Boston tech started 2018 off with a bang, with venture capitalists pouring funding into industries ranging from edtech to greeting cards. The top five rounds this January, which included fresh financing for Lovepop and True Fit, totaled $167.5 million. Not too shabby.
5. Ellevation Education, $10M, Jan. 10
Investors: The round was led by Reach Capital with participation from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Omidyar Network and existing investors.
Bio: Ellevation provides ELL administrative and data management tools for teachers, saving school districts time and giving hours back to instructors so they can maximize their impact in the classroom.
News: The Series B round will help finance product development focused on improving teacher instruction.
4. Lovepop, $12.5M, Jan. 3
Investors: The round was led by Highland Capital Partners, with participation from Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins and Crashlytics founder Wayne Chang.
Bio: Lovepop makes 3D pop-up greeting cards.
News: Lovepop tripled its staff to 600 employees this year, and recently landed a deal with HBO to make “Game of Thrones” inspired cards.
3. Skyword, $25M, Jan. 9
Investors: The round was led by Rho Acceleration, a division of Rho Capital Partners, with participation from Progress Ventures, American Public Media, Cox Media Group and Allen & Company.
Bio: Skyword’s content marketing and personalization technology harnesses a team of thousands of writers, designers and videographers to help companies tell their stories with its scalable content marketing services.
News: To date, Skyword says its clients have published more than 1 million unique stories using the company’s software platform, adding nearly 2 billion organic visits to their websites.
2. True Fit, $55M, Jan. 15
Investors: The round was led by Georgian Partners, with participation from Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures, Intel Capital and new investor Cross Creek Capital.
Bio: True Fit, which offers a data-driven customization platform, helps retailers guide consumers to perfectly-fitted clothing and footwear through a blend of custom algorithms and analyzing what shoppers already have in their closets.
News: True Fit currently employs 90 in Boston, 110 globally, and plans on hiring 45 employees this year, bringing its headcount to 155 by the end of 2018.
1. Paytronix, $65M, Jan. 22
Investors: Great Hill Partners
Bio: Paytronix is a leader in the customer experience management (CXM) space, serving more than 330 customers and 16,000 store locations that have generated over $18 billion in consumer spending. Currently, Paytronix has more than 165 million guests who use their product via mobile and social to interact with brands like Panera Bread, California Pizza Kitchen, Thorntons and Bloomin’ Brands.
News: According to a press release, the funding will be used to expand the company’s product suite and geographic focus.
