Infinidat raises $95M Series C led by Goldman Sachs
Infinidat, a Waltham-based data storage startup, raised a $95 million Series C round led by Goldman Sachs investment group this week. The latest round brings the company’s valuation to $1.6 billion, Infinidat said, up from $1.2 billion when it raised a $150 million round in 2015. Goldman Sachs Private Capital Investing, a group focused on growth and midmarket companies, led the round, with participation from existing investor TPG Growth. The company, which has 500 employees globally, will use the funding to hire an additional 500 employees in engineering and sales in 2018. [BostInno]
DraftKings hires former CBS exec to lead business dev
DraftKings announced this week that it has hired former CBS executive Ezra Kucharz as chief business officer. Kucharz was formerly a special advisor to CBS CEO Leslie Moonves and president of CBS Local Digital Media, where he launched online offerings of CBS’s local TV and radio affiliates. [Boston Business Journal]
Lola debuts ‘ultimate’ app for business travelers
Lola has a new target customer: the road warrior (i.e. a person who travels for business 10-20 times per year). The travel tech startup, which originally focused on providing a travel concierge app for consumers, has made a major business pivot with the launch of its new app, Lola 2.0. Described as the “ultimate” app for business travelers, Lola 2.0 takes many of the features baked into Lola’s consumer version (including the ability to message with live travel agents) and aims to make business travel buttery smooth. [Built In Boston]
Local tech leaders ponder how Amazon HQ2 would change Boston’s tech scene
Amazon is looking for a second headquarters, and cities across the country, including Boston, are trying to lure the massive tech company to their own necks of the woods. Part of Amazon's appeal is its promise to bring up to 50,000 high-paying jobs. In Boston, tech CEOs and venture capitalists seemed split on whether Boston could deliver on that. After all, there's already a massive labor shortage — roughly 17 job openings for every one computer science college grad. Yet other tech CEOs argue that talent begets talent, and having a company like Amazon plant seeds in Boston would create an enviable talent pool. [WBUR]
iRobot spinoff lands $159M Army deal
Endeavor Robotics, the Chelmsford-based company that was once the defense and security division at iRobot, won a contract for $158.5 million with the U.S. Army to build next-gen bomb-probing robots. It’s the company’s biggest deal to date. The Army program (Man-Transportable Robotic System, Increment II) is part of the Army’s plan to revolutionize the robots soldiers use in war zones. [Boston Business Journal]
