Top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, October 2,  2019.

Fintech unicorn startup Revolut’s losses double as it pushes for global expansion. The dream of every startup is to reach $1 billion market capitalization. However, London-based Revolut has been losing money since it joined the unicorn startup club back in 2018. Revolut’s losses rose to £32.8 million in 2018, while revenues soared 354% to £58.2 million. The losses, which may be due to company’s global and rapid expansion into new markets like Japan and the U.S. Despite being in the red, CEO Nik Storonsky said the firm’s expansion strategy would be fueled by “substantial improvements to our profitability.” With expansion is the need for the startup to hire new people. Revolut says it’s going to ramp up hiring over the next year, looking to bring on 3,500 new employees by summer 2020.

Home automation startup SmartRent receives strategic investment from Amazon Alexa Fund to drive smart home adoption for multifamily housing. SmartRent, an enterprise home automation and internet of things platform for the multifamily industry, has received a strategic investment from the Amazon Alexa Fund. The total amount of investment was not disclosed. SmartRent will use the funding to work more closely with teams across Amazon and Ring, and to develop software and hardware that turns multifamily housing environments into connected communities. SmartRent helps owners, property managers and renters by creating multifamily technology solutions for everything from smart locks to voice control to leak sensors. Founded in 2017 by Lucas Haldeman, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based SmartRent is a provider of smart home automation for property managers and renters. It’s platform gives property managers full control of locks, lights, and thermostats in vacant units and common areas while providing a quality smart home experience for residents.

SnapLogic secures $72M in growth financing. SnapLogic, a provider of an Intelligent Integration Platform, raised $72m in growth financing to accelerate market consolidation and global expansion.The round was led by Arrowroot Capital, joined by Golub Capital and existing investors. Led by Gaurav Dhillon, CEO, SnapLogic provides an intelligent integration platform featuring AI-powered workflows and self-service integration capabilities to make it fast and easy for organizations to manage all their application integration, data integration, API management, B2B integration, and data engineering projects on a single, scalable system. It’s software is used by hundreds of Global 2000 customers  including Adobe, AstraZeneca, Box, Emirates, Schneider Electric, and Wendy’s

OJO Labs acquires real estate software startup RealSavvy. OJO Labs, a tech startup that empowers consumers to make better decisions through its conversational AI (artificial intelligence) platform, “OJO,” has acquired Austin-based RealSavvy, a powerful real estate software platform for REALTORS®, brokers, and teams that combines its collaborative IDX with customizable websites, branded mobile apps, and a fully-integrated predictive CRM. The company did not disclose the details of the acquisition. As part of the acquisition, RealSavvy will be immediately integrated into the company, leveraging its resources, market access, and team to further RealSavvy offerings and vision.The acquisition enables OJO Labs to speed up its execution to deliver exceptional experiences for consumers and the real estate agents that serve them.

Healthcare blockchain startup BurstIQ raises $5.5 million Series A funding for HIPAA-compliant blockchain solution. BurstIQ, an healthcare blockchain-based startup that provides secure blockchain solutions for the healthcare industry, and Elsewhere Partners have closed a Series A capital raise, providing $5.5 million in financing to aggressively expand sales, marketing and network growth. This is the first major institutional funding round for Denver-based BurstIQ, which was founded in 2015 and has been financially sustainable since 2016, generating millions in annual revenue through commercial partnerships with marquee customers such as Empiric Health, Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO).

Robotics startups in Japan and China have begun trials for indoor food delivery robots. Robots could soon deliver food to your doorstep in Japan and China. Robotics startups in China and Japan are already conducting trials of their unmanned robots. In Japan, for example, robot company ZMP has developed and tested a food delivery robot in universities and apartment complexes. Also in China, Meituan, is testing its unmanned robots in about 10 offices and hotels in large Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shenzhen, said the company’s head of autonomous delivery unit, Xia Huaxia, at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in China on Aug. 29.

Rocket startup Relativity raises $140 million. Relativity Space, a rocket startup founded by former Blue Origin and SpaceX engineers Jordan Noone and Tim Ellis, has just $140 million from venture firms Bond, Tribe. Relativity is a company that is automating aerospace manufacturing through robotics, software, and proprietary metal 3D printing technology. Founded in 2016, Relativity is automating aerospace manufacturing through robotics, software, and proprietary metal 3D printing technology. Relativity’s world’s first 3D printed rocket, Terran 1 is the only medium payload launch vehicle engineered to adapt to the changing needs of satellite operators.

PerimeterX named Overall CyberSecurity Startup of the Year in 2019 CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards Program. PerimeterX, a cybersecurity startup and a provider of application security solutions, has been named the winner of the “Overall CyberSecurity Startup of the Year” award in the 2019 CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards program from CyberSecurity Breakthrough, a leading independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global information security market today. Founded in 2015 by Ido Safruti, Omri Iluz, and Ophir Ashkenazi, the San Mateo, CA-based PerimeterX offers a web security service, protecting web sites from modern security threats.