Top tech startup news for today, Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Tuesday, October 15, 2019.

Amazon is eating into Google’s dominance in search ads. Google continues its reign as the online search behemoth. The search giant still by far holds the highest share of search ad revenue in the U.S. However, as Google and other players’ shares are shrinking, Amazon is nibbling away at Google’s search advertising dollars and its search ad revenue share is climbing, according to a new eMarketer study. Amazon’s share is expected to grow to 15.9% by 2021, with Google’s expected to shrink to 70.5%. Amazon is expected to grow nearly 30% over last year to reach $7.09 billion in 2019, reaching 12.9% of market share. Amazon’s share is expected to grow to 15.9% by 2021, with Google’s expected to contract slightly to 70.5% of the market.

CleverTap raises $35 million Series C funding. CleverTap, a tech startup and an AI-powered customer lifecycle and user retention platform, completed a $35m Series C funding. The round, which brought total funding to $61m, was led by Tiger Global Management and Sequoia India. The company plans to use the funds to build out its new US-based engineering hub, grow the team across engineering, sales, and marketing, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, add enhanced predictive capabilities to its platform, and accelerate its global go-to-market expansion strategy.

Google unveils new smart devices at its big product event to take on Apple and Microsoft. Ahead of the busy holiday season, Google is taking on its competitors Microsoft and Apple with announcement of new smart devices. Google on Tuesday unveiled the Pixel 4, new Pixel Buds, the Pixelbook Go Chromebook and a slew of new Nest devices. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL feature updated cameras and displays, as well as brand new capabilities like facial recognition, powered by Google’s ‘Soli’ radar detection technology. oogle said the products are meant to enable “ambient computing,” where connected gadgets are always listening and helping the user.

Clean Energy Ventures launches $110 million early-stage venture fund to support advanced energy technologies to mitigate climate risks. Today, Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) announced the close of its first fund, the $110 million Clean Energy Venture Fund that targets the current capital gap for seed and early-stage investments in promising advanced energy innovations. CEV will focus on technologies and business model innovations in the U.S. and Canada that are ready to be scaled and commercialized, and that have the potential to significantly mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions. Since its inception in 2005, Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) has been investing in, supporting and mentoring early-stage energy startups together since 2005. The firm has backed more than 30 companies in the advanced energy technology sectors.

SimpleShowing secures $1 million in funding to expand its footprint. SimpleShowing, a real estate tech startup, has raised $1 million in funding to extend the functionality of its platform and expand geographically via a combination of direct and affiliate agents. The round was conducted via Republic, an SEC licensed, FINRA-member investment portal, where startups raise funds from retail investors, customers, and fans of the brand. Founded in 2017 by Fred McGill, Co-Founder and CEO, the Atlanta, Georgia-based SimpleShowing is a real estate technology startup providing a website and mobile home buying and selling platform.  Since launching in 2017, SimpleShowing has raised $1.5M in total funding with notable investors including Bill Smith, Founder & former CEO of Shipt.com.

Gearflow.com raises $1.1 million seed funding to grow its construction equipment rental platform. Gearflow, a construction equipment and parts marketplace for dealers, OEMs, contractors, and parts sellers improving job sites across America, has raised  $1.1 millionseed funding round to support the growth of their platform and team. Backers include Seth Lawry, Cindy Lawry, and Soren Oberg of Thomas H. Lee Partners, Annabelle LLC, and Chicago Early Growth Ventures. Founded in 2017 by Benjamin Preston and Luke Powers, Gearflow.com was launched in the fall of 2018. The startup has grown to over 90 active sellers from independent to national rental equipment companies. Gearflow.com’s e-commerce platform is built to support and digitally represent the thousands of construction equipment rental companies and complementary businesses that make up the construction equipment industry.

Robotics startup Labrador Systems raises $2 million in pre-seed funding to develop assistive robots. Amazon-backed robotics startup Labrador Systems, has closed a $2M Pre-Seed round led by SOSV’s hardware accelerator HAX, in partnership with Centrica Hive, with participation from Amazon’s Alexa Fund, iRobot Ventures and iD Ventures America. Labrador Systems is an early stage technology startup developing a new generation of assistive robots, announced that it  Labrador co-founders Mike Dooley and Nikolai Romanov are veterans of the robotics industry and have introduced millions of robots into households on a global scale. Their company is pioneering a new generation of assistive robots to empower seniors and others to live more independently and provide a new platform for supporting home health. The investment will be used to expand development of Labrador’s platform and conduct pilot studies with partners in 2020.