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Here’s a list of today’s tech funding stories, updated as the day unfolds. Tip us here if you have a deal to share.
Fidelity Management leads $135M round for Blue Apron
Blue Apron cooked up $135 million in a round led by Fidelity Management. The company says it “has tripled its volume in the last six months, and is now delivering over 3 million meals a month.”
Blue Apron announced it will use the funds to grow its list of suppliers and develop “custom fulfillment software tools.”
Hello Fresh, a similar meal-kits and recipe delivery service, raised $149 million from Rocket Internet in February.
More: Blue Apron
Intel Capital will invest $125M in startups run by women and minorities
Brian Krzanich, chief executive of Intel, announced today that his Intel Capital venture arm will invest $125 million over the next 5 years in technology startups run by women and underrepresented minorities.
The move is the first stage of execution of Krzanich’s promise at the Consumer Electronics Show in January to invest more than $300 million to diversify the talent in the technology industry. It is a huge commitment that dwarfs other efforts to change the face of Silicon Valley.
Brit+ Co raises $20M from Intel and acquires Snapguide do-it-yourself app
Watch out, Martha Stewart. Brit + Co is charging right at you.
The women’s do-it-yourself advice site headed by Brit Morin has raised $20 million in venture funding from Intel and others, and it has also made its first acquisition by purchasing do-it-yourself app Snapguide. Those two deals are the first items in a flurry of activity that show Morin has become very ambitious in the battle to become a “modern Martha Stewart.”
Talkdesk scores $15M to create more light-as-a-cloud call centers
It may seem like technology from another century, but voice-over-phone is still a highly popular way for customers to communicate with brands.
Today, San Francisco-based Talkdesk is announcing it has raised a series A round of $15 million so it can do its part helping small and mid-size businesses turn their call centers into cloud-based customer centers.
Prior to this round, the company had raised $3.6 million. The new money, led by DFJ with participation from existing investor Storm Ventures, will be used to expand the product, design, and engineering teams and to boost marketing and customer support efforts.
Philippines-based Navegar gives $15M to consumer support company TaskUs
TaskUs, the company that says to give a “ridiculously good outsourcing” for Uber, Groupon, and Expensify, announced today it raised $15 million in private equity from Philippines-based Navegar.
Bryce Maddock, TaksUs’ CEO and cofounder, said that the company is on a $35 million revenue run rate. He also announced that the funds will be used “to invest heavily in our people, open offices in new geographies and integrate world-class technology into our service offering.”
The company says it gives employees benefits like “fully paid school tuition for one of their children, a gym, massage center, health benefits, paid leave and fully paid for trips to exotic destinations for top performers.”
More: TaskUs
Arcadia Data takes $11.5M to sell a business-intelligence tool for Hadoop
Startup Arcadia Data is today coming out of stealth mode and revealing its business-intelligence application for analyzing data sitting inside the Hadoop open-source software, which can hold lots of different kinds of data. The startup is also announcing today that it has taken on a $11.5 million funding round.
Mayfield Fund led the new round in the startup. Blumberg Capital and Intel Capital also participated. Patel declined to say how much money Arcadia Data has raised in total.
Arcadia Data started in 2013 and is based in San Mateo, Calif. The startup has seven customers, including Appboy, HP, and MarketShare.
Fetchr just got $11M to take conventional mail to United Arab Emirates
Raise your hand if your email inbox is out of control. While your first-world email frustrations grow, Fetchr just got $11 million to deliver mail — real, physical, paper mail — and packages to people’s doors in the Middle East.
New Enterprise Associates led the round, and Fetchr says it is the “largest investment of U.S.-based venture funds in the Middle East for a Series A.”
Container-management startup Rancher Labs raises $10M
Rancher Labs, a startup that has built a lightweight Linux operating system and management tool for running applications packaged up in containers — a hip alternative to more traditional virtual machines — announced today a $10 million funding round.
The funding helps establish Rancher as a player in the dynamic market for containers, which startup Docker has popularized and CoreOS has productized in the form of an Linux operating system. Major vendors like Google, IBM, Microsoft, Red Hat, andVMware have jumped into the container management conversation in various ways. Cloud providers like Amazon Web Services and Joyent have services for running applications in containers.
JethroData raises $8.1M for its SQL engine
JethroData, apparently the maker of “the fastest SQL-on-Hadoop solution,” today announced a $8.1 million in series B round led by Square Peg Capital. The funds from the round will be put towards JethroData’s sales, marketing, and developing teams. Previous investor Pitango Venture Capital also participated in the round.
More: JethroData
Back to the Roots grows $2M in seed funding
Organic food company Back to the Roots announced today that it raised $2 million in a round lead by Fund Good Jobs, and backed by Annie’s CEO John Foraker, Clif Bar CEO Kevin Clearly, and LivingSocial cofounder Aaron Batalion, among others.
The company, started in a fraternity room in 2009, says the funding will be used to grow its “Ready to Eat” and “Ready to Grow” lines. Back to the Roots’ products already sell in over 14,000 stores worldwide.
More: Back to the Roots
This list will be updated with breaking funding news all day. Check back for more.
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