SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review

October 11th, 2015

Bi-monthly Highlights

Global Trends

Ad-block software is approaching 200 million user

Ad-block software usage may be more common than previously thought. There are nearly 200 million monthly active
users (MAU) of ad-block software globally, according to data from a new study by PageFair and Adobe included in
our latest ad-blocking report. That represents a big uptick in ad-block usage from just one year ago. The software,
which blocks ads from appearing on websites, search, and social networks, is also catching on in the US. Ad-block
MAU totaled 45 million in the US as of June 2015, increasing nearly 50% from last year. If ad blocking on mobile
reaches desktop levels, US digital media companies could lose out on as much as US$9.7 billion across digital ad
formats next year. Ad blocking may become even more common with the release of Apple's widely used desktop
and mobile operating systems later this year. The operating systems will feature a framework that makes it
significantly easier for developers to create ad-blocking software, particularly on mobile. Publishers whose audience
skews toward young males, such as video game sites, tend to see much higher ad-block usage compared with
general news sites.

Here's where digital ad spending is going over the next five years
Dollars are increasingly flowing from traditional ads to digital, as strong growth in mobile, video, and social spending
continue to change the face of the US media market. Over the next five years, marketers will especially embrace
mobile. US mobile ad revenue will rise by a 26.5% CAGR through of 2020. Mobile display ads, including banners,
rich media, and sponsorships, will overtake desktop display-related spending even earlier, in 2017. Mobile will drive
up spending on video, search, display, and social, and propel the migration of ad dollars away from traditional media,
including newspapers and magazines. Social-media ads, which cut across display and video, are seeing fast
adoption. US social-media ad revenue, which includes video and display ads, will grow by a CAGR of 14.9%
through 2020. The rapid embrace of programmatic ad-buying tools is fueling a dramatic uptick in the share of digital
ad spending coming through programmatic channels. Programmatic transactions will be a majority of total US digital
ad spend this year.

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.

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review
October 11th, 2015

Kids abandon PC gaming for mobile devices

According to a new report by market research firm The NPD Group, 63 percent of kids ages 2 through 17 use
mobile devices to play video games. This makes it the gaming platform of choice for children and teens, a spot
previously reserved for home computers and part of the reason why the mobile market is worth an estimated $30
billion this year, according to the researchers at Newzoo. This shift has occurred as now only 45 percent of kids
ages 2-17 are gaming on a home computer, down 22 percentage points since 2013, NPD Group notes. This
decline is seen among all of the kids age groups, but is most pronounced among those ages 2 through 5.

Asia Pacific
China
Ever wanted to rent yourself out? This startup in China just raised US$1.5M to help you out
Zuwoba which means Rent me in Chinese is a Beijing-based social networking app that reportedly just raised a
US$1.5 million angel round from an undisclosed investor. It offers iOS and Android versions of a free app that lets
you rent people youd like to learn a skill from perhaps someone who knows how to draw well, or someone whos
an excellent soccer player. Its like a tutoring service, but teachers on Zuwoba can offer help with pretty much
anything. You can also just rent a companion if youre lonely and looking for somebody to accompany you on some
kind of activity, like eating dinner together or seeing a movie. In Chinas jam-packed O2O sector, theres basically
nothing you cant buy, rent, or order from your mobile phone.
Work collaboration platform Teambition raises US$12M to take on Microsoft 365
Teambition is an online platform that allows for workplace collaboration on things like events, tasks, posts, and
cloud-based file libraries. Shanghai-based workplace collaboration platform Teambition announced this week that it
has raised US$12 million in Series B funding from investors including NLVC, IDG, Vangoo Capital, and Gobi
Partners. This Series B round brings Teambitions total funding to date to US$17 million it previously raised a
US$5 million Series A in December last year. The money will be used to further build out its existing freemium model,
expand sales efforts, diversify the team, and hire more global talent from outside China. It also plans to adapt and
customize the product to what specific industries need to collaborate.
Chinese online healthcare startup Guahao raises US$394M from investors including Goldman Sachs
Guahao (Mandarin for take a number) is an online healthcare startup that offers a variety of services. Foremost,
Guahao provides quick-booking service, which allows you to virtually take a number at a hospital before you get
there, and potentially avoid agonizing hours of line-standing. The company also has a large database of information
on doctors, specialists, and procedures, as well as booking features for other kinds of medical appointments and
more. The round was led by Hillhouse Capital and Goldman Sachs, with additional investment from Tencent, China
Development Bank Capital, Fosun, and more. Following this investment the company plans to use US$300 million to
build a nationwide internet platform for diagnosis and treatment, and another US$150 million to create five surgery
centers in cooperation with top-end local medical companies. The company is also changing its name to the Weiyi
Group to reflect its broader healthcare goals.
Chinas Didi Kuaidi invests in Indias Ola to boost anti-Uber alliance
Chinas most used ride-hailing service Didi Kuaidi released a statement announcing an investment in Indian
equivalent Ola. It now owns a stake in every major Uber rival on the planet, except Hailo and Easy Taxi. Also
investing in Olas new round are SoftBank, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, Tiger Global, and Falcon Edge. A
Didi spokesperson declined to reveal the investment size. Ola has locked up 80 percent of Indias taxi-booking
business and completes over 750,000 rides a day. Didis investment in its peers was announced in quick succession.
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.

