Sidecar Raises Another $15 Million, Adds Sir Richard Branson As Investor
San Francisco-headquartered ridesharing startup Sidecar, which competes with on-demand car services like Uber and Lyft, announced it has raised an additional $15 million in funding. The new round comes from existing investors Avalon Ventures and Union Square Ventures, and includes participation from new investor and Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson. Previously, Sidecar had raised $20 million through A and B rounds, the latest of which was announced in February.
Daimler Acquires RideScout
moovel GmbH, a subsidiary of German car giant Daimler, acquired Huron River Ventures portfolio company RideScout, which offers a mobile app for transportation choices in cities. The move is part of Daimler’s continued push beyond car manufacturing and into developing technology for urban mobility, as a next generation of city-dwellers is increasingly giving up on car ownership and opting for transportation alternatives from on-demand car services like Uber to car-sharing services like Zipcar.
FarmLogs Triples Market Share In Last Six Months
Michigan-based FarmLogs announced a significant milestone in the young company’s history. In just two years since its founding, the company has seen incredible growth and now counts customers in all 50 states and over $11 billion worth of crops under its management, a number that has tripled in the last six months. FarmLogs estimates 15% of the farms within the United States are using its services. Read more on TechCrunch
Zipments Raises Capital and Builds Team in West Michigan
Three years ago, West Michigan entrepreneur Garrick Pohl realized he needed to move his tech startup to a larger metropolitan market to prove the concept and to scale up its operations.
But now that Zipments Corp. has demonstrated that its mobile courier service is viable after operating in New York City and other major markets, he’s looking for a more affordable place to grow the company he started in Holland and launched in Grand Rapids four years ago.
With its product development team already in Grand Rapids, Zipments is now in the process of ramping up hiring for its customer service and inside sales teams, with six people currently working from an office in downtown Grand Rapids. The team could swell to as many as 30 people within the next 12 months, Pohl said, noting that the company plans to maintain a small operations team in each of its markets, including New York City, Chicago and San Francisco. Read more on MiBiz