Top startup news for today, Tuesday, March 5, 2019

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

Popular independent review platform site Trustpilot raises $55 million to accelerate growth, refuted report about  IPO. The Europe-based reviews platform Trustpilot announced today Tuesday that it has raised $55 million in Series E funding round aimed at accelerating growth. The round was led by Sunley House, a subsidiary of buyout-focused private equity firm Advent International. Trustpilot has been in the news lately and also the subject of speculations about its plan to file seek an initial public offering. The company since denied the rumor. Founded in 2007 by CEO, Peter Muhlmann, Trustpilot is a leading independent review platform – free and open to all. With more than 58 million reviews across 265,000 merchants. Trustpilot has raised a total of $198.8M in funding over 8 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Mar 5, 2019 from a Series E round.

Blood collection startup Tasso raises $6.1 million in funding for first product launch. Tasso, a Seattle, Washingto-based blood collection startup, has completed a $6.1m financing round to launch its first product and grow the team to support significant commercial interest. The round was led by Vertical Venture Partners, with participation from Techstars and Cedars-Sinai. The fresh fund builds on a $13.1 million grant received from DARPA, DTRA, and NIH. Co-founded by CEO, Ben Casavant, Tasso is advancing the development of Tasso OnDemand, which enables pateints to self-collect blood samples and mail them back to the lab for analysis. It gives researchers insight during drug development and allows healthcare practitioners to manage care, selecting the best drug for each patient, minimizing side effects, and ensuring high adherence to treatment.

Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR) joins forces with Measure to support UAS integration. The NUAIR Alliance announces a new partnership with Measure, a leading aerial intelligence company. Measure is working with NUAIR to bring its proven world-class commercial operations to the region in support of NUAIR’s mission to safely integrate UAS into the national airspace system. This partnership will enhance commercial support inspections, public operations and consulting capabilities at the New York UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport.  Measure’s comprehensive software solution, specialized data engineering team, and highly skilled flight operations, will help NUAIR advance its test site, making it safer and easier to operate UAS, automate data capture and workflows, and manage thousands of flights. Measure will establish on-site operations in May.

Salesforce Ventures launches $50 million Australia Trailblazer Fund to empower Australian startups in the Salesforce ecosystem. Salesforce, through its global corporate investment arm, Salesforce Ventures, yesterday launched new $50 million fund to empower Australian startups in the Salesforce ecosystem. The new fund, which is called the Australia Trailblazer Fund, will help Australian startups to scale, invest in innovation and drive customer success. The unveiling of the fund is part of Salesforce World Tour Sydney. Salesforce is a tech powerhouse and the global leader and provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software.

WeShareMD completes seed funding round for Southern California expansion. WeShareMD, a San Diego, California-based shared office concept designed specifically for medical professionals, closed its seed round of funding to continue their expansion throughout Orange County, Los Angeles and other areas of California. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Founded in 2018 by CEO George Scopetta, JD MAC and Dr. James Chao with the advisory of healthcare expert, Robert Lozuk, WeShareMD is a flexible medical office space designed specifically for doctors. The company purchases value-added medical properties and renovates each space to provide a premier location for medical practices. The company has already expanded to five locations throughout Southern California in 2018.

Online bank Chime now valued at $1.5 billion after $200 million Series D funding. We reported about US app-based bank Chime in June 2018 when the startup raised $70m after attracting one million customers. Today, Chime reported it has raised another $200 million in Series D financing led by DST Global, which now puts the company at $1.5 billion, thrice its former valuation. Its digital-first approach and promise of zero fees has helped Chime attract roughly 200,000 users per month, the company said. Chime said it now has more than 3 million bank accounts, up from 1 million last summer. Founded in 2013 by Chris Britt and Ryan King, Chime helps members avoid bank fees, save money automatically, and lead healthier financial lives. Based in San Francisco, California, Chime offers a modern, mobile and connected approach to banking that gives members complete control of their finances. Chime members receive a Chime debit card, a Spending Account, a Savings Account, and a powerful mobile app that keeps members in control.