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review
October 11th, 2015

In August 2015, it invested in Southeast Asias GrabTaxi. Then, a month later, it announced it had backed Ubers
chief Amercian rival Lyft. This is another important step in a major arms race for transportation app dominance thats
playing out around the globe.
WeChat butler service gets US$4M funding just 2 months after launching
Chinese startup Laiye provides an on-demand concierge service. Rather than make it a standalone app that people
would have to download, they created the Laiye concierge as a brand account inside the WeChat messaging app,
giving the startup easy access to the 600 million people who use WeChat regularly. The butler service has tens of
thousands of users and has processed over 100,000 closed loop transactions at the request of users. Among the
most popular requests on Laiye are things like booking cabs, ordering food and drinks, nabbing transport tickets and
hotel reservations, purchasing gifts, and making appointments for massages, manicures, pedicures, or visits to the
doctor. The startup revealed that it has secured US$4 million in seed funding. It comes just two months after it
launched. The investment was led by Lightspeed China Partners, joined by Sequoia Capital, ZhenFund, and
Pengpai Fund. The next step is to venture beyond WeChat. Apps for iOS and Android are in development and are
due out in a couple of months.
Chinas top university invests US$3.8B into US hard drive maker
Chinas prestigious Tsinghua University is investing a whopping US$3.8 billion into hard-drive maker Western Digital.
Its Chinas biggest ever tech investment in the US. The deal represents an approximate 15 percent stake in
Western Digital, which has a market capitalization on NASDAQ of US$16.26 billion. The investment is made through
a company named Unisplendour, also referred to as Unis, which is largely owned by Tsinghua University and its
subsidiaries. Uniss board member will be restricted from participating in discussions that involve government
contracts, sales or products and services, and other such sensitive matters, says Western Digital in its
announcement to shareholders.

Korea
SparkLabs Hosting Largest Startup Demo Day in the World
Our affiliated startup accelerator, SparkLabs (www.sparklabs.co.kr), is hosting their 6th demo day on December 11th,
2015 in Seoul. Their last demo day event had over 1,400 people attend. This upcoming demo day over 1,800
people are expected to attend and over 400 investors from throughout Asia. Registration is here.

Japan
Japans Orb launches blockchain-based cloud computing platform, lands US$2.3M funding
Tokyo-based startup Orb (previous known as Coinpass) announced that it has introduced a decentralized cloud
computing system leveraging a blockchain-based authentication technology under the same name. As an
application using this system, the company launched a cryptocurrency management platform called SmartCoin.
Coinciding with the launch, Orb announced that it will close a funding round worth 274 million yen (or about US$2.3
million) from SBI Investment, Japanese online marketing company Ceres, investment company United, online
affiliate and advertising services company Adways, and Monex Ventures.
Japanese startup gets funding to sell used bulldozers, backhoes, and cranes
Tokyo-based Sorabito, the startup behind heavy machinery ecommerce marketplace Allstocker, today announced
that it raised JPY 100 million (US$832,000) in funding from domestic venture capital firm GMO Venture Partners and
undisclosed angel investors. Its the startups first round of external fundraising, and will be used to hire engineers
and sales staff. Allstocker provides online payments, shipping logistics, and on-site inspections. The site is available
in English and Japanese. Putting the equipment online, in an Amazon-esque fashion, is a game changer for 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.

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review
October 11th, 2015

industries that Allstocker serves. Allstocker, currently in beta, is scheduled to go live on November 2. Since the beta
opened six months ago, the startup has attracted users from 140 countries and 15,000 listings. Sorabito COO
Ryosuke Nakayama says his team is hoping to move at least 10 machines a month, or roughly US$300,000 worth of
equipment.

