Top tech startup news for today, Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Good evening! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Tuesday, October 8, 2019.

Doorstead secures $3.3M in seed funding to expand its business footprint. Doorstead, a San Francisco, CA-based property management startup, has  raised $3.3m in seed funding to continue to expand operations and business footprint. The round was co-led by M13 and Silicon Valley Data Capital with participation from the Venture Reality Fund and SOMA Capital. Co-founded by Ryan Waliany, CEO, and Jennifer Bronzo, Doorstead leverages big data and operations technology to advance a new class of risk-free property management (iRenting) which provides landlords guaranteed rental income, regardless of occupancy.

SparkCognition Raises $100M in Series C funding to accelerate growth. SparkCognition, an Austin, Texas-based global artificial intelligence (AI) company, closed a $100m Series C funding to continue  global expansion, customer acquisition, and mission of building AI technology to solve the world’s toughest problems. The round was led  led by March Capital Partners. With overall funding of $175 million since its inception in 2013, SparkCognition is now one of the most valuable startups in Texas and one of the most valuable AI startups in the United States. Founded in 2013 by Amir Husain, SparkCognition develops AI-Powered cyber-physical software for the safety, security, and reliability of IT, OT, and the IoT. The company’s technology is capable of harnessing real time sensor data and learning from it continuously, allowing for more accurate risk mitigation and prevention policies to intervene and avert disasters.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said: “There’s plenty of profit in hardware.” During the 2019 GeekWire Summit conference in Seattle, Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said, :Despite the rhetoric, there’s actually plenty of profit in hardware, at least if you look at the number one hardware company in the world,” Ballmer, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, told GeekWire Co-Founder Todd Bishop on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of profit being made on the Mac and the iPhone and others. I think Microsoft gets a chance to participate through the Surface.”

WellSky acquires ClearCare. WellSky Corporation, a health- and community-care technology company is acquiring ClearCare, a software provider for the home-care market. The financial term of the deal was not disclosed. Led by CEO Geoff Nudd and COO Dave Cristman, ClearCare provides a personal-care technology platform serving over 4,000 personal care agencies representing 600,000 caregivers and 500,000 seniors in the U.S. and Canada. Its SaaS and mobile platform helps manage all personal care agency business functions, including scheduling, billing, payroll, senior-to-caregiver matching, CRM, HR, reporting, and point-of-care management.

Intelligent Video surveillance startup Razberi secures $5.8 million to accelerate growth and roll-out new products. Razberi Technologies, a tech startup and provider of simple, secure video surveillance and IoT solutions, has raised today an investment of $5.8 million to build out its market coverage and continuing to deliver industry-leading products. The round was led by LiveOak Venture Partners, with participation from Chartline Capital Partners and other investors. Razberi intends to bring on additional investors over the coming months. Founded in 2011 Tom Galvin, Farmers Branch, Texas-based Razberi Technologies is developer and manufacturer of network video solutions for professional video surveillance and security applications.

Place Technology scores $3 Million to bring enterprise-class forecasting and planning to small and medium companies. Place Technology, a tech startup and makers of the Salesforce powered corporate performance management solution, PlaceCPM, has raised $3 million in funding to fuel its growth and initial product launch. The funding was led by Geekdom Fund and included Star Vista Capital and a select group of angel investors. The Austin, Texas-based Place Technology was founded in late 2018 to address the multitude of hurdles small and medium businesses face when balancing growth and profitability with limitations of time, cash flow, and resources. The company was founded by CEO Brandon Metcalf, who previously founded and scaled Salesforce-powered Talent Rover (acquired by Bullhorn in March 2018), and CTO Kabe VanderBaan, the former VP Technology at Talent Rover.