North America

AEye fetches $40 mln Series B

Pleasanton, California-based AEye Inc, a developer of advanced vision hardware, software and algorithms for self-driving vehicles, has raised $40 million in Series B funding. Taiwania Capital led the round with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Intel Capital, Airbus Ventures and Tychee Partners.

USC Marshall School of Business launches venture fund

The USC Marshall School of Business has launched a venture capital fund. The fund will invest in early-stage startups founded by USC students, alumni, faculty and staff. No financial terms were disclosed.

Bain Capital Ventures leads Series C round for Wonolo

San Francisco-based Wonolo, an on-demand staffing platform, has secured $32 million in Series C funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round with participation from other investors that included DAG Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Base10, AMN Healthcare and Cendana. In conjunction with the funding, Bain Capital Ventures' Jamison Hill has also joined Wonolo's board of directors.

Plastiq locks in $27 mln Series C

San Francisco-based Plastiq, a payment solutions provider, has raised $27 million in Series C financing. Kleiner Perkins led the round with participation from DST Global. In addition to the funding, Ilya Fushman, a general partner at Kleiner Perkins, will join the Plastiq board of directors.

QurAlis pulls in $5.5 mln seed

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based QurAlis Corporation, a biotech company focused on developing precision therapeutics for ALS and other neurological diseases, has raised $5.5 million in seed funding. The investors included BioInnovation Capital, Viva Biotech Limited, MP Healthcare Venture Management and Amgen Ventures.

ISARA nabs $10 mln Series D

Waterloo, Ontario-based ISARA Corp, a provider of agile quantum-safe security solutions, is raising $10 million in Series D funding. Shasta Ventures is leading the round. ISARA was previously backed by Quantum Valley Investments, founded by BlackBerry creator Mike Lazaridis.

ISARA nabs $13.2 mln in Shasta Ventures-led Series A round

ISARA Corp, a Waterloo-based quantum-safe security software company, has raised about $13.2 million (US$10 million) in a Series A financing. The round was led by Shasta Ventures, a U.S. venture capital firm. It follows an earlier $15.1 million (US$11.5 million) financing by Mike Lazaridis' Quantum Valley Investments. Additional investors will be announced in the weeks ahead. Founded in 2015 by CEO Scott Totzke and CTO Mike Brown, ISARA develops agile quantum-safe technology solutions to help corporate and government organizations address emerging security threats posed by quantum computing. It plans to use the funds raised for global growth.

Defy leads $9 mln Series A in tax advisory Visor

San Francisco-based Visor, provider of an online tech-enabled tax advisory service, announced it raised $9 million in Series A funding. Defy led the round, which included Unusual Ventures, SVB Capital and existing investors. The company, founded in 2016, has now raised $15.5 million to date. As part of the latest round, Neil Sequeira, managing partner and co-founder of Defy, has joined the board.

Zippity procures $2.6 mln

Zippity, a workplace amenity for full-service car maintenance, has raised $2.6 million in funding. The investors were A3Ventures, BP Ventures and LaunchPad Ventures.

Big data and AI startup Zdaly attracts funding

Texas-based Zdaly, a big data and AI startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of financing. The investors were S3 Ventures and Moneta Ventures.