India
Portea Medical, One Of Indias Largest Home Care Providers, Gets US$37.5M From Accel
Portea Medical, a startup that provides in-home healthcare in India, has raised a US$37.5 million Series B led by
returning investor Accel. The rounds other participants include International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member
of the World Bank Group, Qualcomm Ventures, and Ventureast. Portea claims to be the biggest in-home care
provider in India, with clinicians in 24 cities who make 60,000 in-home visits every month. It currently serves 50,000
patients, about 40 percent of whom are actively using its services at any given time. The companys last fundraising
was in December 2013, when it got a US$9 million Series A from Accel, Qualcomm Ventures, and Ventureast. Its
new capital will be used to expand into South/Southeast Asian markets and boost its employee count from 3,000 to
8,000 over the next 18 months.
Alibaba inks strategic investment in Paytm; deal could be worth US$680M at US$4B valuation
Chinas ecommerce giant Alibaba on Tuesday announced an undisclosed strategic investment into Indias largest
mobile payments and ecommerce platform, Paytm. While the amount has not been made public, multiple reports
peg the deal at somewhere around US$600-$700 million. If true, it would leave Paytm valued at somewhere around
US$4 billion, and make it one of Indias most valuable startups. As a release on the deal makes clear, Ant Financial
made its initial investment in Paytm in February of this year, while Alibaba is coming on board as a new investor. Ant
Financial is an online payments provider and subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holdings. If the numbers all add up, it
would leave Alibaba and Ant Financial each with about a 20 percent stake in Paytm, meaning Chinas largest
ecommerce and mobile payments player now essentially owns 40 percent of Indias largest ecommerce and mobile
payments player. Paytm says it recently crossed 100 million ewallet users, who carry out over 75 million
transactions each month. The fresh capital infusion will allow Paytm to achieve scale, develop its vibrant mobile
commerce and payment ecosystem in India, and invest in marketing, technology and talent.
PepperTap Lands US$36M To Expand Its Grocery Delivery Service To 75 Cities In India
PepperTap, a nine-month-old grocery delivery service in India, has closed its third round of investment this year
after announcing a US$36 million raise. The funding is led by Snapdeal, the India-based Amazon rival that is backed
by Alibaba, with participation from existing investors Sequoia India and SAIF Partners, as well as new backers Runet, JAFCO, and BeeNext. And as if that isnt enough, PepperTap, which landed US$1.2 million in March and then
US$10 million more in April, is in discussions to expand this round by an additional US$20 million. Like Instacart and
others, PepperTap provides groceries on-demand for customers. It works with existing stores (that provide supply)
to get orders dispatched to customer within two hours. Now, it is in 17 cities across India, and has plans to be in a
total of 75 by the end of March next year. In addition to operational expenses, PepperTap plans to invest this new
funding into developing its technology.

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.

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review
October 11th, 2015

Accel, Elevar, others back Alok Mittal's startup Indifi

Indifi Technologies has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a round led by Accel Partners and Elevar Equity.
Other investors are Rajan Anandan, vice president and managing director of Google Southeast Asia and India, and
Pramod Bhasin, founder and CEO of Genpact. Indifi helps small and medium-sized businesses get loans by
analyzing their internal data and presenting them to financial institutions. Its started by Alok Mittal, co-founder of the
Indian Angel Network.
Kalaari infuses US$2M into products discovery startup Shopalyst
Shopalyst, an India-based startup that enables product discovery and shopping from any site or app, has raised INR
13 crore (approximately US$2 million) in its Series A round of funding from Bangalore-based VC firm Kalaari Capital.
It helps retailers extend their sales reach beyond e-commerce sites, and serves personalised storefronts to inspired
shoppers wherever they are. It has developed a platform, called Shortlyst, that allows publishers and developers to
add in-app buy buttons on content such as images, videos, chats, news or social shares which can prompt
consumers to make a purchase. The India-based startup will use the funds for expansion in the domestic as well as
overseas markets.
Indian P2P money transfer app Chillr raises US$6M from Sequoia
Chillr, a peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile money transfer app in India, has secured US$6 million in a Series A round of
funding from Sequoia Capital. Launched in February this year by Sony Joy, Chillr claims to have seen around
350,000 downloads till date. The app sees over 5,000 transactions per day and it targets 100,000 transactions per
day by the end of this year. The startup has currently partnered with HDFC Bank and Bank of Baroda to facilitate the
service. The fintech startup will use the funds for merchant and customer acquisitions

Pakistan
Rockets ecommerce site for frontier markets gets US$55M funding
Rocket Internets ecommerce store Daraz revealed that it has secured EUR 50 million (US$55 million) in its first ever
funding round. It operates in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar three markets where ecommerce is at very
early stages, which is the kind of unformed landscape that Rocket likes to blast into. The US$55 million comes from
the UK governments CDC Group, which is focused on supporting and developing businesses in Africa and South
Asia, as well as Rocket spin-off Asia Pacific Internet Group (APACIG), which is technically Darazs parent company.
The cash will be used to grow the business in existing markets and for expansion into other nations in Asia where
ecommerce is only just taking off. Daraz runs separately from Lazada, Rockets estore for more mature markets
such as Singapore and Thailand.

