A banner week in NYC Tech with 2 IPOs, $100M+ announced in fundings…
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 THIS WEEK
Etsy, the online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods, went public this week. Shares opened at $31, which put the company’s market cap at roughly $3.3 billion, making it NY’s largest tech exit ever, and the 5th straight year that Union Square Ventures had a billion dollar exit.
The website was launched ten years ago out of an apartment in Brooklyn.
This is what NYCEDC President Kyle Kimball shared on the IPO news, “Etsy’s impressive growth over the last decade and today’s successful IPO are proof that New York City’s homegrown tech companies can compete on a global stage. The substantial public and private investment in the city’s tech sector has expanded the innovation economy through all five boroughs, bringing thousands of new good-paying jobs at every rung of the ladder. Etsy’s partnerships have helped local artisans, immigrant entrepreneurs and small businesses overcome barriers to entry in the traditional marketplace, creating pathways to the middle class for more New Yorkers. We are thrilled to congratulate Etsy on today’s milestone and look forward to the many more that lie ahead for New York City, the fastest-growing tech ecosystem in the world.”
It is our understanding from the S-1 that the company is not profitable yet and we’d like to see them get there quickly so that there is some value created for shareholders in the public markets.
This week our friends at Techstars NYC debuted their latest class at Demo Day which featured a surprise visit from Brad Feld – Meet The 12 NYC Techstars Startups That Shined at Demo Day
Relationship Science, a professional-networking startup that connects top dealmakers and power brokers on Wall Street and beyond, has raised $31 million in in Series D funding from new and existing backers, including hedge-fund manager William Ackman, Henry Kravis, Mac Andrews & Forbes, TABLE Holdings, and Stanley Druckenmiller, among others.
This is what happened in NYC funding for March and you may not believe what the average Series A round was – The March 2015 NYC Venture Capital and Angel Funding Report
AlleyWatch has a new look!
This week, we launched a new iteration of our website with a sleek and wider look for easier consumption of all the great information we present daily as the largest organization focused on NYC Tech. Underneath the hood, there were a number of improvements to improve the speed and use of the site including a full custom rebuild of our slideshow segments which is now significantly faster and can be navigated with just a keyboard for all of those who complained about finger fatigue from using the mouse to scroll through.
Just last month, AlleyWatch said that Peloton just might be the hottest thing on wheels, and now the company has closed $30 million in Series C funding from True Ventures and Tiger Global Management.
Peloton is transforming the at-home fitness experience by creating a bike that merges high-design with modern technology to provide access to live streaming and on demand classes by top instructors.
This is the best pitch we received this week…
Each week, we get countless pitches for coverage. This one stood out a little and here’s why…
Subject: Push for Pizza, the on-demand pizza app, launches V2 just in time for 4/20
Body:
Hey There,
Remember that one-button pizza ordering app Push For Pizza and its teenage founders? We’re launching our V2 on 4/20, and very savvily targeting stoners in NYC. See the attached.
It’s a big step forward for frictionless ordering, and we think people will embrace seeing a company so publicly acknowledge its users’ lifestyles. Large companies have been slow to respond to the wave of decriminalization, but small startups like Push For Pizza are scrappy, and frankly, ballsy enough to go for it. Plus, our product is a perfect fit.
Take a look and let me know if you have any questions or anything.
Thanks for your time,
Sweet, short, concise, to the point, made us laugh, and better than 98% of the cut and paste jobs we receive from “professionals”.
, the only service that aggregates, standardizes and analyzes financial data for transactions in multifamily properties, enabling brokers to more efficiently extract and share detailed, instantly-usable property data, and empowering buyers and sellers to make better decisions, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding.
They’re obviously keeping it in the family.
Spring, a revolutionary mobile marketplace that allows customers to shop directly within the app from a curated community of brands, has raised $25 million in Series B funding from investors including company cofounder David Tisch’s BoxGroup, Yuri Milner, Groupe Arnault, Google Ventures, Thrive Capital, and Silas Chou. Read our full coverage here.
