iris dorbian

Millennial-focused rewards program Drop locks in $21 mln Series A

Toronto-based Drop, a millennial-focused rewards program, has raised $21 million in Series A funding. New Enterprise Associates led the round with participation from other investors that included Sierra Ventures, White Star Capital, ff Venture Capital, Portag3 Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.

Costanoa Ventures and NEA lead seed round for Aquabyte

San Francisco and Norway-based Aquabyte, which uses computer vision and machine learning models to optimize fish farming efficiency, has raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Costanoa Ventures and New Enterprise Associates led the round with participation from other investors that included Princeton University.

VC-backed taps Eltoukhy as operations VP

SiFive, a provider of commercial RISC-V processor IP, has named Shafy Eltoukhy as vice president of operations. Previously, Eltoukhy worked as vice president and business unit manager for the analog mixed signal division at Microsemi. SiFive is backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, Spark Capital and Osage University Partners.

Chinese electric car startup XPENG Motors drives off with about $348 mln

XPENG Motors, a Chinese electric car startup, has raised RMB 2.2 billion (about $348 million) in Series B funding. The lead investors were Alibaba Group, Foxconn and IDG Capital with participation from other investors that included Yunfeng Capital and China International Capital Corporation Limited.

GameMine takes in $20 mln Series A

Los Angeles-based GameMine Inc, a mobile game publisher, has raised $20 million in Series A funding. The investors were not named.

Victor flies away with $18 mln

Victor, a private jet charter marketplace, has raised $18 million in funding. The investors included BBA Aviation and BP Ventures.

Estonia-based Tera Ventures targets 55 mln euros for second fund

Tera Ventures, an Estonian venture firm, is seeking to raise 55 million euros for its second fund. The fund will invest in about 30 seed-stage technology startups in Estonia, Scandinavia, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Mnubo lands C$16.5 mln Series B

Montreal-based Mnubo, an internet of things data analytics and artificial intelligence company, has raised C$16.5 million in Series B financing. Munich Re's HSB Group led the round.

Busbud nabs $11 mln Series B

Montreal, Québec-based Busbud, an online marketplace that enables global travelers to shop for and book intercity bus tickets on over 1.4 million bus routes worldwide, has raised $11 million in Series B funding. The lead investor was iNovia Capital with Teralys, Claridge, Plaza Ventures, Erik Blachford, former CEO of Expedia and Philippe Vimard, current chief technology officer of Doctolib, also participating in the round. In addition to the funding, Blachford, Vimard and Magaly Charbonneau, a principal at iNovia, will join Busbud's board of directors. According to Busbud, the capital infusion will be used for technology development, personnel hiring and geographic expansion.

Travel marketplace Busbud pulls in $14 mln Series B

Montréal-based Busbud, an online marketplace that enables global travellers to shop for and book intercity bus tickets on more than 1.4 million bus routes worldwide, has raised about $14 million (US$11 million) in Series B funding. The lead investor was iNovia Capital with Teralys Capital, Claridge, Plaza Ventures, Erik Blachford, former CEO of Expedia, and Philippe Vimard, current CTO of Doctolib, also participating. In addition to the funding, Blachford, Vimard and Magaly Charbonneau, an iNovia principal, will join Busbud's board. According to Busbud, the capital infusion will be used for technology development, personnel hiring, and geographic expansion.