Webrazzi

First group of speakers announced for Webrazzi Summit 2014

Noyan Ayan | July 23, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

A preliminary list of speakers is announced for Webrazzi Summit 2014, one of the most influential internet and tech conferences in Turkey and the surrounding region. The conference will be held on 25th of September this year in Swissotel The Bosphorus, with the anticipated participation of over 1500 attendees from the leading companies and institutions shaping the digital ecosystem in the world.

The announced list of speakers includes BlaBlaCar co-founder and COO Nicolas Brusson, Y Combinator partner and CFO Kirsty Nathoo, Tech.eu writer and founder Robin Wauters, TechCrunch Europe editor Mike Butcher, SimilarWeb co-founder and CEO Or Offer,Web Arts founder Andre Morys, MUBI founder Efe Çakarel, Aslanoba Capital‘s founder and owner Hasan Aslanoba, HotelTonight‘s EMEA Managing Director Heather Leisman, CAPTCHA inventor and Duolingo founder Luis von Ahn, LaMetric founder Nazar Bilous and ArabNet founder Omar Christidis.

Quandoo closes $25m growth financing round to expand globally

Noyan Ayan | July 23, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

Real-time restaurant reservation platform Quandoo announced the closing of its Series C financing round lead by Piton Capital and affiliates.

Berlin-based company says the new funds will be used to ‘extend its market leadership in Germany, Austria and Italy across Europe, while preparing to launch also in Asia-Pacific and South America’.

Holtzbrinck Ventures and DN Capital, the two VCs who lead the A and B round, , as well as the Sixt family (lead investor in the Seed round) and Texas Atlantic Capital, participated in this growth-financing round.

Startupbootcamp FinTech announces 10 startups to join its 3-month acceleration program

Noyan Ayan | July 21, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

Startupbootcamp FinTech, a London-based accelerator focusing on financial technologies and innovation, has announced the first list of 10 fintech startups selected to join its 2014 program. The lucky startups, six of which are based in Europe and two in the US, will be working together with hundreds of mentors, partners and investors to build innovative and marketable fintech products over 3 months of acceleration period.

Startupbootcamp Fintech London will be offering the winners 3+1 months office space, €15K in cash per team and a bunch of expensive partner services to be provided for free, all in return for 8% equity in the participating company.

Global app ecosystem grows unprecedentedly, risks monopolization – GPBullhound

Noyan Ayan | July 17, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

App-driven mobile computing has created an unprecedented value so far, and will get even bigger as the people can no longer live without their ‘smart’ mobile devices. A report by GP Bullhound, a tech investment banking company, underlines that the mobile service providers will continue to shape the economy across the globe as long as they are able to stay relevant, cultivate large active user bases and convert their user relationships into money. However, this unprecedented growth also risks harming the competition by shutting a territory to new comers.

Finnish personalized recommendation service Nosto hauls in $5.5 million from Wellington Partners

Brendan Maynard | July 16, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

Finnish personalized-sales service Nosto has announced that they have hauled in $5.5 million from Wellington Partners, with participation from current investors Open Ocean Capital, Sanoma Ventures, and Finnish funding-agency Tekes in a Series A round.

Back in April 2013, Nosto raised a $2.8-million seed round from Open Ocean Capital and Sanoma Ventures and they are back for more in order to bolster their plans for global expansion.

The company, which launched almost a year ago in October 2013, claims more than 1,200 online retailers as clients and says that more than 1.8 million personalized-recommendations have been made through the service.

Europe’s leading startup accelerator Seedcamp launches $30M fund

Noyan Ayan | July 15, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

Seedcamp, one of the best known startup accelerators and seed investors in Europe raised $30 million from a variety of investors to set up ‘Seedcamp 2.0′, an extensive accelerating program that involves backing around 100 ventures over the next four years not only through enrolling them into acceleration camps but also via direct seed investment.

In a statement, the company said they will now back companies from start to scale, because they are ‘bigger and better, allowing them to back more entrepreneurs, and at a faster pace.’.

Germany’s biggest online TV network Mediakraft raises €16.5M in second round

Noyan Ayan | July 10, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

Mediakraft Networks, the leading online TV broadcaster in Central Europe, has announced today the closure of €16.5 million funding in a second round led by Iris Capital of France. Also participated in the round are new investor Capnamic Ventures and existing backer Shortcut Ventures.

The company claims that the figure is the highest for an online media company in Europe.

The new funding will be used to expand Mediakraft’s web offering in the markets and improve the infrastructure. “Mediakraft Networks is the driving force in the super fast-growing market for online video. We are thrilled and excited to be on board in what is the most promising space in the entertainment sector” said Erkan Kilicaslan, Partner at Iris Capital.

Google Ventures announces $100M European fund

Noyan Ayan | July 10, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

Last week’s rumours regarding Google Ventures‘ plans to launch a 100M+ fund to nurture European startups has come true. In a statement published on GV blog by managing partner Bill Maris, the company announced that a venture fund with initial funding of $100 million is now launched to support European entrepreneurs with ‘best ideas!.

GV Europe operations will be run by a team of four - Eze Vidral, Tom Hulme, Peter Read, and Avid Larizadeh- who will be reporting to Bill Maris, according to The Financial Times. The team will work in GV Europe office located at Clerkenwell, London.

Rocket Internet’s Mexico-based retailer Linio raises €58M

Noyan Ayan | July 10, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

Mexico-based e-retailer Linio has raised 58 million euros ($79 million) from Northgate Capital and Access Industries. The new funds will be used to expand Rocket Internet‘s South American e-commerce business to new markets in the continent.

Founded in 2012, Linio is operational today in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Chile, with offices and storage spaces in each, employing around 1500 people in total.

The successful venture of Germany’s clone master has been previously backed by JP Morgan Asset Management, Investment AB Kinnevik, Mexican VC Latin Idea, Santo Domingo, Summit Partners, Tengelmann and Rocket Internet itself. Total investment made so far has reached over $150 million with the latest addition.

UK’s NewVoiceMedia raises $50M to further its cloud contact center business in the US and Asia

Noyan Ayan | July 9, 2014 | No Comment Tweet

NewVoiceMedia, the provider of cloud tech for contact center needs, has announced today the closure of a new round of funding worth $50 million. The round is led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) and joined by existing shareholders Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), Highland Capital Partners Europe, Eden Ventures, Notion Capital and salesforce.com.

The total funding raised so far reached a handsome $105 million, with the last chunk to be used again in international expansion and cloud transition. The company says in a press release that the growth strategies focus mostly on American and Asian markets.