It is Wednesday. We are halfway there, people!
No column today. (We have some good stuff coming your way tomorrow.)
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Top New in the A.M.
Windows 10 is evidently a giant hit for Microsoft. Corporate VP Yusuf Mehdi says that more than 75 million devices are now running the operating system, less than a month after its rollout began. ZDNet has more here.
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New Fundings
7Park Data, a three-year-old, New Hork-based analytics company that sells its information products to enterprises, has raised $3 million in Series A funding led by Mueller Ventures. More here.
Apto, a three-year-old, Denver, Co.-based maker of a commercial real estate CRM and deal management app, has raised $8 million in Series B funding led byAdam Street Partners. The Tech Bulletin has more here.
BasharSoft, the six-year-old, Cairo, Egypt-based company behind the popular, three-year-old Egyptian online recruiting platform Wuzzuf, has raised $1.7 million in Series A funding from the Sweden-based firm Vostok New Venturesand U.K.-based Piton Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Charge Messenger, a year-old, L.A.-based messaging app that hopes to make room for itself in a crowded market that already includes WhatsApp, Line, and Viber, has raised $1.7 million in seed funding. Its investors and advisors includePelion Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, Maiden Lane Ventures,Metamorphic Ventures, Cherubic Ventures, GrandCentral founder Craig Walker, Twilio co-founder John Wolthuis, and Slicehost co-founder Matt Tanas. TechCrunch has more here.
Docady, a 1.5-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based company whose iOS app lets users store and manage documents, has raised $1.5 million in funding from investors, including Pitango Ventures and Disruptive, the venture fund of Tal Barnoach, Eilon Tirosh and various former AOL video execs. TechCrunch hasmore here.
Everykey, a three-year-old, Cleveland, Oh.-based company whose access device intends to be the “master key” for users’ phone, computer, online accounts, and more, has raised $720,000 in seed funding led by IncWell, an early-stage venture firm founded in 2013 by former Chryser CEO Tom LaSorda. The company also received $195,000 from grants through the state of Ohio, including the GLIDE Innovation Fund and NCOTF. More here.
Fluxx, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based grants management platform for the philanthropic sector, has raised $10.2 million in Series A funding led byFelicis Ventures, with participation from The Kresge Foundation. More here.
Intercom, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based customer communication platform, has raised $35 million in Series C funding led by ICONIQ Capital, with participation from earlier investors The Social + Capital Partnership andBessemer Venture Partners. The company, which has now raised $66 million altogether, has more here.
MOCACARE, a two-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based maker of a heart tracker called MOCAheart, has raised $2 million in Series A funding led by the Singapore-based fund JDM, with participation from EMB International and earlier backers DCM Ventures, Lenovo Group, ONSET Ventures and Raven Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Onapsis, a six-year-old, Boston-based cyber security company focused on business-critical applications, has raised $13.8 million in fresh funding, shows an SEC filing. The company had previously raised $12.6 million from investors, including Endeavor Catalyst, TPG Capital, Endeavor, and .406 Ventures.
Velostrata, a year-old, Israel-based, early-stage hybrid cloud startup, has raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Norwest Venture Partners andGreylock IL Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
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New Funds
Looks like FedEx may be getting into more alternative investing, if not strict corporate venturing. A new SEC filing shows the company has set aside $150 million for a vehicle called FedEx Alternative Investments. Michael Brandmeyer, a VP at Goldman Sachs Asset Management who has been running a hedge fund investment vehicle for the bank called Petershill, is listed on the filing. So are Goldman Sachs managing directors Harold Hope and J. Christopher Kojima.
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Exits
Chic by Choice, a 1.5-year-old, London-based startup resembling RentTheRunway, has acquired its German competitor La Remia. Terms were undisclosed. TechCrunch has more here.
Hortonworks, the publicly traded, big data company built on Hadoop, is paying an undisclosed amount to acquire the months-old, Washington, D.C. based company Onyara, which makes scalable dataflow software. TechCrunch has more here.
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People
Former JPMorgan Chase analyst Ashish Aggarwal, a 27-year-old UC Berkeley graduate, has been charged along with two friends in an alleged insider trading scheme that netted more than $670,000 in illicit profits. The trades centered on two tech deals, including Salesforce’s acquisition of ExactTarget in 2013. CNN has more here.
Andrew Chen, an entrepreneur and popular blogger known for his focus on mobile products, metrics and user growth, has joined Uber in a role that will see him supercharge driver signups, referral programs and more. He writes about the move here.
Former Washington D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, who joined Andreessen Horowitz as a special advisor in 2012 and joined the law firm Perkins Coie the following year as a business development manager, is positioning himself to advise more tech firms wanting to do business in Washington, suggests the Washingtonian.
“Angry Birds” maker Rovio is cutting another 260 jobs — or 38.8 percent of its 670 employees — after reducing its workforce by 110 employees roughly a year ago. TechCrunch takes a look at the news here.
Drew Vollero, a former finance executive at toy maker Mattel, is joining Snapchat as its VP of financing and acting CFO. He’ll report to Imran Khan, a former Credit Suisse banker who joined Snapchat in January as its chief strategy officer. The WSJ has the scoop here.
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Jobs
Osage University Partners, the venture firm, is looking to hire a tech associate. The job is in Philadelphia.
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Essential Reads
Apple has lost a ruling at Germany’s top civil court over a patent for unlocking smartphones with a finger swipe.
Why GoGo’s infuriatingly expensive, slow Internet still owns the skies.
Inside the fight over bitcoin’s future.
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Detours
Google’s eerie secret interview process for programmers.
The dog make-up tutorial you never wanted.
Impressive Oreo art.
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Retail Therapy
The Mercedes 2017 S-Class Cabriolet. It’s a full-size drop-top and it’s coming soon.
Lion Killer Dentist Halloween costume. (Not an endorsement, but also, notably, an actual product for sale!)