Top tech startup news for today, Tuesday, December 17, 2019 – Apple, Google , HqO, Oddo, New Story, and HungerBox

Good morning from TechStartups! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Tuesday, December 17, 2019.

Apple’s AirPods Pro are sold out online ahead of the holidays. It’s already too late if you are planning to get the new Apple AirPods for your loved ones for Christmas. Apple’s new AirPods Pro headphones, which launched in October and feature new noise-canceling technology and a new design, are completely sold out online ahead of the holidays. The tech giant has been out of stock since November, but now Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Amazon and others are out of stock, too, according to a report from CNBC. You can still find them on eBay at a $100 premium through third-party sellers, though.

VNDLY closes $35M Series B for its cloud-based work management system (WMS) technology platform designed for managing non-employees. VNDLY, a SaaS tech startup transforming how companies manage the contingent workforce with its SaaS Work Management System (WMS), announced today that it has closed a $35 million Series B funding for continued product innovation, global expansion, and the continued investment in customer service and support. The round was led by Insight Partners with participation from Battery Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, EPIC Ventures, Bowery Capital, and the Cintrifuse Syndicate Fund. Other backer includes ServiceNow. This new funding round brings VNDLY’s 2019 funding to $46 million and total funding to $49 million.

Security engineer says Google fired her for trying to notify co-workers of right to organize. Alphabet’s Google has fired a security engineer, Kathryn Spiers, who updated a company tool to notify co-workers of their right to organize. Her firing spurred a labor complaint and adding to recent scrutiny of how the company has handled unionization efforts. Spiers updated an internal Chrome browser extension so that each time Google employees visited the website of the firm that Google hired a groundswell of labor activism, they would see a pop-up message that read: “Googlers have the right to participate in protected concerted activities.” “I was doing nothing more than notifying my co-workers about Google’s obligations under labor law,” Kathryn Spiers, the former Google engineer, said.

Indian B2B food tech startup HungerBox raises $12M to fuel expansion in India and Southeast Asia. HungerBox, a Bengaluru-based full-stack B2B food and beverage technology startup that provides food solutions for corporate, has secured $12 million fresh capital infusion to grow its operations in new ten Indian cities and fuel its international expansion to Southeast Asia. The Series C round was funded by a consortium of Indian and international investors, including payments firm Paytm and NPTK, an Asian VC fund that invests in emerging firms. Existing investors Sabre Partners and Neoplux also participated in the round. Founded in 2016 by  Sandipan Mitra and Uttam Kumar, HungerBox provides an online platform that allows employees to order food and get delivery service for office and corporate events from the cafeteria. The company aims to enhance the productivity of corporate employees by providing them a technology-driven food experience that is safe and healthy.

Kapitus closes $160M securitization to provide quick loans and financing for small businesses with no collateral requirements. Kapitus, a fintech startup and a provider of revenue based financing to small and medium-sized businesses, today announced that it has closed its second asset-backed securitization (ABS) for $160 million. The facility, which has a 3-year revolving period, a 5-year legal final, and is expandable to $500 Million, was issued in three classes with the senior class earning a rating of “A (sf)” by Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA). Guggenheim Securities served as sole structuring advisor and sole initial purchaser of the notes. Founded in 2006, the New York City-based Kapitus provides small businesses with the working capital they need to take advantage of opportunities and grow. Since its founding, Kapitus has provided small businesses over $3.0 billion in funding.

New Story unveils the world’s first 3D-printed community with its first houses. New Story Charity, a non-profit startup creating and providing homes and 3D printed homes to people living with inadequate shelter, on December 11 unveiled the world’s first community of 3D printed homes with new the first set of homes now standing in Tabasco, Mexico. The resilient, 500 sq ft homes were each 3D printed in around 24 hours of print time across several days by ICON, a construction technologies company, and feature final construction build out by ÉCHALE, New Story’s nonprofit partner in Mexico.Through donations and partnerships, New Story has enabled the building of more than 2,500 homes using traditional construction for families in need. Now, in partnership with ICON, they’re bringing the world’s first 3D printed community to 50 families in Tabasco, Mexico, who are living on less than $3 a day.

HqO Secures $34.2M in Series B funding to grow its technology platform. HqO, a Boston, MA-based tenant experience (TeX) platform for commercial real estate, raised $34.25m in Series B financing to expand its technology, double its engineering team, and grow sales and business operations to accelerate national and international expansion. The round was led by Insight Partners and included the participation of previous investors Accomplice and Navitas Capital. To date, HqO has raised a total of $53m of venture capital funding.

Belgium-based Odoo raises $90 million to provide all-in-one, open source business software for small and medium sized businesses worldwide. Odoo, an open source startup and a provider of all-in-one, open source business software for small and medium sized businesses worldwide, has closed a $90 million minority investment for rapid product development pace and continued global expansion. The round was led by global growth equity investor Summit Partners, with participation from Odoo’s executive management team and existing investor SRIW and its affiliate Noshaq. With more than 4.5 million users worldwide, Odoo is the most installed business software in the world. Odoo was founded in 2005 by Fabien Pinckaers. The company’s solutions are designed to support businesses of all sizes, with a flexible, fully-featured, and integrated suite of applications to run and manage all aspects of a business.