CleverTap Raises $105M To Help Companies Retain Customers, Overtime Scores Big

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

Another slow week on the funding front as far as large rounds go. Only two rounds broke the $100 million mark, and it didn’t take too big of a raise to crack the top 10 this week. Investment was also all over the place, from analytics to sports to smart water coolers. August has been a slow, sleepy month so far in the venture capital world. Perhaps the second half of the month will see an uptick.

1. CleverTap, $105M, analytics: While getting customers can be hard, retaining customers is the key to any sustainable growing business. Investors know that. That’s why investors like Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), IIFL AMC’s Tech Fund, Tiger Global and Sequoia India poured $105 million into Mountain View, California-based CleverTap this week. The startup offers cloud-based customer engagement and retention tools that not only helpcompanies keep customers, but also increase their spend. While the company was founded in India, it has steadily moved into the U.S. market, bolstered by its acquisition of San Francisco-based Leanplum in June. The new round values the company at $775 million, TechCrunch reported. Founded in 2013, the company has raised more than $181 million, according to Crunchbase data.

2. Overtime, $100M, sports: Sports fans have a lot of alternatives as to where they get their fix. However, a lot of big backers are putting their cash behind New York-based startup Overtime, which closed a $100 million Series D valuing the company at $500 million. The round was led by Liberty Media Corp. and also included participation from  Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global, Winslow Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Blackstone and Sapphire Sport. The company is also backed by several pro sports stars, including Kevin Durant and Trae Young. The startup is trying to create a large sports community—mainly focused on Gen Z and millennials—around sports video and highlights on social media channels and also has recently started to launch its own sports leagues—Overtime Elite (basketball) and OT7 (football). Overtime says it currently has more than than 65 million followers and its content receives more than 2 billion video views each month. The new cash brings the total amount raised by the 6-year-old company to more than $250 million, per the company.

3. Boulevard, $70M, software: Keeping track of appointments can be a nightmare for any business. However, that can be especially true for appointment-based personal care businesses, like spas, salons and barbershops. Many are small, with only a handful of employees, and have to manage appointments and payments on pen and paper. Boulevard is one of a handful of tech startups that have emerged in recent years to help digitize that market and bring it into the 21st century. The Los Angeles-based startup closed a $70 million Series C led by Point72 to help self-care shops digitize booking appointments, messaging clients and even accept payments. The company will use the new cash to expand its product and move deeper into the wellness and beauty sector. Founded in 2016, the company has now raised $108 million, per Crunchbase.

4. Bevi, $70M, food and beverage: The pandemic has forced many to work from home, so the time honored tradition of gathering around the water cooler has somewhat been lost. However, that didn’t stop Boston-based Bevi from locking up a $70 million Series D from Cowen Sustainable Investments. The company makes smart water coolers that provide filtered, flavored and sparkling water on demand. In addition to the choices it offers, it also is an environmentally sustainable alternative to bottled water. Bevi says it has helped customers save over 300 million single-use bottles and cans to date. Founded in 2013, the company has raised more than $130 million, according to Crunchbase data.

5. Disc Medicine, $53.5M, biotech: Watertown, Massachusetts-based Disc Medicine had a busy week. The clinical-stage biotechnology firm announced it would merge with ​​publicly traded Gemini Therapeutics and start trading on Nasdaq after shareholders approve the deal. However, the company also announced it secured a $53.5 million round led by Access Biotechnology. The company focuses on treatments for serious hematologic diseases. Founded in 2017, the company has raised more than $193 million, according to Crunchbase data.

6. Truework, $50M, fintech: San Francisco-based income and employment verification platform Truework raised a $50 million Series C led by G Squared. Founded in 2017, the company has nearly $95 million, per Crunchbase.

7. REVA Medical, $45M, medical device: San Diego-based medical device maker REVA Medical closed a $45 million Series B led by strategic investor BioStar Capital. Founded in 1998, the company has raised more than $146 million, according to Crunchbase.

8. Injective, $40M, crypto: New York-based smart contract platform Injective raised a $40 million funding round led by Jump Crypto. Founded in 2017, the company has raised nearly $57 million, per Crunchbase.

9. Nightfall AI, $40M, cloud data services: San Francisco-based cloud data loss prevention platform Nightfall AI closed a $40M Series B led by WestBridge Capital. Founded in 2018, the company has raised more than $60 million, per Crunchbase.

10. Superblocks, $37M, software: New York-based Superblocks raised $37 million led by Kleiner Perkins, Greenoaks, Spark and Meritech. Founded last year, the company has created a platform for developers to build custom internal tools. This is the company’s first funding, according to Crunchabse.

Big global deals

With few large rounds going to U.S.-based startups, the largest round went to a Korea-based company this week

• Seoul-based cloud optimization startup Megazone Cloud raised more than $345 million in a Series C.

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of Aug. 6 to Aug. 12. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman