering real-time data across
various operational and financial metrics. Cloudyn has raised more than $20 million since its inception,
including an $11 million round back in 2015, and claims some big-name clients, such as Hewlett Packard
Enterprise (HPE) and Ticketmaster. Microsoft has made a number of strategic investments in the cloud realm
over the past few years, most recently snapping up the team behind Deis, a set of open-source software tools
and services for working with apps packaged within containers. Cybersecurity has also been a major
focus of Microsofts cloud investment strategy. Automation is another key factor here. That fact that Cloudyn
offers a platform that promises to save manpower through automatically monitoring and identifying
inefficiencies would seem to fit in well with Microsofts broader cloud strategy.
Mobileye, partners with Nissan to crowdsource maps for autonomous cars
Mobileye, the Israeli computer vision firm thats currently in the process of being acquired by chip giant Intel for
$15.3 billion, has announced a new tie-up with automotive giant Nissan to generate anonymized,
crowdsourced data for precision mapping in autonomous cars. Founded in 1999, Mobileye builds the visual
smarts behind cars driver assistance systems that include adaptive cruise control and lane departure
warnings. Its technology is already used by the likes of BMW, Volvo, Buick, and Cadillac, and last
summer Mobileye announced a partnership with BMW and Intel to put self-driving cars into full production by
2021. Mobileye already powers Nissans recently announced ProPilot, a system thats similar to Teslas
AutoPilot offering, which can already automate some car functions on the road, including steering and
acceleration. And with Nissan recently kicking of its first self-driving car trials in London, it seems now is the

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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time for Mobileye to work with Nissan to boost its crowdsourced mapping efforts. This adds another major
automaker to Mobileyes existing roster of REM partners. The more carmakers sign up to integrate Mobileyes
REM, the more data can be combined to scale the system to cover every locale where humans drive.


United States
Betaworks-backed Shine raises $2.5 million to boost moral via text messaging
Not everyone can afford a life guru. Thats why Shine created a free daily messaging service to make well-
being more accessible. The Brooklyn-based startup announced today that it has secured $2.5 million in a
round co-led by Betaworks and Eniac Ventures. Female Founders Fund, Felix Capital, Comcast Ventures,
BBG Ventures, and The New York Times also participated. According to cofounders Naomi Hirabayashi and
Marah Lidey, text messaging has an open rate of 98 percent, which is why they initially chose to capitalize on
this medium. Shine initially started with just SMS, but it has now expanded to include Facebook Messenger
and Kik. The Shine bot collects and analyzes custom inputs to offer users personalized content, all around
their well-being. Although competition-wise, the space is pretty crowded, shine has managed to raise an
undisclosed pre-seed round and is currently testing monetizing strategies. The new money will be used to
expand the team and develop new products.The Shine cofounders say they are currently working on a voice-
based product with Betaworks, which recently launched its Voicecamp program to accelerate the development
of voice products in the conversational interface space.
Video analytics service Mux raises $9 million led by Accel
Mux, a startup that provides performance analytics for video developers and media publishers, announced that
it has raised $9 million in a funding round led by Accel. Y Combinator participated in todays round, along with
other existing investors Susa Ventures and Advancit Capital. The B2B product targets online video publishers
who need to understand what happens when they stream out their video. Although Mux can work with any
video format or player, such as YouTube and Vimeo, customers do not use the product for third-party sites,
according to Mux cofounder and CEO Jon Dahl. Customers, which include PBS, Funny or Die, and
Livestream, integrate Mux by installing a JavaScript library next to their Web Player or an iOS/Android software
development kit (SDK) into their Mobile Player. Mux has raised a total of $11.8 million to date. The new money
will be used to hire more people in engineering, sales, and marketing.
SeatGeek raises $57 million, acquires ticketing software company TopTix for $56 million
SeatGeek has acquired Israeli ticketing software company TopTix in a $56 million deal. The deal, representing
only SeatGeeks second acquisition after it bought rival FanSnapback in 2013, was funded by a fresh $57
million series D round led by Glynn Capital, with participation from Accel, Causeway Media Partners, Haystack
Partners, Mousse Partners, and Technology Crossover Ventures. This takes SeatGeeks total outside funding
past the $150 million mark, and it also now has a surplus of $1 million to put towards growing its platform.
Founded out of New York in 2009, SeatGeek is perhaps better known as a secondary marketplace and
aggregator for tickets sold elsewhere, but back in August it announced it was taking on the likes of
Ticketmaster with a new primary ticketing platform that can be integrated into any app. Founded out in Israel,
Toptix upplies the software for ticketing, fundraising, and customer relationship management (CRM) services,
with its flagship SRO platform processing 80 million tickets a year across museums, theaters, festivals, sports
arenas, and more in 16 countries. Now, SeatGeek is bringing TopTix in-house, where it will operate as a
subsidiary and continue as it currently is, with its 500 or so clients now shifting over to becoming SeatGeek
customers as a result of this acquisition.
Car-sharing service GEtaround raises $45 million to help people get around (without car keys)
Peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing company Getaround has raised $45 million in a round of funding led
by Braemar Energy Ventures, with participation from Toyota, Shanghai Automotives VC arm, Menlo Ventures,
and Triangle Peak Partners. Founded in 2009, Getaround offers a mobile app and marketplace for owners to
rent out their cars when theyre not using them. Yes, its like an Airbnb for automobiles. Through the Getaround
app, renters can reserve, locate, and even unlock their vehicles without the need for a physical key, the renter
receives a code to unlock cars directly to their mobile phones. Indeed, Toyota and Getaround announced

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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a partnership last October that would allow car owners to place a little smart key contraption inside their
vehicle and allow any permitted third party to unlock the doors using their phone. he company had raised
around $56 million up until now, including from some star-name investors including Marissa Mayer and actor
Ashton Kutcher, so this latest cash injection takes it past the magic $100 million mark. Its new funds will be to
expand beyond its existing 13 cities in the U.S. Additionally, Getaround says it will use the new funds to build
out its existing partnerships.
Gladly raises $26 million to simplify customer service across calls, social media, and emails
Gladly, which provides software to help businesses deliver better customer service, announced funding of $36
million, led by GGV Capital. Companies use Gladly to interact with their customers across voice, email, SMS,
chat, and social media. Gladly wants to centralize all communications onto one messaging interface. CEO
Joseph Ansanelli said the startup is currently working with consumer brands in retail, travel, and hospitality, but
declined to name specific customers. The software as a service (SaaS) subscription license is priced according
to the number of active users anyone in the company can participate in customer service, but those actively
responding to customers (greater than 20 hours per month) pay $120 per user per month, which includes all
channels. reylock Partners and New Enterprise Associates (NEA), both existing investors of Gladly, joined
GGV Capital in todays round. The new money will be used to bring the product to market and add new
customers. Founded in 2015, Gladly has raised a total of $63 million to date and currently has 50 employees.
ZappRx raises $25 million to help patients get specialty drug faster
ZappRx, which helps physicians and pharmacists better manage specialty prescription drugs for diseases like
cancer, multiple sclerosis, and cystic fibrosis, announced funding of $25 million, led by Qiming US Healthcare
Fund. New investor GV and existing investor SR One also joined. The Boston, Mass.-based startup collects
and digitizes the paperwork involved in prescribing specialty drugs. This automated solution reduces
administrative burden at provider practices and specialty pharmacies, helps patients receive their medications
faster, and provides data insights to the pharmaceutical industry. And this is how Barry plans on monetizing.
When information is managed on paper and via fax machines, there is no way for pharmaceutical companies
to understand how drugs are performing in the market, she wrote. The founder claims her team is building a
comprehensive database and plans on selling these data sets to biopharmaceutical companies. Several
academic medical centers and large multi-specialty practices are currently using the platform, according to
Barry, but she declined to provide names at this stage. The new capital will be used to increase sales and
marketing efforts and to grow the ZappRx team of 28. The startup was founded in 2012.
Jackpot for IGT: DoubleU Games buys its social casino game studio Double Down for $825 million
International Game Technology (IGT) announced today it is selling Double Down Interactive to South Koreas
DoubleU Games for $825 million. The deal is part of a new strategic partnership in social casino games
between the two companies. Its a good deal for IGT, which is the worlds largest slot machine maker. It paid
$500 million in 2012 to buy Double Down Interactive, which at the time had just 70 employees but was on the
leading edge of the explosion in demand for social casino games on Facebook. Seoul-based DoubleU games
will partner with IGT over multiple years to promote social casino games around the world. Since acquiring
DoubleDown in 2012, IGT has grown it into one of the largest and most successful brands in the North
American social casino market, said IGT CEO Marco Sala in a statement. The cash purchase price, $825
million, represents 10.5 times DoubleDowns full-year 2016 adjusted earnings before income taxes,
depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a measure of profitability. Upon the closing of the sale, the parties will
enter into a game development, distribution and services agreement that will enable DoubleU Games to offer
IGTs extensive casino game library on DoubleU Games combined social casino platforms, in exchange for
ongoing royalties to IGT.
Robinhood raises $110 million at a $1.3 billion valuation for stock trading app
Robinhood has officially raised its latest round of funding, bringing in $110 million at a $1.3 billion valuation.
The investment is led by DST Global and includes participation from new investors Greenoaks Capital and
Thrive Capital, along with previous investors Index Ventures, NEA, and Ribbit Capital. The company said that it
will use the funds to increase hiring and develop new products around its stock trading app, which has more
than 2 million users. Robinhood aims to make it easier for anyone to buy and trade stocks. Users can invest in
U.S. stocks and ETFs commission-free, which has been particularly appealing to those who may not be

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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wealthy but still wish to try their hand at investing. The companys premium service, Robinhood Gold, is
believed to have good traction, with signup increasing 17 percent monthly and 50 percent of trading volume in
2017 coming from these accounts. While there are plans to develop additional products for customers,
Robinhood declined to cite specifics, although CEO Baiju Bhatt did say: We have several new products on the
horizon, including web. Our work is heavily design and research driven, so were committed to getting it right.


