With so much going on in the city’s thriving ecosystem, it is easy to miss some of the happenings in the space. We keep you abreast of a few of things that you may have missed in NYC Tech this week including the fundings, exits, and events. At the end, we have also listed some of the upcoming events this week that you need to be aware of.
CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED IN SILICON ALLEY LAST WEEK
Blippar, the app that turn cells phones into a magic lens, giving users a whole new, interactive view on the physical world around them, using Augmented Reality and Image-Recognition technologies, has raised $45 million in Series A funding from undisclosed investors.
Pager, whose mobile app facilitates doctor house calls, and which was recently covered in AlleyWatch, has raised $10.4 million in seed funding from existing seed investors Lux Capital and Montage Ventures, along with new investors Goodwater Capital and Summation Health Ventures.
Splash (aka SplashThat), the event-planning software platform, has raised $6 million in Series A funding, led by Spark Capital. It’s a big year for cofounder and CEO Ben Hindman, who was also named one of this year’s New York Venture Fellows.
EVEN Financial, a supply side platform for the fast-growing Marketplace Lending (P2P) market, raised $2.8 million in seed funding, led by Canaan Partners, with participation from LererHippeau Ventures, Social Leverage, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and Conversion Capital.
VaporChat, a secure mobile messaging application with enhanced privacy control, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding, led by Social Starts, with participation from numerous angel investors, including Ed Wise of Turner Broadcasting.
The White House announced TechHire Initiative, a multi-sector initiative to empower Americans with the skills they need, through universities, community colleges, as well as nontraditional approaches, like “coding boot camps” and high-quality online courses, to rapidly train workers for a well-paying job, often in just a few months, and thus address the urgent employer demand across the US.
And New York responded with the Tech Talent Pipeline initiative, a $10 million public-private partnership designed to support the growth of the City’s tech ecosystem and prepare New Yorkers for 21st century jobs.
“Working hand-in-hand with over 100 of New York City’s leading companies, community partners, and educators, the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline will deliver homegrown talent for these quality jobs, and support the ascent of New York City as a global tech capital,” said NYC Mayor BillDe Blasio. “NYC Tech Talent Pipeline programs are already expected to benefit 3,000 New Yorkers, with more to be unveiled in the coming months.”
Coworking space Cowork.rs, who opened their doors in Silicon Alley’s Flatiron District a little over a year ago, is now expanding to what’s proving to be one of New York tech’s next hot neighborhoods – Gowanus.
The trendy coworking space has leased 42,000 square feet at an industrial building on Third St., just west of the Gowanus Canal, where their new neighbors will be annotation company Genius Media, who snapped up 43,000 square feet in the same building last year.
Taking a look forward, here are a few events that are coming up this week that should prove to be excellent:
Monday evening, our friends at Entrepreneurs Roundtable host an another evening of startup pitches with feedbacks from some of the top people in the NYC tech ecosystem. Judges for this edition include John Ason, Fatih Ozluturk. and Phil Neches – Entrepreneurs Roundtable 80 at Microsoft.
On Tuesday evening, our friends at Startup Grind NYC host Zach Sims, the cofounder and CEO of Codecademy – Startup Grind New York City at Pivotal Labs.
On Wednesday morning, join Startup OneStop as they host breakfast with prominent venture capitalist, Wiley Cerrilli, Venture Partner, First Round Capital – StartupOneStop Breakfast with an Investor at Cowork|rs.
For a full listing of upcoming events for the NYC startup and tech community, please visit the AlleyWatch NYC Tech and Startup Event Calendar.
