Top tech startup news stories you need to know this Tuesday, December 19

Good morning! Here are top tech startup news stories you need to know this Tuesday, December 19.

Google’s Waymo is teaming with insurance startup Trov on passenger insurance for self-driving service. Waymo LLC, the driverless-car unit of Google-parent Alphabet Inc., is turning to an insurance-technology startup to provide coverage for passengers of its soon-to-be-launched ride-hailing service. Trov Inc., is a five-year-old California-based startup. The company said Tuesday it will work behind the scenes with Waymo to insure its riders for lost and damaged property and trip-related medical expenses.

DocuSign acquires tech rights and hires team from machine learning startup, Appuri.  DocuSign today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the IP rights and hire employees from Seattle-based machine learning and data platform startup, Appuri. The acquisition will help DocuSign to enhance the advanced analytics within its products and business processes. DocuSign is a global leader in e-signature and digital transaction management.

Portland augmented reality startup Streem raises $1.7 million.  Streem said it had raised $1.7 million to fund the business from several investors, including Columbia Ventures and Rogue Venture Partners, the company said on Tuesday. Streem plans to use the money to develop its technology, market its products and hire more employees. The company’s idea is to use customers’ smartphones to give businesses a look inside a home to identify appliance brands and models, measure dimensions and study the layout of the room.

Cloud-based web content management systems (WCMS) startup Zesty.io closes $2.8 million to innovate web CMS.  Zesty.io , a startup fast-forwarding web content management systems (WCMS) for marketers and developers, today announced it has raised $2.8 million in funding with the addition of $1.5 million in fresh equity raise to capitalize on a multi-billion dollar market opportunity.

Nigerian startup Farmcrowdy secures $1 million in seed funding. Farmcrowdy, a Nigerian startup with first digital agriculture platform, announced it has raised  $1 million in seed funding from international and local investors including Cox Enterprises, Techstars Ventures, Social Capital, Hallett Capital and Right-Side Capital; as well as angel investors Tyler Scriven, Michael Cohn, Josephine Group, FC Agro Allied SPV and Dr. Christof Walter. Farmcrowdy  connects small scale farmers with sponsors, who invest in farm cycles. A farm cycle ranges from 3 to 5 months for  and 9 months for cassava.

Genetic Circuits Startup Asimov Raises Seed Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz.  Asimov, a startup using computer-aided design to engineer biology, announced today that it has raised $4.7 million in seed funding in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation by Data Collective, Pillar, and AME Cloud Ventures.