North America

Geek+ racks up $150 mln Series B

Geek+, a Chinese artificial intelligence and robotics company, has raised $150 million in Series B funding. The investors included Warburg Pincus, Volcanics Venture and Vertex Ventures.

BDC offers online financial literacy training to entrepreneurs

Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has made available a free e-learning class in basic financial management to Canadian entrepreneurs. The online course uses gamification and simulations to bring small business owners through concepts such as cash flow management, financial statements, profitability, performance monitoring and raising external capital. BDC said the effort is being launched to address a perceived "deep financial literacy gap" that exists among entrepreneurs. A second phase of the course will be released in spring 2019.

iHeartMedia to acquire Relay Ventures-backed Jelli

San Antonio, Texas-based audio company iHeartMedia has agreed to acquire Jelli Inc, a San Mateo, California-based cloud advertising platform for the global radio market. No financial terms were released. IHeartMedia said the deal will allow it to leverage Jelli’s assets to create for brands a digital-compatible buying platform for broadcast radio. Founded in 2008, Jelli raised more than US$40 million in financing, according to Crunchbase. Its investors include Canadian mobile venture capital firm Relay Ventures.

Botkeeper inks $18 mln Series A

Boston-based Botkeeper, an automated bookkeeping solutions provider, has secured $18 million in Series A funding. The investors included Greycroft, Gradient Ventures, Ignition Partners and Halfcourt Ventures.

CropIn nabs $8 mln Series B

India-based CropIn Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd., an agriculture technology startup, has raised $8 million in Series B financing. The investors were Chiratae Ventures and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund.

Quantum Machines rakes in $5.5 mln seed

Israel-based Quantum Machines, a developer of control and operation systems for quantum computers, has raised $5.5 million in seed financing. The investors were TLV Partners led the round with participation from Battery Ventures.

Golden Opportunities Fund invests $8 mln in Cova Software

Cova Software, a Denver, Colorado-based cannabis retail software platform, has raised US$8 million in an initial financing. The investor was Golden Opportunities Fund, a retail fund managed by Canadian private equity and venture capital firm Westcap Management. Cova provides point-of-sale solutions to cannabis retailers, including automated compliance, inventory management, reporting dashboards and a checkout app. It will use the funds raised for product development and to expand its North American footprint. Founded in 2016, Cova has its Canadian headquarters in Vancouver along with offices in Regina and Winnipeg.

PlayVS scores $30.5 mln Series B

PlayVS, which is building the infrastructure and official platform for high school esports, has secured $30.5 million in Series B funding. Elysian Park Ventures led the round with participation from other investors that included New Enterprise Associates, Science Inc., Crosscut Ventures, Coatue Management, WndrCo, Adidas, Samsung NEXT, Plexo Capital and Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Agora snags $70 mln Series C

Agora.io, a voice, video and live broadcasting platform, has raised $70 million in Series C funding. Coatue Management led the round with participation from SIG, Morningside and Shunwei Capital.

ApisProtect grabs seed funding

Ireland-base ApisProtect, which uses the internet of things to monitor honey bee colonies, has secured 1.5 million euros in seed funding. Finistere Ventures and Atlantic Bridge Capital led the round with participation from Radicle Growth, the Yield Lab and Enterprise Ireland.