Legal marketplace Avvo has announced a $71.5 million funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures. Vulcan Capital and Coatue also participated in the funding, which will be used for hiring, marketing and expanding product offerings. Avvo has now raised a total of $132 million to date. “Our mission is to make legal services routine and easily accessible in our daily lives,” said Mark Britton, founder and CEO of Avvo. “Having the backing of TCV is a tremendous validation of that mission and our progress to date, but we still have much to accomplish. You can expect us to introduce simpler and real-time products to even more people. In so many ways, we’re just getting started.”
Little, an Indian marketplace connecting consumers with physical stores through mobile, has launched with a $50 million funding round led by Paytm, TechCrunch reports. SAIF Partners and Tiger Global also participated in the funding. The company’s service offers deals from physical stores such as restaurants, movies, gyms and spas. Little is available in 11 cities across India.
China Rapid Finance, an online consumer lending marketplace, has closed a $35 million Series C funding round valuing the company at more than $1 billion pre-money. Broadline Capital led the round. “We welcome the substantial financial and strategic support of Broadline Capital and our other investors – new and old,” stated Zane Wang, PhD, Founder and CEO of China Rapid Finance. “There are an estimated 500 million consumers in China who are economically active but never have had access to bank credit. This latest funding will be used to pursue our goal of socially inclusive finance by accelerating the expansion of our online consumer lending marketplace to the most creditworthy individuals.”
Shopkeep, which offers cloud-based technology and business management solution for independent merchants, has raised $60 million in Series D funding. Activant Capital led the round, with participation from existing backers. The company plans to use the funds to expand its U.S. customer base and launch international operations, starting with the U.K. Shopkeep has raised $97.2 million to date. “ShopKeep has always provided a one-stop-shop for merchants, offering cutting edge technology and 24/7 customer service. We now play the role of an IT department to small business owners, democratizing invaluable business management tools previously only accessible to the big box retailers,” remarked Norm Merritt, President and CEO of ShopKeep. “Ultimately this means merchants are able to run their businesses more effectively. With this new funding we are looking forward to bringing these benefits to a far greater number of small business owners, and empowering them to run a smarter business.”