Indonesia
Product search engine Telunjuk finds series A funding from Lippo Digital Ventures
Indonesian shopping recommendation engine and price comparison site Telunjuk announced it raised a series A
round of funding of an undisclosed amount from Lippo Digital Ventures (LDV), the tech investment arm of
Indonesias family-owned Lippo conglomerate. Telunjuk started in 2011 as a search engine for people looking to buy
laptops and phones. Today, Telunjuk can be used to find more than 15 million products, including prices, discounts,
vouchers, and reviews by hundreds of online shops in Indonesia and Asia. Telunjuk claims to be clocking 1.5 million
monthly visitors. Telunjuk co-founder Redya Febriyanto says Telunjuk hopes to start 2016 strong and expand to
serve several countries in Southeast Asia.

Indonesias Stockbit gets seed funding from Ideosource

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.

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review
October 11th, 2015

Stockbit is a financial analytics platform that helps Indonesian traders understand and share information about the
local stock market in real-time. Earlier today it announced a seed investment of an undisclosed amount from local
VC firm Ideosource. Stockbits goal is to make life easier for independent or retail investors by giving them access to
high-quality financial data and sophisticated analytics tools at an affordable price. To date, Stockbit has 15,000
registered users, while paid subscribers are still in the hundreds. The Stockbit team plans to spend the fresh capital
on building out the product, which includes making mobile apps for Android and iOS, as well as recruitment and
marketing.

Taiwan
Pinkoi, A Marketplace For Independent Designers In Asia, Raises US$9M And Launches English Site
The Taipei-based startup is a social e-commerce platform for designers and artists to sell their unique products.
Pinkoi now has 25,000 sellers throughout Asia and two million monthly users. While the majority of Pinkois
shoppers are in Asia, the startup is using several tactics to attract consumers in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia,
and New Zealand. Pinkoi, which launched an English-language site, also has an international transfer service that
forwards orders from multiple vendors to shoppers. With the US$9 million in new funding from Sequoia India and
GMO Ventures, Pinkoi plans to ramp up its expansion plans. The startup now has 50 employees and offices in
Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and San Francisco, with plans to open one in Shanghai soon. It will also use the
capital to improve product search and discovery.

Hong Kong
Hiring Screen raises US$800K to build algorithms that help companies find the best hires
Hong Kong-based HR tech startup Hiring Screen announced today it secured US$800,000 in seed funding from
private investors in Asia and Europe. Launched this year, Hiring Screen helps recruiters sift through huge volumes
of CVs to shortlist people who are probably the best fit for a job through algorithms and machine learning. This
essentially frees up time for recruiters to meet more applicants in person. The company is focused mostly on Hong
Kong, but it sees big potential in Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines and Indonesia. Their recent funding
will be used to improve their data science expertise, make their user interface more functional, and optimize overall
user experience. Hiring Screen is a part of Hong Kongs technology accelerator program, Blueprint, which is run by
Swire Properties.

Thailand
Thai fashion marketplace WearYouWant picks up series B funding
Thai fashion marketplace WearYouWant announced it has raised an undisclosed amount of series B funding. The
round was led by Japanese company Start Today, which is behind Zozotown, one of the countrys top fashion
ecommerce sites. Existing investors OPT SEA and Digital Media Partners also joined this round. The deal gives
Start Today access to the Thai fashion ecommerce space, where WearYouWant has had a pretty successful run
since its 2011 launch. WearYouWant raised US$1.5 million from Digital Media Partners and OPT SEA in August
2014. The Thai startup sources products from physical stores and merchants from across Thailand.

Singapore

Jungle Ventures close to raising US$100M for investing in Asia

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.

