Spring has sprung, and with it comes promising news about the U.S. venture capital space: Data released this week from KPMG found $17.3 billion worth of venture capital (VC) funding landing at U.S. startups in the first quarter of 2017.
“It appears that we may have reached a turning point despite a continued decline in VC deal activity in Q1 as market conditions and valuations are stabilizing,” said Brian Hughes, national co-lead partner at KPMG’s Venture Capital Practice, in a statement.
This week, the U.S. held a strong presence in B2B FinTech venture capital — half of the eight funding rounds closed in this space this week went to U.S. startups, while India, the Philippines and France also landed on the board.
Investments hit a wide array of industries, too, with enterprise security and IoT leading the charge. Below we break down the more than $117 million raised this week for B2B startups below.
eProcurement
Full Harvest
With a focus on the food and beverage space, Full Harvest connects restaurants and other industry players with farmers that have discounted, imperfect product. The company announced this week it raised $2 million in seed funding led by Wireframe Ventures — BBG Ventures, Early Impact Ventures, Impact Engine and angel investors also participated, according to reports. U.S.-based Full Harvest operates an online platform for restaurants and other food and beverage companies to procure the discounted produce in an effort to cut back on food waste. Reports said the startup will use the seed financing to scale its online marketplace and bolster sales and technology staff.
Akoonu
Akoonu announced an $8 million Series A financing round this week as it gave a full release to its flagship product, Akoonu for Sales. The U.S. company provides software that uses data analytics technology to support companies with complex B2B sales processes and enable buyer progress mapping; the technology integrates with existing CRM systems to provide buyer insights. The firm links its corporate clients with account-based selling on Salesforce solutions. Backers at Shasta Ventures led the funding, reports said, which will go toward product development and market entry.
Logistics
Emiza Supply Chain Services
India’s Emiza Supply Chain Services saw some support from U.S. investors this week thanks to $4.5 million in…