Zendrive, a startup which tracks behavior data for driving, has raised a $13.5 million Series A financing round led by Sherpa Capital. Nyca Partners, Thomvest Ventures and existing investors such as First Round Capital, BMW i Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, and Tad Montross all participated. “Personal car ownership is peaking, and our transportation needs are increasingly served by on-demand and other commercial transport services,” said Jonathan Matus, CEO and co-founder of Zendrive. “Safety should always be the most important consideration in building new models of transportation, and we believe in the power of data to make this a reality.”
Chatbooks, a service that turns digital photos into photo books, has secured $6 million in Series A investment led by Signal Peak Ventures. Kickstart Seed Fund, Peterson Ventures and BYU Cougar Capital also participated. “We’re on a mission to make creating photo books as easy as taking a picture,” said Chatbooks co-founder Vanessa Quigley. “My husband and I have seven children, a lot of memories, and even more pictures. But we had no photo albums of our younger kids—we had photos on our phones and social media, but nothing to really hold on to. Like most parents, I didn’t have time for another project, so we knew we had to make Chatbooks accessible to everyone—it had to take just a few minutes and be easy to remember. Now, every time you add 60 photos, Chatbooks software automatically turns it into a printed book.”
Notarize, a digital remote notarization solution, has launched its mobile offering with $2.4 million in seed funding led by Polaris Partners. Ludlow Ventures and other individuals also participated. “Notarize improves the experience for anyone working with documents that require notarization. It will impact consumers, organizations and notaries looking to make this a more productive process and profession,” said Pat Kinsel, Founder and CEO, Notarize. “We are bringing this business into the 21st century and solving a real need. Notarize brings unprecedented security and verifiability to institutions fighting to reduce fraud and directly impacts the consumer experience by giving them an ‘anytime, anywhere’ solution that fits current lifestyles, all while increasing productivity for companies and institutions dealing with these documents.”
Hortau, a precision irrigation management systems provider has secured a $10 million financing round. Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners led the round, with participation from BDC Capital and returning investors Aviro Ventures and Capital regional et cooperative Desjardins. “This recent investment will allow us to continue making our platform better, following our mission to deliver more value for growers,” Hortau CEO Jocelyn Boudrea said. “Along with more direct field support, this coming year will see more ground-breaking features added to our hardware and software, such as advanced data analytics tools, powerful dashboards, responsive data reporting as well as new partnerships that will give our platform added versatility.”