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review
October 11th, 2015

Jungle Ventures, a Singapore-based venture capital firm, announced it is raising a new US$100 million fund. Thats
ten times more than its first fund, raised in 2012. US$65 million has been closed so far, and the firm expects to
complete the fundraising in three months. Singapores sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings has put money into
the new fund, together with over half of the investors from Jungles inaugural fund. At inception, the firm targeted
early stage deals. But now, this new and larger pot is also aimed at series A and B startups. Jungle Ventures
founder and managing partner Amit Anand says the firm plans to invest US$5 million to US$6 million in a companys
lifecycle. Region-wise, Jungles focus remains in India, Southeast Asia, and Asia-Pacific.
Beauty artist marketplace Vanitee is sitting pretty on US$1.4M funding
Singaporean beauty marketplace Vanitee announced it has raised US$1.4 million (S$2 million) in its first funding
round. The funding comes from beauty, cosmetics, and fragrances company Luxasia, and Singaporean business
figure and angel investor Robert Yap. Launched four months ago, Vanitee offers a marketplace where users can
connect with beauty professionals and book their services. The platform features nail and make-up artists, hair
stylists, and other beauticians who offer their services through the mobile app. The startup also provides a suite of
tools for independent beauty professionals such as customer relationship management (CRM) tools, real-time
scheduling, online marketing, and operational set-up. The funding will be used to boost the startups manpower.
MyRepublic gets US$16M shot in the arm to become Singapores 4th telco
Singapore-based telco MyRepublic has secured funding to the tune of US$16 million (S$23 million), the company
announced. The funding comes from Brunei telco DST Communications, among others. MyRepublic is gunning to
be the fourth telecommunications provider in Singapore, after SingTel, Starhub, and M1. It offers broadband internet
services and is getting into mobile telephony. DSTs investment into MyRepublic is expected to help the upstart telco
to push its Mobility Trial this October. MyRepublic currently has a subscriber base of just under 40,000, which it says
is triple the number of subscribers a year ago. The company has recently expanded to New Zealand, and is looking
to enter more regional markets such as Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Online video startup Viddsee reels in new funding to bring short films to Indonesia
Singapore-based video site Viddsee announced it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a round led by
Japanese venture capital firm CyberAgent Ventures. This latest round brings the startups total funding to US$2.3
million to date. The funding will be used for growing the company, and more specifically for fueling its expansion to
new markets. The Singaporean startup was founded in 2013 and has quickly built an extensive library of instantly
available Asian-made short films. It hosts content from a variety of genres, creators, and countries, accessible
through web and mobile. Viddsee currently has a strong presence in Singapore, Taiwan, and the Philippines, and is
now looking to expand into Indonesia.
Vertex Ventures gets US$600M to invest in startups in China, US, Israel
Vertex Ventures is the venture capital subsidiary of Singapores sovereign wealth fund Temasek. Predominantly
focused on Asian startups with proven products ready for rapid expansion, Vertex will now also look at US and Israel,
while doubling down on China. These are the leading centers of tech innovation. Healthcare is a new area itll be
looking at. A European office is in the planning stages. The firm has put US$190 million from its last fund in 30 Asian
startups, with a return on investment of 30 percent on par with what top venture capital firms make. At US$600
million, the size of the new fund is under half of the US$1.5 billion that top-tier firm Andreessen Horowitz raised
recently. Vertexs past investments include Southeast Asias leading taxi booking app Grabtaxi, dating app Paktor,
and parenting media site TheAsianparent.

United States
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.

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review
October 11th, 2015

Meditation Startup Headspace Raises US$30 Million To Help You Be More Mindful
Headspace, a guided meditation and mindfulness startup, recently raised US$30 million from The Chernin Group,
Advancit Capital, Allen & Company, Breyer Capital, The Honest Company Co-Founder Jessica Alba, actor Jared
Leto, TV personality Ryan Seacrest, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner and others. The startup makes money through
selling subscriptions to its guided meditations. Headspace has 3 million users in over 150 countries. Users can
access to hundreds of hours worth of content on everything from stress and creativity to relationships and happiness.
With the new capital, the startup plans to hire more engineers and content marketers and expand Headspaces
content.
MasteryConnect Raises US$5M From Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan For Personalized Education
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have been quietly amassing a portfolio of both philanthropic
and venture investments in education. Now theyre expanding a pre-existing Series B round for Salt Lake City-based
MasteryConnect with a US$5 million investment. It brings the companys total funding to US$29 million and will help
grow its headcount beyond its current 140 employees. MasteryConnect builds software for teachers to plan and
measure individualized student progress. Theyve racked up 1,800 paying customers, which are usually individual
schools or districts across the country. The company says its been used in 85 percent of school districts across the
United States and has a reach of 2 million teachers.
CloudFlare raises US$110M from Baidu, Google Capital, Microsoft, and Qualcomm
CloudFlare, a company offering a content-delivery network (CDN) with security features to make sure websites stay
online and load quickly around the world, is announcing today a US$110 million funding round with major strategic
investors: Google Capital, Microsoft, Baidu, and Qualcomm. CloudFlare, which offers premium Denial of Service
(DoS) mitigation and web application firewalls to stop certain kinds of cyber attacks, has developed into a major
player on the Internet. The company says it has 4 million customers, including Cisco, NASDAQ, Reddit, the World
Economic Forum, and even WikiLeaks. To date, CloudFlare has raised US$182 million, including the US$50 million
round announced in December 2013. Now CloudFlare is working with Qualcomm to optimize connections between
CloudFlares network and phones with Qualcomm chips, and its also looking into servers packing ARM-based chips
from Qualcomm. CloudFlare is also figuring out ways to deepen its partnership with Microsoft
Video conferencing company Blue Jeans raises US$76.5M
Blue Jeans Network, a company with web and native mobile applications for video conferencing, is announcing
today a US$76.5 million round of funding. Blue Jeans emphasizes its interoperability with Lync, Hangouts, and other
services, as well as even hardware systems from Cisco and Polycom. That way, everyone on a call doesnt have to
be logged into the same system. Blue Jeans customers include Facebook, GoPro, Pandora, and Stanford University.
New Enterprise Associates led the new round in Blue Jeans, which started in 2009 and is based in Mountain View,
California. Accel Partners, Battery Ventures, Glynn Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Quadrille Capital, and former
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter also participated. To date Blue Jeans has taken on US$175 million.
Apache Drill gurus at Dremio raise more than US$10M from Redpoint and Lightspeed
Dremio, a startup founded by two former MapR employees who have developed the Apache Drill open-source
project, has taken on more than US$10 million in funding from Redpoint and Lightspeed after just two months of
operation. Its not exactly clear what Dremio is building, but its clear that the team is packed with open-source talent.
Presumably Drill an SQL query engine that can work with NoSQL databases, Hadoop file systems, and cloud
storage services will play a part. The company claims Dremio will enable organizations to unlock the value of
their data in its slogan. In an interview with VentureBeat, the founder Tomer Shiran said the startup will deliver new
open-source software.
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.

