Seed
Quandl Inc., a marketplace for financial datasets and other quantitative information, has raised $5.4 million in seed funding. The three-year-old company, which is based in Toronto, is aspiring to become an alternative to more costly resources from companies like Bloomberg and Reuters. It recently brokered a partnership with Zacks Investment Research, Inc. that will allow Quandl to license the financial research company’s data to customers. “My eureka moment came when I [realized], ‘How is it that in 2010 all human knowledge is consolidated on Wikipedia and quantitative knowledge is a huge mess?” Quandl founder Tammer Kamel told The Wall Street Journal.
Series A
Scopely, a mobile gaming platform that produces its own games and publishes those from other studios, has raised a $35 million Series A round. The financing was led by Evolution Media Partners and Highland Capital Partners, with additional participation coming from Knoll Ventures, Greycroft, The Chernin Group, and Sands Capital Ventures. Evolution Media Partners co-founder Rick Hess will join Warby Parker co-founder and current Highland Capital Partner Andy Hunt as new members of the Scopely board of directors. Scopely is based in Los Angeles and has now raised over $40 million, having secured $8.5 million in Seed funding in 2012.
Metal Networks, an online marketplace for the buying and selling of semi-finished industrial metal, has received $5 million in equity funding from S3 Ventures. The company is headquartered in Houston, TX and will be using the money to build out its global network. “We are pleased to partner with the team at S3,” said Metal Networks CEO Brian Smith through a press statement, “The S3 team brings a wealth of experience in enterprise B2B, and we expect 2015 to be a year of significant growth as we continue to expand our market presence.”
Series C
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based personally curated trip planning service Gogobot has secured $20 million in Series C financing to expand marketing and distribution. Backers include existing investors Redpoint Ventures Battery Ventures, and HomeAway, a publicly traded travel booking site. HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples will be joining the Gogobot board of directors. Expanding on the implications of the strategic partnership between Gogobot and HomeAway, Gogobot founder Travis Katz told TechCrunch: “We structured the deal where not only are they investing, but we’ve also done a partnership where we’ll be doing smart integrations that can springboard Gogobot for growth.”