This article was published on October 30, 2015

Friday Business Roundup: Alibaba stock surge, DesktopMetal raises funds without product, Karhoo gets $250M to do what Uber doesn’t


Friday Business Roundup: Alibaba stock surge, DesktopMetal raises funds without product, Karhoo gets $250M to do what Uber doesn’t

The world of tech was astir with eye-catching activity this week. DesktopMetal, a startup that has no product or even a website yet, raised $14.4 million this week purely based on their awesome team composition. Alibaba announced expectation-shattering performance in its second quarter, causing their stock to surge. Karhoo, a company that plans to level the playing field for licensed taxi companies against Uber, raised a significant funding round ahead of their upcoming launch.

It’s been a bustling week, so before you leave the office for the weekend, let us quickly recap the week’s events. We picked out the need-to-knows from the stories that made the top of Index’s algorithms for you.

This Week in Numbers:

Index recorded 161 funding events and 45 acquisitions this week. The median amount raised by tech companies was $3.7 million, a 19 percent upturn compared to last week. The largest investment round was raked in by New York-based taxi ordering company Karhoo, who reeled in $250 million in private equity ahead of its launch in January.

graph-2

Four breakout funding rounds

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

Paddle8, an online art auction house, raised a $34 million series C round. Their total funding to date now stands at $51 million.

Predictive analytics company Uptake raised an impressive $45 million series A round from New Enterprise Associates, Lightbank, and Greatpoint Ventures.

Knip, a mobile-first insurance broker, took in a $15.7 million series B round. The company is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has previously raised two other rounds.

An online pharmacy, NetMeds, started by a 100 year-old Indian pharmaceutical company, reeled in a $50 million venture capital round.

Headline highlights

Slack’s new user groups will help manage channel overload [The Next Web]

Nintendo’s first smartphone release is a free-to-play game called Miitomo [The Verge]

After receiving threats, SXSW cancels panel about online harassment [Ars Technica]

Etsy ASAP brings same-day delivery of hand-made treasures to NYC [The Next Web]

Google installing 20,000 internet-enabled balloons in Indonesia [The Guardian]

Microsoft’s new flagship NYC store is 5 blocks away from Apple’s [The Next Web]

 

Hungry for more?

Track what’s happening in tech throughout the week with Index, or sign up for our weekly digest of the biggest stories in tech.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with