Investor, Mentor and Influencer You Need to Know, Kelly Hoey was the guest angel at this month’s Breakfast with an Investor and consummate contrarian that she is, opened the discussion with the Q & A.
“The Q&A – that’s the best time to have your elevator pitch ready; not in the elevator,” she advised. “That’s when you have the attention of everyone in the room. Introduce yourself and say what you do.”
Hello Alfred, who raised a $2 million seed round back in November, has now raised $10.5 million in Series A funding from New Enterprise Associates and Sherpa Ventures, along with previous investors Spark Capital and CrunchFund.
Virtu Financial, the high-speed trading firm, also went public this past week. After pricing its shares at $19 — the high end of their projected range – the stock was trading at $22 at the day’s end.
Flatiron School, a computer science educational platform for kids and young adults, has raised $9 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from earlier backers CRV and Matrix Partners.
Estimize, a company that crowdsources estimates from more than 4,500 hedge funds, brokerages and independent analysts, has raised $3 million in Series B funding. The round was led by WorldQuant Ventures, with participation from Agilic Partners, numerous individual investors, and previous backer Contour Venture Partners.
ER Accelerator alum TheSquareFoot has raised a $2 million seed round led by Primary Venture Partners, with participation from RRE Ventures, Triangle Peak Partners and a roster of strategic angel investors. Read our full coverage here.
The New Jersey Tech Meetup at the White House
There are over 30,000 Meetup groups in the US, and 40 of those organizers were invited to the premiere Tech Meetup at the White House, including NJTM founder Aaron Price, who was tapped for his expertise about Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Megan Smith, CTO of the US, led the event, where Price was joined by tech leaders from as far away as Orlando, Portland, and Alaska.
Image credit: CC by Diego Cambiaso
Crowdtap, the People-Powered Marketing Platform,has added two new people to its boards. Gayle Troberman, CMO of iHeartMedia, Inc.has joined the high-growth marketing technology company’s Board of Directors, and John Winsor, Founder & CEO of Victors & Spoils, is the newest addition to Crowdtap’s advisory board.
Here’s our curated list of a few events that are coming up for your immediate reading pleasure…
Kick of the week right on Monday evening when our friends at Entrepreneurs Roundtable host an another evening of startup pitches with feedback from angel investor extraordinaire Alicia Syrett of Pantegrion Capital. Ms. Syrett was recently named as one of the “25 Angel Investors in New York You Need to Know” by some publication called AlleyWatch – Entrepreneurs Roundtable 81 at Microsoft.
On Tuesday morning, join NYC TechBreakfast as they host breakfast and demos from 4 awesome startups including – OpenPicus, Motoroso, DoggyBnB, SOLS – NYC TechBreakfast at AOL.
On Tuesday evening, our friends at the NYCEDC host a panel on the career opportunities in the tech space in NYC featuring a number of prominent NYC startups – NYC Tech Talent Draft: Start-up Career Panel & Networking at BMCC. Our founder will be moderating this one so it’s sure to be extra special.
The title on this one says it all. On Tuesday evening, join our friends at New York Venture Community Tech as they go over everything AdTech – AdTech – SSP, DSP, DMP, RTB, WTF?! at WeWork Gramercy.
The next stop on the tour is Harlem! On Wednesday evening, join Digital.NYC as it checks out the newest techspot in Harlem as a part of its 5 borough tour to discuss the startup ecosystem growing in NYC – Digital.NYC Five-Borough Tour: #Harlem at MIST.
On Friday, get out of the office and spend the day in Morningside Heights as Columbia University hosts its 2nd annual #Startup Columbia Festival featuring a stellar lineup of all day programming keynoted by Joanne Wilson – 2015 #StartupColumbia Festival at Columbia University.
On the horizon:
On May 18th and 19th, join our friends from the Westchester County Association as they hold their annual 2 day conference showcasing healthtech innovation in the region – HealthTech’15: Fueling Innovation in Westchester.
For a full listing of upcoming events for the NYC startup and tech community, please visit the AlleyWatch NYC Tech and Startup Event Calendar.