SparkLabs Global Ventures Technology

and Internet Market Bi-Monthly Review
October 11th, 2015

Boston-based Acquia bags US$55M round as its Drupal content management system surges
Oopen-source social publishing platform, Drupal, got another boost today when Boston-based Acquia announced it
has raised US$55 million in venture capital. Acquia helps organizations build social publishing websites by
leveraging Drupal. The money comes on the heels of US$50 million the company raised in May 2014, which was
increased just three months later when Amazon tossed in an additional amount of funding. While the latest
investment is a sign of confidence in the company, its also worth noting that back in 2012, while raising a round of
US$30 million, Acquia said it was closing in on an IPO. Those plans have obviously been shelved. The latest round
brings in a new investor, Centerview Capital Technology, plus additional money from previous investors New
Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Split Rock Partners. The company said this latest funding would help it expand
sales and marketing and develop new products.
Publishing site Medium takes on US$57M led by Andreessen Horowitz
Medium announced that it has raised US$57 million in new capital in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, which it
intends to use to help bring out the best content on the Internet. Additional investment in the round is from Google
Ventures and Greylock Partners, along with contributions from previous investors Obvious Ventures, The Chernin
Group, and other angels. Since its founding in 2012 and public debut a year later, Medium set out to be an easy-touse writing tool that seemed to foster content creation while implementing a network effect like what youd expect
with Tumblr and Blogger. It started off as invite-only and wanted to be that service where thoughtful articles were
composed and shared. Eventually it opened up to everyone, and now more than 20,000 people every week are
writing on the platform. The companys reported valuation is around US$400 million. In total the company has raised
US$82 million in capital.
Jaunts CEO on its US$65M funding and the humanity-advancing mainstream future of virtual reality
Jaunt VR, a company that develops virtual reality hardware, software, tools, and applications, announced a US$65
million series C round of funding, with The Walt Disney Company, Evolution Media Partners, and China Media
leading the round. The company previously raised US$27.8 million in its Series B round of funding, led by Google
Ventures. Latest investment brings Jaunts total funding to over US$100 million. Over the next year, a half-dozen VR
headsets are readying for launch, and Jaunt aims to supply premium live-action VR content to those devices. Jens
Christensen, CEO of Jaunt VR said this latest round of funding will enable Jaunt to scale up on several fronts,
including camera hardware, software development, and most importantly: content production. Jaunt also plans to
use the funding to grow its teams in Palo Alto and in its Los Angeles studio.
Base, a sales platform, closes US$30M round for growth
Sales startup Base announced today that it took in a US$30 million investment led by Tenaya Capital. Base says it
will use the funding round to invest in expanding the platforms sales intelligence capabilities. The sales platform is
said to have more than 6,500 customers, including Jet.com, Dow and Cisco. Were here to bring new levels of
productivity to sales teams while providing them with powerful data-driven insights, said Base CEO, Uzi Shmilovici.
Base has raised at least US$79.4 million to date.
Paintzen raises US$7.2M round for its on-demand home painting service
On-demand home and office painting service Paintzen raised US$7.2 million in its Series A round yesterday. The
New York-based company launched in 2013 and has already raised around US$9 million for its service growth. Yet
another business for the contractor economy, Paintzen takes care of all the booking and payment process. In this
low-demand model, the company says it guarantees job competition and satisfaction. Bullpen Capital led the round,
and Data Point Capital, AngelPad, NextView Ventures, and Lerer Hippeau Ventures followed on Paintzens
investment.

