Tech roundup: Sense raises $18M to lower your utility bill, CoachUp acquires Athletes of Valor, and more

by Justine Hofherr
October 11, 2018
sense
photo via sense facebook

Sense closes $18M Series B round to help lower your utility bill

Sense, a Cambridge-based company that makes smart home energy monitors, announced the close of an $18 million Series B investment led by Schneider Electric this week. Sense’s monitors offer real-time insight into energy and device activity in homes, helping users figure out ways to cut down on their energy consumption and reduce their utility bills. Previous investors Prelude Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Shell Ventures, Energy Impact Partners and iRobot also participated in the round, which brings Sense’s funding to date to $38.6 million. The funding will be used to help Sense broaden its user base and partner with new entities, like energy providers and smart home innovators. [PR Newswire]

 

coachup
photo via coachup social media

CoachUp acquires Athletes of Valor

Coaching platform CoachUp announced the acquisition of another Boston-based company this week: Athletes of Valor, a service that helps men and women transition from the military to collegiate athletics. Athletes of Valor does this by offering a platform for active duty servicemen and women to create athlete profiles and market themselves to college coaches across the nation. CoachUp, a service that connects athletes with coaches for private or group training, said the acquisition will help them provide servicemen and women with unique opportunities as athletes and as coaches. [Press Release]

 

automata
photo via shutterstock

Perceptive Automata raises $18M to help self-driving cars deal with human drivers

Perceptive Automata, the Somerville-based provider of human behavior prediction software for machines, reeled in $16 million in Series A funding this week. The round, led by JAZZ Venture Partners, brought the startup’s total funding to $20 million. Toyota AI Ventures and Hyundai also participated in the round. Perceptive Automata’s software uses behavioral science to help vehicles “think” like humans, pedestrians and other motorists so that automated cars can drive predictable (and safely) on human-dominated roads. The funding will be used to recruit talented engineers to enhance Perceptive Automata’s human intuition AI software for global markets and to grow the company’s product development and customer implementation teams. [GLOBE NEWSWIRE]

 

mendix
photo via mendix

Siemens acquires Mendix

Siemens announced the close of the acquisition of Mendix a low-code, high-productivity platform that allows companies to build applications. Siemens said the strategic move will help them expand their offerings to businesses trying to create applications faster than their IT organizations can currently move the needle. Siemens will continue to invest in Mendix’s independent go-to-market operations, product roadmap and developer community. Moving forward, the Mendix platform will be adopted across other Siemens businesses as the standard low-code platform to help bring new software solutions to market. [Robotics and Automation]

 

rocket software
photo via shutterstock

Bain Capital invests in Rocket Software

Rocket Software, a Waltham-based global tech provider of enterprise optimization solutions, announced that it got some love from Bain Capital Private Equity this week. The VC firm acquired a majority stake in the company, leading to an enterprise value transaction of roughly $2 billion. Rocket Software will continue to operate under its current management team, led by CEO Andy Youniss. Rocket Software has been used by more than 10 million IT professionals to date since its founding in 1990; the deal should allow Rocket Software to improve its integrating solutions and accelerate the company’s growth around the world. [MarketWatch]

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