Funding Daily: Today’s tech funding news, in one place

Here’s a list of today’s tech funding stories, updated as the day unfolds. Tip us here if you have a deal to share.

Alibaba inks strategic investment in Paytm; deal could be worth $680M at $4B valuation

China’s ecommerce giant Alibaba on Tuesday announced an undisclosed strategic investment into India’s largest mobile payments and ecommerce platform, Paytm. While the amount has not been made public, multiple reports peg the deal at somewhere around $600-$700 million (see here and here). If true, it would leave Paytm valued at somewhere around $4 billion, and make it one of India’s most valuable startups.

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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. For those who don’t know, Ant Financial is an online payments provider and subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holdings. Paytm says it recently crossed 100 million ewallet users, who carry out over 75 million transactions each month. These are huge numbers.

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Publishing site Medium takes on $57M led by Andreessen Horowitz

Medium has more money in its coffers thanks to the enormous series B investment it just received. The company announced that it has raised $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 includes “significant participation” from Google Ventures and Greylock Partners, along with contributions from previous investors Obvious Ventures, The Chernin Group, and other angels. The company disclosed that founder Ev Williams remains the majority shareholder.

The company’s reported valuation is around $400 million. In total the company has raised $82 million in capital.

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Jaunt’s CEO on its $65M funding and the humanity-advancing mainstream future of virtual reality

Jaunt is hoping to make VR that everyone will experience.

Earlier this week, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company — which was founded in 2013 and is a developer of virtual reality hardware, software, tools, and applications —  announced a $65 million series C round of funding, with The Walt Disney Company, Evolution Media Partners, and China Media leading the round. This brings Jaunt’s total funding to over $100 million.

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The company previously raised 27.8 million in its Series B round of funding, led by Google Ventures.

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Base, a sales platform, closes $30M round for growth

Sales startup Base announced today that it took in a $30 million investment led by Tenaya Capital. Base says it will use the funding round to invest “in expanding the platform’s sales intelligence capabilities.”

“We’re here to bring new levels of productivity to sales teams while providing them with powerful data-driven insights,” said Base CEO, Uzi Shmilovici.

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The sales platform is said to have more than 6,500 customers, including Jet.com, Dow and Cisco.

Base has raised at least 79.4 million to date.

More: Base

Paintzen raises $7.2M round for its on-demand home painting service

On-demand home and office painting service Paintzen raised $7.2 million in its Series A round yesterday. The New York-based company launched in 2013 and has already raised around $9 million for its service growth.

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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 Paintzen’s investment.

More: Paintzen

This list will be updated with breaking funding news all day. Check back for more.

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