Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Capital Gains: A Startup That Literally Just Puts Butter in Coffee and More Funding News

Also, the news app Flipboard raised $50 million.

Todd Bernard

Buttered coffee, news-reading apps, synthetic biology and other startups raised lots of money this week. Here’s what happened on the funding front:

  • News-reading app maker Flipboard (which was previously talking with Twitter about a possible acquisition) landed $50 million from J.P. Morgan that reportedly values the company at somewhere between $800 million and $1.3 billion (TechCrunch).
  • Synthetic biology startup Ginkgo Bioworks, founded by a group of MIT scientists and an alum of Y Combinator, raised $45 million in a Series B round led by Viking Global, with OS Fund, Y Combinator and Felicis Ventures contributing (Fortune).
  • Continuum Analytics, which supplies different versions of the Python programming language, raised $24 million in a new round led by BuildGroup and General Catalyst (VentureBeat).
  • Enterprise data software maker Cazena raised $20 million in a new Series B round led by Formation 8, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and North Bridge Venture Partners (TechCrunch).
  • Granular, which makes management software specialized for large farms, raised $18.7 million in a Series B round led by Tao Capital Partners (TechCrunch).
  • Photo-sharing and marketplace site 500px raised a $13 million Series B round to help it expand globally, an investment led by Visual China Group, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Harrison Metal and ff Venture Capital (VentureBeat).
  • Bulletproof, a startup that’s really a coffee chain specializing in ruining coffee by putting butter in it, raised $9 million from Trinity Ventures (Fortune).
  • UXPin builds technology to help businesses collaborate more effectively on design-related issues. The company raised $5 million in a Series A funding round led by True Ventures (MarketWatch).

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh