Top tech startup news for today, Thursday, May 16, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news stories for Thursday, May 16.

Fiverr, another gig-economy startup, files to go public. Another week, another tech IPO. Fiverr, an Israeli-based gig-economy startup, filed paperwork Thursday with the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. Its ticker is slated to be “FVRR.” The disastrous IPOs of Uber and Lyft did not dissuade stopped the flow of on-demand companies wanting to go public. According to the SEC filing, Fiverr reported a revenue of $75.5 million and a net loss of $36.1 million in 2018. Founded in 2010 by Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger, Fiverr is a platform for buying and selling tasks for a fixed fee of $5 — hence the name. It has since broadened out to connect people seeking digital services with providers who charge a range of rates.

Retail Zipline receives $9.6 million Series A to accelerate growth and expand team. Retail Zipline, a communication and execution platform for retailers, has raised $9.6 million in Series A funding to fuel growth, expand its team and continue building products that improve the lives of retail associates, a demographic that comprises one in four American jobs. The round was led by Emergence, with participation from Serena Ventures, Serena Williams‘ venture firm. In addition to the funding, Retail Zipline announced that Santi Subotovsky and Kara Egan from Emergence will be joining its board of directors.

Advanced photography technologies startup MultiVu  raises $7 million to revolutionize nextgen 3D sensor technologies. MultiVu, developing proprietary 3D imaging solutions using a single sensor and deep learning derived algorithms, has raised $7 million seed round to complete development of its first sensor product for 3D Face Authentication applications. The round was led by Israel’s most active venture investor OurCrowd, Cardumen Capital and Hong Kong based investment firm Junson Capital. The funds will also be used for marketing and business development activities. The technology development that led to the formation of the company was supported by TAU Technology Innovation Momentum Fund.

Remitly acquires Symphoni, a small Seattle startup that helps immigrants access financial services. Seattle-based mobile remittance company Remitly has acquired Symphoni, a small Seattle startup building software that helps immigrant and underserved small business owners access credit. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Remitly describes itself as the largest independent mobile remittance company in North America. The acquisition will help Remitly  navigate the highly-regulated financial services industry. Symphoni, which was bootstrapped, will discontinue its current offerings as a result of the acquisition. Symphoni’s three employees — co-founders Bayo Olatunji, Amanda Shen, and Marvin Cheng — will join Remitly’s New Initiatives team.

Geospiza secures $1 million in seed funding to expand data mapping and modeling for emergency managers and first responders to save lives. Geospiza, a startup that enables emergency managers, first responders, and program managers to quickly make data-driven decisions that improve results, ROI, and save lives, has closed $1 million in funding to enable more robust mapping and data modeling, as well as facilitate sales and customer success team growth. Investors include Techstars, GAN Ventures, Next Wave Ventures, Chloe Capital, Alumni Ventures Group, Kokopelli Ventures, among others. Founded in 2017, Geospiza is headquartered in Denver, Colorado and is a 2018 Techstars Accelerator graduate.

Online travel and booking startup GetYourGuide raises $484 million investment led by SoftBank. Today, GetYourGuide, the online and booking platform startup that provides incredible travel experiences, announced it has raised $484 million in Series E financing led by the SoftBank Vision Fund. The financing round was joined by co-investors Temasek, Lakestar, Korelya Capital and Heartcore Capital (formerly Sunstone Capital), will be used to accelerate development and expansion of its brand. Original investors such as Swisscanto Invest by Zürcher Kantonalbank continued their support of the company. In conjunction with the funding, GetYourGuide also announced that Ted Fike, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join its Board of Directors.

JumpCrew secures an additional $7.2 million in Series B funding round to accelerate growth. JumpCrew, the demand generation platform startup that integrates sales and marketing to accelerate new customer acquisition, has completed a Series B funding round in the amount of $7.2M following explosive growth this year and three acquisitions in 2018. Co-led by Nashville Capital Network (NCN) and Hinsdale Capital, the raised capital will fuel product innovation, talent recruitment and additional acquisitions in 2019. This latest funding round builds on JumpCrew’s prior funding of $8.7 million.

Tempo Automation Raises $45 Million Series C Round Led by Point72 Ventures; Adds Strategic Investment from Lockheed Martin. Tempo Automation, the world’s fastest manufacturer for prototyping and low-volume production of printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA), announced today that it has raised $45 million in Series C funding, led by existing investor, Point72 Ventures. The round includes new outside investors, including Lockheed Martin, as well as existing investors, Lux Capital, Uncork Capital, Cendana and Golden Seeds. The investment will accelerate development of Tempo’s proprietary factory automation software to further increase speed and accuracy for manufacturing high complexity PCB assembly.