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May 6, 2020
Despite the effects of the coronavirus, some small businesses are raising money, not only through crowdfunding, but also via venture capital deals. Check out the following five firms that have gotten fresh funding infusions during the past month.
French firm Back Market brought in $120 million during its latest funding round, which included investments from such companies as Goldman Sachs and Algae Ventures, Crunchbase reports. The firm’s online marketplace allows for the sale of refurbished electronics, all of which have at least a 12-month warranty.
The firm plans to use its latest funding infusion to expand throughout the US and Europe, and it also has eyes on potential expansion into Mexico and Canada. The company has seen revenue and sales climb by triple-digit percentages worldwide, with even higher growth in select markets, which include the United States, said Managing Director Serge Verdoux.
Biotech firm RWDC Industries has raised $133 million as part of its Series B round. The Singapore-based company created a sustainable material that it aims to use as a substitute for single-use plastic in such items as fast food containers and straws, CNBC reports.
The company’s products are derived from renewable items like discarded plant-based cooking oil, which can biodegrade in just a few weeks with no toxic residue. This is in contrast to fossil fuel-based plastics, which take much longer to degrade.
The firm aims to use its latest funding round, which was co-led by Vickers Venture Partners, to expand its production capabilities in Athens, Georgia as the company plans to launch commercially by the end of 2020.
The open-source database brought in $86.6 million during its Series D round, co-led by Altimeter Capital and BOND, according to ZDNet. CockroachDB, which was founded in 2016, now has a total funding base of $195 million.
The enterprise-level database is being used by a variety of big companies, including Comcast, Equifax and Bose, CockroachDB notes. “CockroachDB was purpose-built for mission-critical, data-intensive, cloud-deployed applications, and as a result, we are seeing a tremendous increase in demand for our services from companies small and large looking for bulletproof resiliency, effortless scalability and an overall more cost-effective platform,” said co-founder Spencer Kimball.
The company has used recent funding to double its staff roster over the past year, and is working to improve research and development efforts, the firm said.
Stock-selection app Robinhood has raised $280 million in Series F funding, led by Sequoia Capital, Fortune reports. The latest infusion brings the company’s value to $8.3 billion.
The coronavirus pandemic has actually led to an increase in the app’s use, with three million new funded accounts launching since January 1 and trading activity way up in March. In addition, net deposits at Robinhood were 17 times higher in March than the company’s standard monthly average.
The company aims to use the new capital to expand across the globe and also to roll out new products, said co-CEO Vlad Tenev. Robinhood currently has a waiting list of over 150,000 customers in the UK, where it’s planning to launch soon, Fortune notes.
India’s Rooter brought in $1.7 million during its latest funding round, led by Paytm, leAD Sports, Rockstud Capital and Founder Bank Capital.
The company brings together sports fans and creates gaming communities where users can discuss teams of all regions and sizes. Rooter aims to use its newest funding round to build its user base, expand its e-sports and gaming content and launch user monetization channels, the Economic Times reports.
“We started Rooter with the objective of creating a sports fan community and we are glad our pivot to content has found a strong product-market fit,” said CEO Piyush Agarwal. “We are excited to onboard Paytm, who aside from their investment, will also integrate Rooter into Paytm and Paytm First Games while we will work with them to be the biggest source of user content in sports and gaming.”
Tasnim Ahmed is a content writer at Escalon Business Services who enjoys writing on a multitude of subjects that include finops, peopleops, risk management, entrepreneurship, VC and startup culture. Based in Delhi NCR, she previously contributed to ANI, Qatar Tribune, Marhaba, Havas Worldwide, and curated content for top-notch brands in the PR sphere. On weekends, she loves to explore the city on a motorcycle and binge watch new OTT releases with a plateful of piping hot dumplings!
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