Dreamit announces its fall cohort of health and education startups
Dreamit Ventures, a renowned digital health and education technology accelerator, announced its latest cohort of startups in its Fall 2016 cycle. The accelerator accepted 18 companies from around the world into their 14-week program, which will begin in late September. [Built In NYC]
Dutch startup incubator to open at Brooklyn Navy Yard
The well-known European incubator, B. Amsterdam, will occupy about 100,000-square-feet at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The arrival of B. Amsterdam is slated to create about 500 jobs in Brooklyn, and will connect New York business with tech companies across Europe. Currently, B. Amsterdam provides real estate and business services for about 300 early and growth-stage firms. [Crains New York]
Twitter cuts a deal with new business news startup Cheddar
Twitter has partnered with Cheddar to live-stream Cheddar’s daily dispatches from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The deal is Twitter’s latest move to bring live sports and news video content onto its platform. This news comes on the heels of last week’s $10 million funding announcement. [Yahoo News]
Apple Pay now works with Squarespace sites
Merchants using Squarespace for their online store can now accept Apple Pay via the iPhone and the upcoming macOS Sierra. Now, visitors can buy stuff without digging out their credit card. [Engadget]
LiveLike partners with FOX Sports to bring fans the first live sporting event through virtual reality
For the first time ever, fans have the opportunity to watch a major sporting event live in virtual reality without special equipment through the FOX SPORTS VR app, a new offering from FOX Sports, powered by LiveLike. The huge non-conference college football showdown between No. 3 Ohio State and No. 14 Oklahoma is Saturday, Sept. 17. The experience will be available to 95 million authenticated households through the new app, available for iOS and Android devices, making it the first live sporting event widely available in virtual reality. [FOX Sports]
Foursquare's Swarm app now lets you spend virtual coins on real deals
Swarm is getting an important update that will start offering users deals from local businesses. To take advantage of these deals, you ‘spend’ the virtual coins the app gives you when you check in to a business. These coins, called ‘Swarm Perks’ come to Swarm via third-party companies. FourSquare founder and CEO, Dennis Crowley, says that there’s no money changing hands with these deals, and they are simply a way to drive usage. [The Verge]
Fundings of the week
DEFY Media, $70 million
Investors: Wellington Management
DEFY Media, a digital producer focused on video content for millennials, has announced it raised a $70 million Series B round. The company plans on using the new funding to aggressively expand its original programming across platforms. [Built In NYC]
Optimove, $20 million
Investors: Israel Growth Partners
Optimove, a customer marketing cloud company, announced today that it has raised $20 million in growth funding from Israel Growth Partners, a late-stage private equity investment firm. Optimove, which is based in Tel Aviv, announced earlier this year that its CEO and founder, Pini Yakuel, was moving to New York City to open the company’s U.S. headquarters. [Built In NYC]
Industrious, $37 million
Investors: Riverwood Capital, Outlook Ventures and Maplewood
Founded in 2013 by Jamie Hodari and Justin Stewart, Industrious was created to offer modern professionals a coworking solution devoid of typical startup ambiance, focusing instead on creating sophisticated workspaces that foster productivity. The company plans on using the round to continue expanding its coworking locations to 12 new cities. [Built In NYC]
Ctera, $25 million
Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, Cisco and Vintage Investment Partners
This new investment round brings CTERA’s total financing to nearly $70 million. The funds will be used to fuel sales and marketing initiatives and accelerate global customer acquisition as the CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform becomes a gold standard for file storage, collaboration and data protection among secure and distributed enterprise organizations. [PE Hub]
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