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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.
Spotify closes $526M funding round as the fight with Apple intensifies
All the chatter this week may have centered on Apple’s announced music-streaming service, but Spotify is upping its game thanks to a fresh $526 million funding round, according to a Wall Street Journal report, valuing the company at $8.53 billion.
This effectively doubles Spotify’s total funding since its inception in 2006, as it has now raised north of $1 billion.
PAX Labs raises $47M for e-cigarette tech
Vaporizer tech startup Pax Labs announced today it raised $47 million in a series C funding round led by Fidelity Management. Other individual investors like Sivia Capital and prior investors Tao Capital Partners and Sand Hill Angels followed. The company, which aims to “provide a cleaner, modern alternative to smoking,” also announced it plans to use the funds for the expansion of its tobacco vapor products.
More: PAX Labs
100M users strong, Duolingo raises $45M led by Google at a $470M valuation to grow language-learning platform
Duolingo, the popular crowdsourced text translation tool, today announced that it has closed a $45 million round led by Google Capital at a valuation of $470 million. Previous investors Union Square Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers also joined in this new round.
This figure more than doubles the $38.3 million Duolingo has raised so far: a $3.3 series A round led by Union Square Ventured in October 2011, a $15 million series B round led by NEA in September 2012, and a $20 million series C round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in February 2014. Other notable investors include actor Ashton Kutcher and author Tim Ferriss.
Lattice Engines gets $28M to stay on top of the crystal ball
What salespeople want is a crystal ball that will predict who will buy, what they will buy, and when.
Lead scoring companies like Lattice Engines, which use past behavioral and other data to predict future actions, have been trying to grant that wish. Today, the San Mateo, California-based company is announcing a new funding round of $28 million so it can grow its predictive powers.
Volta wants to power your electric car with ads — and it just raised $7.5M
Volta, a startup that has over 100 free electric car charging stations in five cities, announced today that it raised $4.5 million in a series A round led by Three Bridges Ventures, and $3 million in financing from SQN Capital. In total, the Honolulu-founded company has raised $12.5 million.
Volta said that the funding will be used to open 400 new charging stations in other major cities.
Sam the Plumber needs online ads too — and, with a fresh $4.4M, ZypMedia wants to help
Let’s say you’re Sam’s Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning in Elmhurst, Illinois.
You want to advertise to Elmhurst-area adults aged 35 to 65 who own homes. Your ad agency takes you to a local TV station to buy on-air ads for programs hitting that target group, and that sell local time.
Today, San Francisco-based ZypMedia is announcing it has raised $4.4 million and signed a deal to act as the exclusive local online ad platform for the Sinclair Broadcast Group of TV stations. This extends a test in three markets by Sinclair to a long-term contract for 79 markets. Sinclair is also the lead investor in this new series B round, which includes participation from U.S. Venture Partners.
Ivideon scores $4M from Impulse VC to take its video-streaming service global
Ivideon, a Russian startup whose cloud platform allows users to beam video to any device using almost any hardware configuration, has just raised $4 million from Russian venture fund Impulse VC.
The investment deal was one of 14 agreements signed or announced on day one of Startup Village, totaling a combined $272 million in value, the Skolkovo Foundation reported this past Friday.
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This list will be updated with breaking funding news all day. Check back for more.
