Series A
Remittance company Worldremit has raised $40 million in a Series A funding round from Accel Partners. The World Bank reports $519 billion in remittance payments were completed in 2012. Through the platform, consumers can deploy funds from 35 countries to recipients in more than 100 places.
Trulioo, an identity verification software company, has secured $6 million in a Series A investment. The round was led by Tenfore Holdings; BDC Venture Capital and Blumberg Capital contributed. Funding behind the Vancouver company now exceeds $8.3 million.
Series B
Micro-investing company Acorns has gained $5.5 million in a Series B funding round. Jacobs Asset Management led the round and clients of Digital Offering investment bank contributed, according to a press release. In all, the Newport Beach-based company has received $8.3 million. Funding will go towards debuting the company’s mobile app and financial engine, the release said.
San Francisco-based educational analytics startup BrightBytes has raised $15 million in a Series B funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led the round, which saw prior backers like Rethink Education and Learn Capital participate. The company serves nearly 10 percent of American schools, according to a press release.
Series C
Rover.com, which links dog owners with dog sitters online, has gained $12 million in a Series C funding led by Menlo Ventures. Madrona Venture Group, Petco and Foundry Group, which had invested before, participated in the round. Rover leverages more than 25,000 sitters in the U.S., and upwards of 92 percent of Americans live inside of a short drive from a Rover sitter, according to a press release. Backing behind the Seattle-based company comes to almost $25 million.
Funding
Whisper, an app where users can post secrets anonymously, has raised nearly $30 million in a round led by Shasta Ventures, according to Re/code. Thrive Capital and Tencent contributed, joining previous backers such as Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The Los Angeles-based company drew a post-money valuation of roughly $200 million. Whisper had secured $21 million in funding last September.
Google Capital has led an $85 million investment in Credit Karma, which delivers consumer finance and technology solutions. Tiger Global contributed to the funding along with prior investors Susquehanna Growth Equity and Ribbit Capital. Equity backing behind Credit Karma now comes to $118.5 million. The San Francisco company has allowed upwards of 20 million Americans to get their credit score since 2008, according to a press release.
L2, a business intelligence service provider, has realized a $16.5 million growth funding round from General Catalyst Partners. The New York company serves member brands including Chanel, L’Oreal, Dove, and P&G. L2 is keeping tabs on more than 5,000 worldwide brands.
New streaming music platform Beats Music has received between $60 million and $100 million in fresh funding, according to reports. The company had raised $60 million last year. A 2011 Gartner report put global end users’ spend on subscription services at $2.22 billion in 2015.
On Target Laboratories, which delivers optical imaging technology, has gained $15 million in funding. The Pension Fund of the Christian Church and Old World Industries founder Tom Hurvis, the company’s original backer, invested. On Target Laboratories LLC is based in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Classifieds company Quikr has secured $90 million in funding. Kinnevik led the investment, which saw contributions from the Mumbai company’s “principal current investors,” according to a press release. Among current backers: Nokia Growth Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Matrix Partners India, Omidyar Network, Warburg Pincus and eBay Inc. Quikr serves more than 30 million small businesses and consumers, the release said.
M&A
Mountain View search behemoth Google has picked up the “parts and labor” of now-defunct Green Throttle Games, according to Pandodaily. Two of the Santa Clara company’s co-founders, Matt Crowley and Karl Townsend, will be among staff headed to Google.
“Photography community” 500px has revealed its acquisition of New York-based Authintic, which delivers analytics technology. The deal “brings additional data sciences and advertising industry expertise as 500px enters the photo licensing business,” according to a press release. The Toronto company aims to make it possible to buy its 37 million pictures.