Funding and Acquisitions Roundup: Maker’s Row rounds up $1M to connect makers with manufacturers

By Brian Kovalesky, StartUp Beat Editor Today’s early-stage startup funding and acquisitions news: ‘Makers’ marketplace Maker’s Row has closed a $1 million Seed funding round. Investors include Index Ventures, Comcast Ventures and Angels that include Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Joanne Wilson. The New York City-based startup has built a marketplace that connects smaller artisans and […]

Buzztala enables businesses large and small to capture and utilize user-generated video for sales and marketing

A Q&A with Buzztala co-founder and CEO Jay DeDapper. The New York City-based startup launched as an independent company out of parent web video firm Zazoom in mid-June. SUB: Please describe Buzztala and your primary innovation. DeDapper: Buzztala is like Vine for business. We provide a cloud platform for brands and retailers that allows them […]

Funding and Acquisitions Roundup: mxHero gets $1.25M for its email app development platform

By Brian Kovalesky, StartUp Beat Editor Today’s early-stage startup funding and acquisitions news: mxHero, an email applications development platform, has landed $1.25 million in Seed funding. Investors include White Star Capital and Angel investors Esther Dyson and Ari Kushner. The company has developed a framework that allows developers to build applications on top of large email […]

Anturis gives SMBs control over their own IT monitoring with its cloud- and browser-based platform

A Q&A with Anturis CEO Sergey Nevstruev. The San Francisco-based startup, which offers an SMB-focused IT infrastructure monitoring and troubleshooting platform, launched out of beta in late June. It was founded in 2011. SUB: Please describe Anturis and your primary product innovation.  Nevstruev: Anturis, a vanguard IT solutions company, is the developer of IT infrastructure monitoring and […]

Funding and Acquisitions Roundup: Meldium secures $1M for its enterprise password management service

By Brian Kovalesky, StartUp Beat Editor Today’s early-stage startup funding and acquisitions news: Meldium, which is focused on securing and managing passwords in the enterprise, has closed a $1 million Seed funding round. Investors in the San Francisco-based startup include Draper Associates and Founders Co-op. The platform aggregates enterprise users’ login credentials for various apps and […]

Featured Startup Pitch: Perfect Audience’s self-service ad retargeting platform helps small-and medium-sized web businesses recapture ‘lost’ visitors

Company: Perfect Audience Website: http://www.perfectaudience.com Founders: Brad Flora, Jordan Buller Headquarters: San Francisco Year Founded: 2011 Investors: Y Combinator, SV Angel, WGI Group, New World Ventures, Start Fund, Knight Foundation, individual investors Employees: 9 Twitter: @perfectaudience Facebook: facebook.com/perfectaudience Brief Company Description: Perfect Audience helps advertisers boost sales through self-service retargeting of ads to their website visitors across Facebook Exchange and other ad […]

Funding and Acquisitions Roundup: Bench raises $2M for its personal bookkeeper service for SMBs

By Brian Kovalesky, StartUp Beat Editor Today’s early-stage startup funding and acquisitions news: 10Sheet, a bookkeeping software platform for SMBs, has rebranded as Bench and re-launched with $2 million in Seed funding. Investors in the New York City-based startup include Quotidian Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Lerer Ventures and High Peaks Venture Partners. Its differentiator is that […]

Startup marketing: What is it good for? Absolutely everything

By Stephen Tanenbaum, co-founder, UGallery You’ve built a great product. Congratulations. Now, here comes the hard part—letting people know that it exists. Of course, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that creating a good service—whatever it may be—is easy. I’m just saying that there are tons of great offerings out there. What really makes […]

Ayannah wants to bring e-payments to the unbanked in emerging markets, beginning with the Philippines

A Q&A with Ayannah founder and CEO Mikko Perez. The Laguna Hills, California and Pasig City, Philippines-based startup, which offers an e-commerce and payment platform for migrants and the unbanked, closed a $1 million Angel funding round in mid-June led by Siemer Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures. It was founded in 2008 and previously raised $2 million […]

Funding and Acquisitions Roundup: 500 Startups accelerator grad Privy lands $1.5M for its local merchant marketing platform

By Brian Kovalesky, StartUp Beat Editor Today’s early-stage startup funding and acquisitions news: Privy, which offers a local marketing platform for small-and medium-sized businesses, has raised $1.5 million in Seed funding. Investors include Atlas Venture, 500 Startups and Angel investors. The Boston-based startup was founded in 2011 by Ben Jabbawy. Privy’s focus is to make it […]