Top startup news for today, Wednesday, December 5

Good morning! Here are some of the top technology startup news stories for today, Wednesday, December 5.

Matcherino raises $2.7 million in Series A-1 funding to accelerate ongoing expansion. Matcherino, a Seattle, WA-based online platform for game publishers and tournament organizers to manage esports events, and for global brands to reach and engage with valuable esports audiences, has raised $2.7m in funding to accelerate ongoing expansion of the go-to-market and platform development teams and to further develop expanded prize pool management, custom game content commerce and programmatic sponsorship campaign delivery and measurement tools. The round was led by Seven Peaks Ventures, with participation from new investor aXiomatic Gaming and existing investors Madrona Venture Group and Vulcan Capital. Founded in 2015 by Grant Farwell, Mario Gutierrez, and Ryan Atkinson, Matcherino builds software that enables game publishers and tournament organizers to run esports events. The platform includes tools to increase tournament prize pools including the ability for fans to buy custom game content from publishers as well as support for sponsors through actionable advertising campaigns. The company also offers financial services including prize pool escrow services and the transparent, documented and tax compliant distribution of tournament prize pools after their completion.

InsurTech startup CoverWallet launches commercial insurance platform exclusively for insurance agents. CoverWallet, an online platform that makes it easy for small businesses to understand, buy, and manage insurance online. The startup announced yesterday that it’s expanding its insurtech platform with CoverWallet for Agents, a dedicated platform for insurance agents. Through the technology platform, agents benefit from a fast, simple, and efficient way to provide commercial insurance to businesses, with a single point of entry to access top carriers for multiple types of policies. In connection with the launch of the new platform, CoverWallet also announced that Michael Konialian has been promoted to Vice President and General Manager of CoverWallet for Agents.

Facilio secures $6.4 million in Series A Funding for international expansion. Facilio, a Global Management and Accel backed startup that offers unified IoT and AI-driven facilities optimization software, has raised USD6.4m in funding to further consolidate and strengthen its presence across Middle East, US, and Indian markets, as well as expand into new territories. Founded in 2017 by cloud and IoT veterans Prabhu Ramachandran, Rajavel Subramanian, Yogendra Babu and Krishnamoorthi Rangasamy, Facilio provides unified IoT & AI-driven facilities optimization software offering end-to-end building maintenance, operations, sustainability & tenant experience, across portfolios. Within a year of starting commercial product availability, the company has experienced market penetration across its global territories – Middle East, US, and India.

FreeWire raises $15 million to support the commercialization of charging and mobile on-site power technologies for electric vehicles. As we reported yesterday, FreeWire Technologies (FireWire), an electric car charging startup company that offers simple electrification of applications for formerly fossil fuel dependent industries, has closed $15 million in Series A funding led by BP Ventures, with participation from Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Stanley Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Oski Clean Energy Partners, Strawberry Creek Ventures, Spike Ventures, TRIREC, and others. The funding will be used to support the commercialization of FreeWire’s stationary and mobile fast-charging technologies for electric vehicles, along with expansion of the company’s operations and sales teams. These solutions are designed to overcome the inefficiencies of today’s grid infrastructure to meet customers’ growing demand for rapid, cost-efficient power – all without the added costs of construction, hardware installation, or peak surges.