New York had no lack of news to report on the tech scene this past week. Valuations rose and tech companies continue to expand. This is the Built In NYC weekly refresh.
Socure hits $4.5B valuation. Socure raised $450 million in funding, raising its valuation over $4 billion, about triple what it was seven months ago. The company works to prevent fraud in financial services using AI, machine learning and predictive analytics. The funding will go toward expanding the platform and into new markets. [Built In NYC]
Jackpocket gained $120M. Jackpocket is a lottery app that provides a secure and safe way to order state lottery tickets. The app currently has operations in 10 states and continues to grow. The latest funding round will fuel its growth and add to the team. [PR Newswire]
NEW YORK TECH QUOTE OF THE WEEK
OpenWeb becomes a unicorn. OpenWeb just announced $150 million in a fresh funding round bringing its valuation past $1 billion. OpenWeb provides tools and platforms for publishers like Hearst and HuffPost to easily interact with its users and moderate comments. The latest funding round will help OpenWeb continue its mission and is currently hiring for more than 20 roles. [Built In NYC]
Spotify bought Findaway. Spotify is working to offer more audiobooks on its platform, and bought the audio-tech company Findaway to do that. Findaway offers a global audio book catalog and has partnerships with Amazon's Audible and Apple iBooks. The details of the transaction were not disclosed. [Reuters]
Block Renovation gained $50M. The Brooklyn company is working to change the home renovation process by packaging every part of the process together digitally for both homeowners and contractors. The latest funding will help Block Renovation continue its mission of changing the process for young homeowners. [TechCrunch]
Alt got $75M. The alternative investments platform landed a star-studded Series B led by VC firm Spearhead with participation from Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, as well as professional athletes like Kevin Durant, Tom Brady and Candace Parker. The platform allows users to trade cards as a sort of “proof of concept” for other investment classes it plans to expand into in the future. The startup plans to launch a mobile app later this month. [Built In NYC]
Talent Hack raised $17M. The Latina-led software startup has now raised a total of $22 million in outside funding, reportedly making it one of the most well-funded creator platforms in the industry. Talent Hack is a fitness platform that allows experts to sell their classes, secure brand partnerships and learn to manage their business, among other things. Talent Hack will use funding to innovate and expand. [Built In NYC]
Heartbeat Health partners with Withings. The healthtech company is working with Withings to launch its ECG-enabled hybrid smartwatch, ScanWatch, in the U.S. this month. The watch, when used with its companion app, can detect atrial fibrillation (a type of irregular heart rhythm that can indicate health concerns) within 30 seconds. Heartbeat was founded in 2017 with the aim of providing virtual-first cardiovascular disease prevention and management. [Globe Newswire]
Saturn gets a new head of design. The startup has announced a new head of design: Mario Gomez-Hall. Gomez previously worked as a staff designer for Lyft. Saturn is the social platform for high school students to manage their time and schedule. [LinkedIn]
Craig Berlingo joined MadHive. MadHive just brought on a new chief product officer. Berlingo came from Taleria, formerly its head of product. He will now lead product strategy for MadHive. MadHive is a marketing company that works to simplify programmatic advertising. [NextTv]