AboutLife goes live and raises US$3M from KPCB for its financial planning service
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AboutLife is a company that provides long-term financial planning. The company raised US$3 million for its Series A
round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Available only in the U.S., aboutLife takes a unique approach to
helping you plan your future without needing to deal with detailed paperwork. It asks users a few questions about
themselves and utilizes data analysis to derive the rest of the story, pulling from such resources as the U.S. Census,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and academic studies. The company says itll use the new capital to expand its suite
of tools to help people figure out how to plan for college, take care of their parents, buy a home, manage debt, and
more. Additionally, it hopes to spend some of that money to bring on designers, engineers, and product managers.
Japans SoftBank leads whopping US$1B funding into U.S. fintech startup SoFi
SoFi, a U.S.-based student loans marketplace for lenders and borrowers, announced that it has secured a further
US$1 billion in funds led by Japans SoftBank. Its calling it the largest single financing round in the fintech space to
date. A post-money valuation was not disclosed, but its now raised a total US$1.42 billion to date. Existing
investors that came back for this round include Third Point Ventures, Wellington Management Company,
Institutional Venture Partners, Renren, Baseline Ventures, and DCM Ventures. Since launching in the student loans
space in 2011, SoFi has expanded into new offerings including mortgages, mortgage refinancing, and personal
loans. In the coming months it plans to expand its member services (including its Entrepreneur Program and Career
Services team) by further building out its job boot camp and job board exclusive to community members. It will also
simplify the user experience and push harder into mobile.
Cloud security startup Dome9 raises US$8.3Me
Dome9, a startup with cloud-based software for deploying and managing security configurations on cloud
infrastructure, is announcing an US$8.3 million round of funding. As public cloud usage grows, interest in cloud
infrastructure security tools such as Dome9 should increase as well. Competitors include CloudPassage, Evident.io,
and TrendMicro. Dome9s service, hosted on market-leading public cloud Amazon Web Services (AWS), offers
agentless support for AWS resources, and, with a software agent, can work on Microsoft Azure, IBM SoftLayer,
Google Cloud Platform, Rackspace, and HP Cloud infrastructure. Dome9 now has more than 250 paying customers,
including Citrix, Cloud Technology Partners, Nexgate, and TradAir. ORR Partners led the new round in Dome9. JAL
Ventures, Lazarus, and Opus Capital Ventures also participated. To date the startup has raised US$13 million.
Ahead of Rock Band 4 release, Harmonix raises US$15M to innovate in music gaming
Harmonix Music Systems, the maker of the upcoming Rock Band 4 music video game, has raised US$15 million in
equity funding. The funding is unusual since Harmonix was founded way back in 1995, and because investments in
music games are going through a kind of revival. Steve Janiak, CEO of Boston-based Harmonix, pointed out that
Harmonix was focused on making games for Microsofts Kinect in the past, and that turned out to be a narrow
strategy. Now the company is looking wider. At Apples most recent press conference, Harmonix revealed Beat
Sports, a collection of music-infused mini-games developed exclusively for the new Apple TV. Harmonix is also
making a game for the Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles, and it is making a music visualizer for Sonys PlayStation
VR. The money from the Foundry Group and Spark Capital will go toward innovating in music video games. Other
participating investors include SOSV, CommonAngels Ventures, and Presence Capital.

