Ride-sharing company Fasten gets new HQs
Local ride-sharing startup Fasten is moving into snazzy new headquarters at Two Financial Center, a tower in the Leather District, to accommodate a “fast-growing team.” This is a big move for the Uber competitor, which can trace its beginnings to a shared home in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood. The new space features sleek ergonomic chairs, standing desks and an open floor plan. Fasten says what sets it apart from its competitors is prioritizing driver satisfaction and customer loyalty. [Fasten blog]
Lyft and Circulation form partnership for non-emergency medical transportation
Circulation, a Boston-based startup that offers on-demand, non-emergency healthcare transportation, announced this week that it has partnered with Lyft, a fast-growing rideshare company. This partnership will expand non-emergency transport options for Circulation clients across the nation, which currently include more than 1,000 healthcare facilities. Now, Circulation users can schedule Lyft rides directly through Circulation’s on-demand digital transportation platform. [Press Release]
Elsen raises $2.4M to help financial institutions use big data
Elsen, a platform-as-a-service company that helps financial institutions harness big data for better decision making, raised $2.4 million this week in a seed extension round led by Hyperplane Venture Capital. Accomplice, Launch Capital and a handful of angel investors also participated in the round. The investment, which will be used to expand Elsen’s engineering team and to extend support services for existing customers, brings Elsen’s total funding to $2.9 million. [Press Release]
Indigo raises an additional $42M, closing Series D round at $203M
Indigo Agriculture, one of Boston tech’s latest unicorns, added a bit more honey to the pot this week, raising an additional $47 million to close its Series D round at $203 million. The largest investor in the second close was Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), which will hold a board observer seat at the company. The round will support Indigo’s global commercial expansion, as well as its investment in the plant microbiome, in which the company identifies beneficial microbes that naturally reside within plants, and applies those microbes to modern seeds to increase crop productivity and resilience in the face of environmental stressors, pests and diseases. [Built In Boston]
Co-working space ‘Spaces’ to expand to Boston and Somerville
Spaces, a creative workspace founded in Amsterdam, announced that it has chosen Somerville for its second site in Massachusetts this week. Located at 240 Elm Street in the heart of Davis Square, Spaces will offer professionals 15,450-square-feet of business space around the idea of innovation and collaboration. Highlights of the new space include over 100 dedicated desks, two meeting rooms and regular networking events such as TedX Talks. Spaces will open in January 2018 and will be the brand’s second location in Massachusetts following the launch of Spaces Newbury Street in Boston in February 2017. [Press Release]
