With so much going on in the city’s thriving ecosystem, it is easy to miss some of the happenings in the space. We keep you abreast of a few of things that you may have missed in NYC Tech this week including the fundings, exits, and events.
CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED IN SILICON ALLEY THIS WEEK
Founder’s note: This is the 21st installment of our Week in Review and the column has proved quite popular. At this time, we are opening it up to outside contributions. If your company has notable news to be included in the #NYCtech Week in Review, please send details and an image/logo to WIR@alleywatch.com. By “notable” news, we mean significant life cycle events including company launches, fundings, liquidity events, key hires, and key partnerships with Fortune 100 companies. We also do not mean increases in user base of x%, launch of your mobile app, etc. Lastly, please note that submission does not guarantee inclusion.
We took a look at 15 promising NYC founders who we expect to hear big things from in 2015 – 15 NYC Startup Founders to Watch For in 2015
Fotolia, a stock photo site that hosts a crowdsourced libarary of 34,000 affordable images, illustrations and video clips for sale, has been acquired by Adobe for $800 million in cash.
Tubular Labs, whose software and services deliver actionable video intelligence to creators, brands, and media companies, recently established a New York office and has brought on Marc Schraer as senior vice president of sales and customer success. Schraer takes on the newly created role to oversee all sales strategy and operations for the company.
Schraer is the newest member of the Tubular Labs executive team, joining CEO Rob Gabel, VP of Enterprise Allison Stern and VP of Engineering David Koblas. Heading up the company’s New York office, Schraer will oversee the sales staff located in Los Angeles and the company’s Mountain View headquarters, and will be hiring additional staff in key cities as the company expands.
Hinge, a mobile app that helps people meet new people – meaning dates – through their online social graphs (meaning, friends), has raised a $12 million Series A round led by Shasta Ventures, with participation from previous investors Lowercase Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Eniac Ventures and CAA Ventures.
We took a look at 10 tech predictions from the guy who is 94% accurate – 10 Tech Predictions for 2015 From the Guy Who Is 94% Accurate
San Francisco-based Lending Tree had a good day in NYC this week. The stock surged 56% as the peer-to-peer lending platform made its Wall Street debut. Shares began trading at $24.75 — up from the $15-per-share price set the previous night – and ended the day at $23.43, giving the company a valuation of $8.5 billion.
Poshly, the leading consumer intelligence company for the beauty and personal care industries, announced that they’ve launched the publishing industry’s first data-driven channel, and talk about feather in the crown: the company has entered into an exclusive partnership with Time Inc.’s PEOPLE, the premier celebrity news and entertainment brand with a weekly audience of more than 58 million.
The new channel, powered by Poshly’s proprietary technology, will live on PEOPLE.com and feature highly coveted giveaways curated by Poshly and PEOPLE editors. Users may enter the giveaways by answering a series of targeted questions for a chance to receive some of the world’s top beauty and personal care products. The giveaway quiz format can be easily accessible for mobile, digital and social platforms and helps PEOPLE speak to its next-generation loyalists on their preferred devices. All of the data provided to Poshly’s clients, and now PEOPLE, is anonymized and aggregated so brands are receiving valuable insights for decision-making, not personal user information.
The relationship will provide PEOPLE with real-time consumer insights and represents an evolution in PEOPLE’s digital strategy to create more products that appeal to their growing millennial audience.
Perfect partnership, especially considering that the PEOPLE audience always wants the real deal.
nextSociety (xS), a smart networking app that unlocks the full potential of your existing connections, has raised $1.6 million in seed funding. Investors include AC & Friends GmbH, Austrian Research Promotion Agency, Michael Ventling and Dr. Axel Meyer.
Karin Krause was just named Springboard’s New York Fashion Tech Lead.
More news: The Springboard-curated book Been There Run That is an entrepreneurs’ toolkit, featuring 50 “posts of wisdom” from Springboard Alumnae, Advisors and friends, with key takeaways from Springboard Chaiman, Kay Koplovitz. And it’s now available for pre-order, and the perfect gift for the entrepreneur in your life.
You can pre-order Been There, Run That now, and digital downloads and hard copy editions will be available 12/12. Proceeds will support Springboard!
Heads up, travelers! Bandwagon has entered into a marketing partnership with United Airlines’ Eco-Skies to make rides to and from Newark Liberty International Airport greener – and a lot cheaper.
We’re talking about savings of up to 60%, and it’s always nice when both customers and the environment come out as winners.
Routehappy, a flight rating site that attempts to point users toward airlines and routes that other travelers like, has raised $3.3 million in Series A funding led by iNovia Capital, with participation from PAR Capital Ventures, Contour Ventures, High Peaks Ventures, Vocap Investment Partners, and Buddy Media founder Mike Lazerow.
Switch, a job discovery network for employed, talented media and technology professionals who are discretely job hunting, and whom AlleyWatch covered just last week, has raised $1.4 million in seed funding led by Rhodium and Metamorphic Ventures. BAM Ventures, SG VC, and a number of angel investors also participated in the round.
Jean-Luc (JL) Neptune, MD MBA, was just tapped to join the Blueprint Health team as an Executive Director and will be leading the Accelerator program.
As the first co-tenant dating back 3 years, he’s literally had a front row seat to Blueprint Health since the first class, and is a mentor at both BPH and the NY Digital Health Accelerator.
The good doctor (and kick-ass table tennis player) also made the AlleyWatch Comprehensive Guide to Who’s Who in eHealth in NYC.
Kinsa Health has produced the first smartphone thermometer to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and has raised a $9.6M Series A round from investors Andy Palmer, FirstMark Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The world’s smartest smartphone-connected thermometer is also creating the first real-time health map to track and help stop the spread of disease.
