The NYC tech scene saw lots of dollar signs (and several new unicorns) last week amid an avalanche of fresh funding. From international expansions to massive hiring sprees, these rising stars have big plans for the money. Keep reading to learn more. This is the Built In NYC weekly refresh.
Multiverse got $130M. Based in London, Multiverse launched in America in January, and has since opened a U.S. headquarters in NYC and brought its tech-focused apprenticeship program to several prominent companies here, including Google, fitness unicorn ClassPass and Ayden. This Series C comes less than a year after the edtech startup rebranded from White Hat, and will be used to expand services across the U.S. and U.K. [Built In NYC]
AlphaSense raised $180M. Over the last decade, AlphaSense has become a go-to resource for thousands of companies and financial institutions, providing access to Wall Street equity research, conference call transcripts and various other pieces of private and public information so they can make better business decisions and stay ahead of their competitors. The Series C was co-led by Goldman Sachs and hedge fund Viking Global, with participation from several prominent players in the financial sector. The latest funding will be used to fuel the market intelligence startup’s international expansion. [Built In NYC]
Betterment secured $160M. As a robo-advisor, Betterment manages money through software instead of humans, providing a lower-cost financial planning option for its 700,000 clients. The growth round is comprised of $60 million in Series F equity and a $100 million credit facility. The funding will be used to accelerate the startup’s already “record growth.” The fresh funding also brings Betterment’s total market valuation to more than $1 billion, making it one of NYC’s latest unicorns. [Betterment]
Andela got its horn. Speaking of unicorns, tech recruitment startup Andela also recently hit a $1 billion valuation thanks to a fresh $200 million investment led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. With dual headquarters in Nigeria and NYC, Andela places tech workers based in up-and-coming regions like Africa and Latin America in remote, full-time positions at U.S. companies. The new capital will be used to grow its network of job candidates to span at least 100 countries by the end of the year, as well as develop its product and grow its team internationally. [Built In NYC]
NYC Tech Quote of the Week
Alloy raised $100M. This Series C values the Alloy at $1.35 billion, making it yet another NYC startup to hit unicorn valuation last week. By leveraging data from hundreds of third-party sources, the fintech startup’s platform allows companies to more quickly and safely onboard their customers and track their money transactions, thus mitigating any potential fraud. Over the last year, the newly minted unicorn has tripled its revenue, more than doubled its team and grown its client base to more than 200 businesses. [Built In NYC]
Stellar Health got more than $60M. The healthtech startup’s cloud-native platform takes everything from patient data to workflow tracking to help providers better care for their patients — an important resource during such a critical time in healthcare. So, Stellar says it will use this fresh funding to continue expanding into new markets and grow its team, with plans to double its headcount within the next year. The Series B was led by growth equity giant General Atlantic, with participation from Primary Venture Partners and Point72 Ventures, who led Stellar’s Series A last year. [Stellar Health]
TrialSpark raised $165M. The tech-driven pharma company’s Series C round was led by Sam Altman and Lachy Groom, with participation from a range of well-known previous investors including Sequoia Capital and Thrive Capital. The company runs clinical trials in a way that is aimed at getting new treatments to patients more quickly and efficiently. The new funds will help it acquire promising candidate drugs to develop in-house, and to scale its team. [PR Newswire]
Optimove secured $75M. Founded in 2009, Optimove was created to help brands improve and maintain their relationships with customers. Today, it sends some 23 billion personalized messages over email, mobile and ad platforms to 3 billion customers every year, counting major brands like Papa John’s and Staples among its 500 customers. Over the last year alone, the CRM marketing startup has grown its revenue by more than 40 percent, spurred mainly by the e-commerce boom brought on by the pandemic. To keep up, Optimove says it will use this fresh funding to fuel a global hiring spree, revealing plans to double its 280-person team over the next two years. [Built In NYC]
Reachdesk raised $43M. In a bid to tap into the $23 billion corporate gifting market, Reachdesk has created a data-driven platform that helps companies give more personalized gifts to prospects, customers and employees at scale. The startup claims it has grown 600 percent year-over-year, and is on track to quadruple its business by the end of the year. Reachdesk also says it plans to more than triple its headcount by the end of 2022, and has more than a dozen open tech positions at its NYC headquarters. [Business Wire]
Capitalize hired new head of product. The NYC-based retirement assets platform is welcoming Jason Simon to its team as the company’s head of product. Simon previously served as the VP of product at LendingTree. The company helps its users “roll over” or consolidate their 401(k)s from previous employers into new or existing retirement accounts. [Business Wire]
