It’s Halloween, so Built In NYC is conjuring up the ghosts of last week’s tech news, which includes tales of startups growing their tech superpowers so they can haunt the NYC tech scene for years to come. Keep reading if you dare. This is the Built In NYC Weekly Refresh.
Bilt Rewards became a tech unicorn. Bilt Rewards raised $150 million in funding, which propelled the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion. Bilt Rewards members can earn points by paying rent with a Bilt Mastercard. They can earn even more points if they live in one of the more than 2.5 million buildings affiliated with the Bilt Alliance. These loyalty points can be put toward next month’s rent, a down payment fund for a house, airline tickets, hotel rooms and group fitness classes. Bilt will use the fresh funding to add features to its platform, strengthen relationships with business partners and expand across the country. [Built In NYC]
RapidSOS raised $75M. The NYC startup helps 911 dispatchers get the information they need in emergency situations by connecting them to a user’s internet-enabled devices, like smartphones, smartwatches, cars and home security systems. The technology links more than 500 million devices to more than 15,000 first responder agencies. RapidSOS will use the new funding to explore cloud, data science, mapping and video technologies. [Built In NYC]
NYC Tech Quote of the Week
Swerve Fitness was featured in our Future 5 series. Our quarterly series highlighting innovative early-stage startups kicked off last week with Swerve Fitness, which pivoted from a boutique cycling studio to a business-to-business tech company. Swerve now livestreams 10 cycling workouts per day to big-box gyms that lack the resources to provide their own cycling classes. Swerve instructors can view exercise data from each gym location, so they are able to facilitate a sense of camaraderie among cyclists by facilitating a competition between gym locations. Swerve is currently partnered with eight gym locations, but it has set an ambitious goal to operate 100 locations by the end of the year. [Built In NYC]
ADP appointed a new CEO. ADP, a developer of human capital management software, announced that ADP President Maria Black will take over as CEO at the beginning of next year. Black will succeed outgoing CEO Carlos Rodriguez, who has led the company since 2011. Black will serve as a director on the company’s board, and Rodriguez will become the executive chair of the board. In addition to a new CEO, ADP is actively hiring for more than 190 positions across various teams. [ADP]
Shipup was acquired. Shipp, a French tech company with an office in Brooklyn, was acquired by Switzerland-based Global Blue. Shipup helps online retailers ensure that their customers are satisfied with the delivery of their products. The platform allows brands to send notifications to their customers, direct customers to a branded delivery tracking page and manage potential delivery incidents. The company has more than 370 clients. [Business Wire]
