During another busy week for tech in New York City, several companies are raking in fresh cash and funding new moves. Read up on the latest. This is the Built In NYC weekly refresh.
Industrious raised $200M. Several companies have decided to keep portions of their workforce remote in light of the pandemic, and Industrious just added funding from CBRE to provide more flexible-office spaces throughout the country. After adding one million square feet of space in 2020, the company is poised to continue growing this year. [New York Business Journal]
Petal got $126.6M. On its mission to make credit more accessible by basing it on metrics apart from someone’s credit score, the card provider raked in a debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank and Trinity Capital. The fintech startup is looking to grow its platform, usership and staff as it currently lists several tech positions available at its NYC headquarters and remotely. [Built In NYC]
NYC Tech Quote of the Week
Movers & Shakers launched a new AR app. In light of Black History Month, this startup that teaches the histories of American minorities launched its Kinfolk app. It uses augmented reality to project models of prominent figures of color into the real world, as well as what they contributed to American history. Kinfolk’s goal is to inspire Black children to picture themselves as part of history and to eventually create advanced technologies themselves. [Built In NYC]
Newsela raised $100M. Its edtech platform provides over 14,000 pieces of digitized content from acclaimed education publications, eliminating the need for physical textbooks. It pulled in Series D funding in a round led by Franklin Templeton to acquire more features and content and accelerate its user base. Newsela is also hiring at its NYC HQ. [Built In NYC]
Electric pulled in $40M. The startup provides remote IT support for SMBs. Having secured its Series C funding round led by Greenspring Associates, Electric is looking to expand its sales and marketing efforts to accelerate growth. To date, the company has raised over $100 million in funding. [Built In NYC]
Codecademy secured $40M. As its name implies, the edtech platform provides online courses that help users learn coding skills. Its Series D round was led by investor Owl Ventures and now enables Codecademy to expand its curriculum into new subject areas and invest in its B2B product. The company is hiring at its NYC headquarters for over 50 tech positions. [Built In NYC]
Lukka selected a new strategic advisor. Crypto asset software and data company Lukka appointed Eileen Murray to its advisory board. The FINRA chairperson and former co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates LP has decades of experience in financial markets. From her new position, Murray will work to help expand the company’s existing presence within traditional financial institutions. [Lukka]
Otsuka and Click Therapeutics launch a new study. Working together, the companies are initiating the Mirai study, a clinical trial meant to determine how effective digital therapeutics are in reducing symptoms of depression in adults. Otsuka and Click will work with Alphabet’s Verily in order to conduct the controlled trial remotely. [Business Wire]
