Top tech startup news for today, Monday, September 9, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Monday, September 9, 2019.

Amazon set its eye on India with major million dollar investment. Facing steep competition from Walmart in India, Amazon just opened a new 9.5-acre campus is in Hyderabad, India, its biggest office building yet, but it’s not in the U.S. The building represents the centerpiece of the e-commerce giant’s growing investment in the country. As internet penetration rates continue to climb, some analysts estimate the country’s e-commerce market will be worth $100 billion by 2022. Walmart bought the domestic e-commerce powerhouse Flipkart in 2018 to increase its footprint in India.

Informatica invests in AI and machine learning startup GreenBay Technologies. Informatica, the enterprise cloud data management company, today announced it’s investing in GreenBay Technologies, a data management startup focused on AI and machine learning. The amount of the funding was not disclosed. GreenBay will use the funding to develop AI innovations that strengthen the impact of Informatica’s AI-powered CLAIRE engine across its Intelligent Data Platform. Informatica is currently the sole investor in the company. With roots from GreenBay Technologies from University of Wisconsin (UW) at Madison, GreenBay Technologies develops products that use machine learning and big data technologies to automate complex data management tasks such as entity and schema matching. The startup was co-founded by Dr. AnHai Doan, UW’s Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, who oversees multiple data management research projects at the university’s department of computer science.

Paris-based fintech startup Spendesk raises $38 million Series B to transform spending at work. Spendesk, a fintech startup and a provider of spend management software that helps businesses take control of spending, has raised $38 million in its third funding round to drive international expansion and help businesses everywhere spend smarter. The Series B round, which was led by Index Ventures, brings the total raised to €45M. The fresh capital infusion will also help fund product development and accelerate international expansion, with new offices opening in London and Berlin. Founded in 2016 by Rodolphe Ardant, Jordane Guily and Guilhem Bellion at French startup studio eFounders, Spendesk now serves more than 1,500 businesses in 30 countries across Europe.

Swedish gaming startup NetEnt buys casino software provider Red Tiger. NetEnt, a provider of digitally distributed gaming systems, has  acquired Red Tiger Gaming Limited, in an all-cash deal. The all-cash deal had an initial enterprise value of GBP£200m plus a possible additional amount of maximum GBP£23m in 2022. The transaction, financed primarily through new debt facilities provided by Danske Bank and Nordea, will be completed imminently and is expected to be accretive to NetEnt’s EPS in 2020.

4BIO Capital secures$50 million for its Ventures II fund to invest 8 to 12 startups developing advanced therapies. 4BIO Capital, a London-based biotech venture capital firm, has raised the first $50 million for a new $150 million 4BIO Ventures II fund to invest in “advanced therapies” such as gene and cell therapy. The firm is expected to raised the total $150 million by the second half of 2020. The fund will be focused solely on advanced therapies without geographic limit, giving investors undiluted access to the fastest growing field of medicine.

AppZen secures $50 million for Series C funding to transform enterprise finance with AI. AppZen, a fintech startup and a leading AI platform for modern finance teams, has raised $50 million in Series C funding to accelerate its mission to become the leading artificial intelligence (AI) platform for CFOs and their teams to reduce spend, comply with policy and streamline process. The round, which led by Coatue Management. Existing investors Redpoint Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated in the round, brings the company’s total investment to more than $100 million.

RoseRyan unveils a new Rapid Diagnostic for Emerging Growth tool to score startups in key finance and operational areas. Drawing upon 25 years of expertise guiding Silicon Valley startups, the new RoseRyan Rapid Diagnostic for Emerging Growth is now available to startups interested in gauging their financial readiness for scaling. Works as an interactive session, RoseRyan’s diagnostic tool scores companies on their overall financial health. The rapid review is simple yet comprehensive, providing emerging growth companies with a dashboard of results. It involves a tech-enabled questionnaire and scoring system to evaluate if the startup has what’s needed to support growth, achieve future milestones and satisfy investors.

Ginger closes $35 million Series C round for behavioral health coaching app. Ginger, a behavioral healthcare tech startup that provides to make it easy for employees to get the support they need, has raised $35 million in Series C funding to expand its services to 19 countries and accelerate its investments in data science and clinical services. This latest round, which brings the company’s total funding to $63 million, was led by WP Global Partners led the round with participation from City Light Capital, Nimble Ventures, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, Khosla Ventures, Kaiser Permanente Ventures and Kapor Capital. ​Founded in 2011 by Alex Pentland, Anmol Madan, Karan Singh, and Ryan O’Toole, Ginger is the only behavioral health provider that continuously uses AI & machine learning to improve both access to and quality of care for anyone managing symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression or more complex challenges. Its AI technology has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer.

Spanish startup Kenmei Technologies receives $1.1 million seed investment to provide data intelligence, network automation and assist mobile operators handling their networks. Kenmei Technologies, a Spanish startup focused on providing data intelligence with machine-based decisioning, has raised $1.1 million (€1M) seed investment round from venture capital firm GoHub Ventures, the investment vehicle of Global Omnium, and R2 Seed Investments. The new investment round will enable Kenmei to accelerate the development of its Network Intelligence and Automation Solution, named ADELE, a technology that was selected by Analytics Insight Magazine as one of the 10 Most Intelligent Automation Solution Providers in 2019.