Europe
iAdvize Grabs US$16 Million For Its Customer Engagement Platform
French startup iAdvize just raised US$16 million (14 million) from Iris Capital, Bpifrance and existing investor Alven
Capital. iAdvize automatically detects visitors who need help and alerts your team members. Then, customer
support representatives can contact their website visitors. 2,000 companies are using the product. With iAdvize, you
can also add click to chat, click to call and other buttons to your website. Some of the companys clients include
Cdiscount, LVMH and Boursorama. The new funding round will be used to greatly expand the teams. Started in
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France, the company now plans to hire 100 people in the U.K., Germany, Spain and then the U.S. The company will
also fine tune its platform. iAdvize will be able to monitor what customers are doing on the web, mobile and on social
networks. The startup is currently implementing Twitter and Facebook support.
Spanish Invoice Trading Marketplace NoviCap Raises US$1.7M
NoviCap, the invoice trading marketplace headquartered in London but with offices in Barcelona and a customer
base largely in Spain, has closed a US$1.7 million seed round. Backers include Partech Ventures, Techstars
Ventures and Cabiedes & Partners. Launched in 2014, the Barclays Techstars alumni solves the problem SMEs
face due to the typical 60-90 day delay in invoices being paid by large clients, thus creating unnecessarily cash-flow
problems. Similar to U.K. competitor MarketInvoice, NoviCap provides a marketplace where SMEs can raise
financing by trading their invoices, which are essentially used as security, for much speedier financing.
Kreditech Nabs US$92M To Build Financial Services For The Underbanked
Kreditech, a German company building a suite of credit and banking products for consumers who have little or no
credit history, has raised 82.5 million (US$92 million) to continue adding more products and geographies to its
platform. Investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel is investing in this Series C round, alongside Amadeus Capital
Partners and existing investors Vrde Partners, HPE Growth Capital and Blumberg Capital. The round was led by
U.S.-based private equity firm J.C. Flowers. Kreditech today does most of its business in Poland, Spain, the Czech
Republic, Mexico and Russia. The company remains unprofitable, and while it is not disclosing revenue numbers,
Kreditech CFO Rene Griemens says operating losses were halved in the first half of the year compared to the same
period in 2014. Revenues are also growing at a treble rate, he added.
Ometria Raises Further US$2.5M To Let Online Retailers Automate Marketing Campaigns
The London-based company is announcing a further US$2.5 million in funding and breaking cover on its recent pivot
to become a customer insight and marketing platform aimed at retailers and commerce businesses who want to
automate marketing campaigns based on Ometrias underlying data insights technology. The disclosed funding
round was led by Inventure Partners, with participation from existing investors SaatchInvest, and new investors
Force Over Mass Capital. Several angels also participated, including Nickyl Raithatha (founder and CEO at Finery
London and previously Global Managing Director at Rocket Internet), Lee Hudson (COO at AppyParking), and
Richard Fattal (UK MD at Grokker). It brings total seed investment secured by Ometria to US$5 million, and will be
used to increase the size of Ometrias team and for further development of Ometrias automated marketing platform.
Fintech unicorn Adyen grabs first Silicon Valley investor at US$2.3B valuation
Adyen, the Amsterdam-based payment processing company, announced that its valuation had jumped to US$2.3
billion after a new investment from its first Silicon Valley investor. Adyen said it couldnt reveal the amount it received
from Iconiq Capital, however, the latest funding comes less than a year after the company raised a round of US$250
million at a US$1.5 billion valuation. The company is already profitable, with 40 percent of its revenues coming from
the U.S. Now the company wants to grow closer to some of the fastest-growing new companies in Silicon Valley.
And it wants to pursue more clients among larger national and international retailers. Adyens previous investors
include General Atlantic, Index Ventures, Temasek, and Felicis. But Iconiq is known for, among other things, its role
in managing finances for big shots like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Reid Hoffman.
ShopFully Scores Further US$11M To Drive More Customers To Physical Stores
Italy-based startup ShopFully, which helps drive customers to physical retail stores with a digital alternative to the
humble paper flyer, has raised a further US$11 million (10 million). Backing comes from Highland Capital Partners
Europe and brings the total raised over the last three years to 20 million. Previous backers include Principia SGR,
360 Capital Partners and Merifin. Founded in 2010, ShopFully claims its service/app is used by over 13 million
shoppers worldwide the startup trades under the brand DoveConviene in Italy and ShopFully in the U.S., as well
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as various other names in Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia to help them prepare and plan their purchases in
physical stores. It combines a plethora of geo-located information including promotions, products, shops, opening
times, and contacts of retailers and brands featured. The additional funding will be used to grow the teams in each
country and to expand into new territories. The aim is to reach a total of 10 national markets by end of 2016.
French dating app Happn connects with US$14M investment to help you avoid missed connections
Happn allows users who physically cross each others path to connect using the dating/friend-meeting app. Besides
making love-at-first-sight relationships a bit more likely, the French company behind the app raised a whopping
US$14 million series B funding round led by European investor Idinvest Partners. Alven Capital, DN Capital, and
Raine Ventures also participated in this round. Happn has raised at least US$22 million to date, and its CEO, Didier
Rappaport, said he is expecting this capital to help his company reach a 10 million users goal by the end of the year.
The funds from the round would also facilitate Happns expansion in the United States, Asia, and South America,
following the apps acceptance in Europe. Happn is also working on features that allow customers to communicate
with their favorite brands.

Israel
Exabeam raises US$25M to protect companies from identity theft
Data security firm Exabeam announced it has raised US$25M. Its technology identifies attacks even when a hacker
has legitimate access to a companys resources. Nir Polak, Domingo Mihovilovic Ph.D., and Sylvain Gil founded
Exabeam in 2013, and its offices are based in San Mateo, California. The current funding round was led by Icon
Ventures, which was joined by Aspect Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) as well as Shlomo Kramer,
who has invested in the company since its inception. Since its launch, the startup has raised US$35 million in total
funding. The company reported that the current funds will help it develop its products, grow its marketing efforts, and
embed their technology in additional large companies and organizations.
Israeli Farmigo raises US$16M to deliver produce directly from farmers
Farmigo, which raised US$16 million in Series B funding, is bringing the farmers market to the digital age providing
fresher produce to customers and more income to local farmers. Founded in 2009 by Israeli entrepreneurs Benzi
Ronen and Yossi Pik, Farmigo has an Israeli R&D center and offices in Brooklyn, New York. Farmigo allows
consumers to purchase vegetables, fish and even meat directly from the farms that are closest to their house,
allowing them to receive fresh and healthy food at a lower cost while still supporting local farmers. The current
fundraising round was led by Formation 8, in conjunction with the companys current investors, Sherbrooke Capital
and Benchmark Capital. Since launching, the company has raised a total of US$26 million in three funding rounds.

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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