Seed funding
Resy, a restaurant reservations app, has raised a $2 million seed round led by Vayner/RSE and Lerer Ventures. Panarea Capital, A-Grade Holdings, Slow Ventures and Ken Austin also participated. The app is launching in New York initially, and will use the funds to expand and continue to develop the product, which allows users to pay extra to avoid waiting for a table.
Vakast, an online travel agency for vacation rentals, has raised $1.3 million in a seed funding round led by Blackstone Group senior managing director Chinh Chu and Ken Pansuria, a founder of the Fine Hospitality Group. Vakast CEO Huan Truong said in a press release: “Today, Vakast offers 3.7 million rooms, more than the top five hotel chains on earth combined. By guaranteeing and offering the largest selection of rooms, travelers will have no need to visit other websites in their search for a perfect vacation rental.”
Series B
Chinese mobile game company 1006 tv, has raised a $10 million Series B round led by Sequoia Capital. ClearVue Partners also participated. The company, which was founded in 2009, has 36 million registered users, according to Crunchbase. 1006 tv provides a media evaluation service for mobile games.
Funding
Mobile gaming company Kabam has raised $120 million in funding from Alibaba. The deal values Kabam at more than $1 billion. The company was founded in 2006 and its free-to-play games have users in more than 150 countries. Kabam will use the funds for acquisitions in Asia and geographical expansion, and will launch 10 games through Alibaba over the next three years. “This strategic collaboration with Alibaba provides Kabam the resources, infrastructure and distribution to help bring our current and future durable franchise games to China and elsewhere in Asia and make an immediate impact,” Kabam’s CEO Kevin Chou said at ChinaJoy, a digital entertainment expo.