Top tech startup news for today, Thursday, October 10, 2019

Good evening! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Thursday, October 10, 2019.

Grammarly raises $90 million in financing to advance its technology. Grammarly, a digital writing assistant startup that helps more than 20 million people write more clearly and effectively every day, has raised $90 million in funding to continue to advance its technology to build a full-fledged communication assistant for individuals and businesses. The round was led by returning investor General Catalyst with participation from IVP—and new investors. Founded in 2009 by Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, Dmytro Lider, and led by CEO Brad Hoover, the San Francisco, CA-based Grammarly helps more than 20 million people write more clearly and effectively every day, providing feedback on correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery. Grammarly works to empower users whenever and wherever they write—via a web editor, native desktop apps, browser extensions, mobile keyboards, and a Microsoft Office add-in. Grammarly has additional offices in Kyiv, New York, and Vancouver.

. Brad Hoover is CEO.

Switzerland’s central bank is exploring the use of digital currencies for trading. Swiss stock exchange operator SIX Group is joining forces with the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to “explore how digital central bank money could be used in the settlement of tokenized assets between market participants.” In a statement issued on Wednesday by the exchange’s subsidiary, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), SIX is working with the SNB to explore technological options to make digital central bank money available for the trading and settlement of tokenized assets between financial market participants. The technological foundation for its feasibility is provided by the SIX Digital Exchange, which uses distributed ledger technology.

Chinese fintech startup XTransfer closes $15M Series B-1 funding to provide cross-border financial services. XTransfer has closed $15m Series B-1 funding to further expansion of XTransfer’s global financial network, applications for licensing in various countries, team and technology upgrades, and marketing. The round was led by the eWTP Fund and included China Merchants Venture Capital, 01VC, Yunqi Partners, and Gaorong Capital. Founded in 2017 by Alice Yao, Guobiao (Bill) Deng, Leon Deng, and Yanfang Liu, XTransfer, provides cross-border financial services for China based foreign trade enterprises. XTransfer has branches and relevant licenses in Hong Kong, the UK, Canada, the United States, Japan, and Australia.

Real estate startup Casavo raises €50M Series B financing. Casavo, a Milan, Italy-based real-estate startup, has closed a €50M Series B funding to continue building its technology platform and drive expansion into new markets. The round, which brought the total amount raised to €100M in 2 years, was led by Greenoaks Capital. Founded by CEO Giorgio Tinacci, Casavo provides a marketplace to improve the buying and selling experience for any customer. The company makes possible to sell a house online, avoiding long waits, uncertainty and transaction risks, in just 30 days in the major Italian urban areas.

Biotech startup Phitonex closes $2M seed funding to develop the next generation of fluorescent labels and instrumentation to advance the fight against diseases. Phitonex announced it has raised $2M seed round led by private investors to develop the next generation fluorescent labels for biomarker detection on single cells. Phitonex reagents provide a cost-effective, non-destructive method to obtain more information about critical molecular biomarkers, simplifying experimental design and accelerating the discovery process. Founded in 2017 as a Duke University spin-out, the company’s co-founders have over 15 years of collaborative experience engineering labels at the molecular level to tailor their fluorescence properties.

Lattice raises $25m Series C to continue empowering people leaders to develop high-performing teams. Lattice, a tech startup and provider of people management platform, has closed $25 million in Series C funding today in a round to invest in product development to continue giving people leaders more solutions to develop engaged, high-performing teams. The round was led by Tiger Global. This round comes on the heels of the strongest quarter in company history, more than doubled user counts since the beginning of the year, and its funding in April, which the company is using to further accelerate its category-leading growth.