Driving Startups’ Funding This Week:

GrabTaxi – April 7, 2014 – 8-figure sum

GrabTaxi, self-proclaimed largest taxi app in Southeast Asia, has concluded a Series A funding round with an undisclosed 8 figure sum.

Vertex Ventures reportedly led the round.

Unlike Uber and Rocket Internet, GrabTaxi focuses specifically on exceeding the needs of local customers. Users can access drivers from different taxi networks and rate the experiences.

The funding will aid in GrabTaxi’s expansion into new cities in the region.

Closely – April 8, $3 Million

Closely, a mobile-first technology company has attracted $3 million in Series A funding.

Grotech Ventures, Steadfast Venture Capital and CNF Investments all participated in the round.

“Business owners recognize the huge potential that social and digital marketing can have on their business but are flooded by a fire hose of information from marketing technologies vying for their attention. We cut through the noise and make it possible for business owners to watch, learn and understand what is most important in their own local marketplace,” said CEO and founder of Closely, Perry Evans.

The funding will be used to build out the company’s SMB marketplace platform, and expand support for small businesses.

Ineda Systems – April 8, $17 Million

Ineda, a low-power SoC’s developer, has raised $17 million in Series B funding.

Walden-Riverwood Ventures led the rounds with assistance from Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, IndusAge Partners and others, the company stated in a press release.

“With its industry-first WPU technology and world-class management team, we are confident that Ineda Systems will be able to meet the long battery life and high performance requirements in the wearables market,” said Ineda Systems chairman and CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Sanjay Jha,

“The funding will be used to further develop Ineda’s new class of highly integrated, ultra-low power semiconductor and software products that are aimed at the wearable device segment.”

Altia Systems – April 8, $10.5 Million

Altia Systems, developer of the award-winning PanaCast system for video and web collaboration, has raised $10.5 million in Series B funding.

Intel Capital reportedly is the lead investor.

“Working with Intel Capital will help us further develop the PanaCast Experience and advance the underlying technology roadmap faster and more efficiently, particularly for enterprise customers.” Said co-founder and CEO of Altia Systems, Aurangzeb Khan.

Wattpad, April 8 – $46 Million

Social writing platform and writer’s network, Wattpad has successfully concluded a Series C funding round valued at $46 million.

OMERS Ventures led the round with assistance from August Capital, Raine Ventures and Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, and all of the company’s existing investors.

Wattpad piloted a program to generate revenue for it’s existing platform via crowdfunding books created by the network’s authors, last fall. The recent funding round may be directed into furthering that program’s development.

NetProspex – April 8, $13 Million              

NetProspex, a leading provider of cloud-based B2B marketing data management services, announced it has received $13 million in Series C funding.

Spring Lake Equity Partners led the round.

The funding will aide the development of product innovation and meeting market demand.

Dropbox and Square – April 7, $500 Million and $200M respectively

Dropbox, the Cloud storage company, raised $500 million and payments company Square got $200 million in recent funding rounds.

JP Morgan led the round for Dropbox, and collaborated with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barlays, and Silicon Valley Bank on Square’s round.

All the funding will go towards developing the industry.

EatStreet – April 7, $6 Million

EatStreet, the online and mobile food ordering service, raised $6 million in Series B funding.

Cornerstone Opportunity Partners, Independence Equity, Great Oaks Venture Capital, CSA Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, and other angels all participated in the most recent round.

“With this new investment, we can accelerate this growth and ensure our restaurants will continue to receive the highest level of service,” said CEO Matt Howard.

flexReceipts – April 8, $1.4 Million

flexReceipts, the leading enhanced digital receipts solution, closed $1.4 million in Series A funding.

venVelo led the round.

The funding will expand sales, marketing, and innovation efforts.

NetProspex – April 8, $13 Million

NetProspex, a leading provider of cloud-based B2B marketing data management services, announced it has received $13 million in Series C funding.

Spring Lake Equity Partners led the round.

The funding will aide the development of product innovation and meeting market demand.

DerbySoft Inc. – April 9, $9 Million

Hotel distribution connectivity and caching technology service provider, DerbySoft has raised $9 million in Series D funding.

DCM Ventures led the round.

The funding will aide the development of data-related services.

Crittercism – April 9, $30 Million

Crittercism, a leader in mobile App Performance Management closed $30 million in a Series C funding round.

Scale Venture Partners led the round with assistance from InterWest Partners, Accenture, VMware, Google Ventures, Opus Capital and Shasta Ventures.

“The mobile app landscape has become increasingly more complex and fragmented, creating entirely new sets of challenges for Ops, IT and development teams,” said Andrew Levy, Co-Founder and CEO of Crittercism. “This investment gives Crittercism the opportunity to take our operations to the next level, accelerate our enterprise offerings and bolster our capabilities to scale the business internationally.”

AppDirect – April 10, $30 Million

AppDirect, a cloud services marketplace, has raised $35 million in its Series C financing.

Mithril Capital Management led the round with participation from iNovia Capital and Foundry Group.

The funding will help the company to better connect with clients.

FundBox – April 10, $17.5 Million

Fundbox raised $17.5 million in Series A funding.

Khosla Venture led by the round.

The company focuses on the b2b space where companies use invoices for goods and services. The platform scans accounts receivables and provides small, short-term loans based on the invoices. A data-driven SMB risk engine funds the technology behind Fundbox, an algorithm that scans an number of data points for lending risk signals in real time.