Europe
GameInfluencer raises funding for influencer marketing platform
GameInfluencer, a startup with a platform for influencer marketing campaigns for digital games, has raised an
undisclosed amount of money from European game insiders. he Munich-based company said it raised a six-
digit amount in euros from investors including Heiko Hubertz, former Bigpoint CEO and current CEO of Whow
Games; Klaas Kersting, founder and CEO at Flaregames; Tung Nguyen-Khac, CEO of Spil Games; and Shum
Singh, managing director at Agnitio Capital. Those investors come from some of Europes most recognizable
game companies. The company will use the money to further develop its tech that powers the data-driven
selection of the best influencers to run campaigns at scale for mobile, online, PC and console games.
Broxtermann and Michael Alberthauser started the company in June 2016. They have managed campaigns for
clients including Wargaming, Miniclip, Com2us, Nexon, Nordeus, Spilgames, IGG, Nvidia, Oasis Games and
Flaregames. The GameInfluencer platform contains over 4 million influencers, with focus on their YouTube
and Twitch channels. GameInfluencer offers influencer campaigns in more than 15 different languages and
targets markets all over the world with a focus on Europe and the US.
LoveCrafts raises $33 million to grow its community based platform for makers
LoveCrafts, an online community and platform for crafts, has raised 26 million ($33 million) in a round of
funding led by Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), with participation from Balderton and Highland Europe.
Founded out of London in 2012, LoveCrafts serves as a home and digital marketplace for crafting
communities, such as LoveKnitting.com and LoveCrochet.com. Its basically a social network for niche crafts
that allows its users to share inspiration and source materials, as well as sell their designs. Up until now, the
company had raised around $27 million in funding, and with its latest cash injection it plans to scale its
operations, improve its technology, and bring further crafting sites to other niches. Its always been our goal to
connect makers, designers, and creatives across the world in a social and accessible way, and this investment
will help us to do this in more markets, with greater scale and better tools, explained LoveCrafts founder
Edward Griffith.
Hibob raises $17.5 million to expand its HR platform into the U.S. and other markets
HR and benefits platform provider Hibob has raised $17.5 million in a Series A round of funding led by Battery
Ventures, with participation from Eight Roads Ventures, Arbor Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Founded out of London in 2014, Hibobs flagship software, called Bob, serves as a central hub for a companys
every HR need, and includes attendance records, time-off schedules, and generally every piece of data a firm
would collect from its employees. Its designed so that employees can input much of the data themselves. Our
vision is to transform the way businesses engage with their employees and empower HR to be at the forefront
of this fundamental change, said Hibob CEO and cofounder Ronni Zehavi. We see mobile and social media,
the growing millennial workforce, and cloud technologies as major forces for this long-needed innovation.
Zehavi further states, We will not be commenting on future investment requirements at this point but you can
see from those who have already invested in us, that we are well positioned for the future.
UiPath raises $30 million to help enterprise automate repetitive tasks with software robots
UiPath, a robotic process automation (RPA) startup thats setting out to help companies automate repetitive
tasks, has raised $30 million in a Series A round of funding led by Accel, with participation from existing
investors, including Earlybird Venture Capital, Credo Ventures, and Seedcamp. Founded out of Romania in
2012, though now officially based in the U.S., UiPath touts its core raison dtre as bringing automation to the
intelligent enterprise. It specializes in building what it calls intelligent software robots that help businesses
complete laborious and repetitive processes through computer vision technology and rule-based processes.

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.
9
 SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology and
Internet Market Monthly Review

th
May 30 , 2017

UiPaths RPA smarts manipulate existing software, including customer relationship management (CRM) tools
and enterprise resource planning (ERP) apps, to emulate a specific task typically carried out by a human, be it
in HR, accounting, or finance, working at the user interface (UI) level rather than beneath the UI. the company
plans to double down on its global hiring and product development as it looks to maintain a leading position
in the robotic process automation market, according to a company statement. UiPath already claims a number
of notable enterprise clients, including Lufthansa, Generali, Telenor, and Dong Energy, and has offices in the
U.S., Romania, U.K., India, Singapore, and Japan.

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.
10