Top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, November 13, 2019 – DoorDash, Hive, Convoy, DroneDeploy, and Freshworks

Hola! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, November 13, 2019.

Hive raises $10.6 million Series A to bolster its product development. Hive, a New York-based software startup and developer of productivity platform focused on worker productivity, announced it has raised $10.6 million Series A funding. The round was led by Comcast Ventures, with participation from existing seed investors Tribeca Venture Partners, Vocap Investment Partners, and Rembrandt Venture Partners. Founded in 2015 by Eric Typaldos and John Furneaux, Hive is the productivity platform behind Uber, Netflix, Starbucks, WeWork and thousands of fast-moving companies around the world. The funding proceeds will be used to bolster development of products like a service that automatically assigns next steps from emails.

DoorDash, a SoftBank-backed food delivery startup, raises $100 million at $13 billion valuation. DoorDash, the food delivery startup backed by SoftBank, announced it’s raising a new round of funding that now values the unicorn startup at around $13 billion, according to a report from Bloomberg. The funding, which was reported to be at $100 million, was backed by investments from T. Rowe Price. The funding is said to be an extension of DoorDash’s most recent massive $600 million funding round, which we reported back in May of this year. The May funding put the company at $12.6 billion valuation. Founded in 2013 by four Stanford students with experiences from Facebook, Square, Vevo, and eBay, DoorDash provides on-demand restaurant food delivery services connecting customers with local businesses across the United States and Canada.

DroneDeploy scores $35 million in Series D funding. DroneDeploy, a San Francisco, CA-based enterprise-grade drone software solution startup, has completed a $35 million Series D funding round  to expand internationally, move into new industries, and further build out its suite of offerings for customers. The round, which brought DroneDeploy’s total funding to $90 million, was led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Energize Ventures, AirTree, Emergence Capital, Scale Venture Partners, and Uncork Capital. Co-founded by CEO Mike Winn, DroneDeploy provides an enterprise-grade drone software solution to more than 5,000 customers across several industries, including those in oil & gas, construction, mining, solar, agriculture, insurance, wind, and search & rescue. Customers have mapped more than 100 million acres on the platform.

Convoy raises $400 million to transform the $800 billion trucking industry, new funding co-led by Former President’s Al Gore Fund. Convoy announced it has raised another $400 million in new funding co-led by former president’s Al Gore sustainability-focused investing fund, Generation Investment Management, and T. Rowe Price. The funding proceeds will be used to help eliminate hundreds of billions of dollars of waste in the trucking industry. The new capital infusion now put the startup at $2.75 billion valuation. Unlike traditional freight companies, Convoy matches reliable trucks or carriers with companies that need to ship freight. With Convoy, carriers get access to a free mobile app that enables to find loads, save time, drive fewer miles empty, and get paid quickly. Shippers also use Convoy’s data-driven insights and industry-leading service levels to improve the supply chain operations and lower costs.

Emerge comes out of stealth with $12M in funding to enable user feel and share immersive content with bare hands. Emerge, a cross-reality presence tech startup developing the next form of digital communication, has emerged from stealth with $12 million Series A funding led by M13, with participation from Vulcan Capital, LionTree Partners, and other investors, putting the total raised to date at $18M. Over the past few years, Emerge team has been busy building a consumer product that enables users from distant locations to physically touch, feel, and share immersive content in XR using their bare hands.

Freshworks secures $150 million in Series H funding; now valued at $3.5 billion. Freshworks, a customer engagement software startup, has closed $150 million in Series H funding for its worldwide expansion as well as investment in its integrated SaaS platform. The round, which is expected to close by year-end and is subject to customary closing conditions, including U.S. antitrust regulatory clearance, was led by existing investors Sequoia Capital, CapitalG, and existing investor Accel. The new funding puts the startup at at a post-financing valuation of $3.5 billion. Founded by CEO Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks provides a SaaS based innovative customer engagement software solution for businesses of all sizes, enabling teams to acquire, close, and keep customers through a complete view of the customer.