In “The Monthly Rundown” series, I dive into a few up-and-coming startups from the past month, filtering by recent funding rounds and significant influxes of new website visitors. Stay tuned for an updated list each month and get a jump on the competition.
As of Nov. 1, we’re 84 percent complete with 2020. If you’re in sales, this percentage to goal for the year should be considered a win (all things considered).
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Though October was no match for the impressive jump in startup funding in September, don’t let this distract you from the fact that there’s a strong batch of newly funded companies across the globe that are scaling like crazy. They need to put this new money to work, so try and understand how you can help them accelerate on their new expansion goals.
In October, software continued to dominate, with hot funding rounds going into security, digital, analytics and remote-first environments. Oh, and some autonomous vehicles because, why not?
OK, here are five hot startups to watch with new funding in October. Happy selling!
1. Illusive Networks
HQ: New York and Tel Aviv
Industry: Cyber Security, Network Security
Funding: Raised a $24 million Series B on Oct. 7. Lead Investor: Spring Lake Equity Partners
Web traffic: 1,258 percent monthly visits growth
Why I’m watching: Illusive Networks is a cybersecurity software company that detects and resolves cyber attacks quickly. The company is planning to use its Series B funds to accelerate its next phase of growth driven by a go-to-market strategy that focuses on sales and marketing expansion, and further investment and product enhancements for securing cloud workloads.
2. ADASKY
HQ: Yoqne`am `illit, HaZafon, Israel
Industry: Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles, Sensor
Funding: Raised a $15 million Series B on Oct. 22.
Web traffic: 678 percent monthly visits growth
Why I’m watching: ADASKY is an Israeli startup that builds far-infrared sensors and intelligent thermal sensing technologies for autonomous electric vehicles.The company is developing and manufacturing thermal imaging (LWIR) systems for automotive and pedestrian safety. Its new funds will help fulfill demand and advance the company’s shift toward mass production.This technology comes at a crucial time for the industry, as some companies have pulled back on development and extended their timelines for fully autonomous vehicles. Even Tesla’s Full Self-Driving System advises users to keep their hands on the wheel at all times, and adds the system is intended for use by “fully attentive drivers.”
3. Rockset
HQ: San Mateo, California
Industry: Analytics, Software
Funding: Raised a $40 million Series B on Oct. 27. Lead Investor: Sequoia Capital
Web traffic: 357 percent monthly visits growth
Why I’m watching: Rockset, which was founded by a Facebook alum who built the social graph, is a real-time indexing database company. The platform’s impressive $40 million Series B round in late October tripled its total funding. The company now has plans to add a new virtual private cloud option for its customers.
4. Zivver
HQ: Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands
Industry: Cyber Security, Messaging, Software
Funding: Raised a $17 million Series B on Oct. 28. Lead Investor: DN Capital
Web traffic: 309 percent monthly visits growth
Why I’m watching: Zivver is a solution that secures email, chat, or file transfer to prevent data leaks in the exchange of sensitive information. The company’s new funding will be used to accelerate its international expansion into the U.K. and other markets, and to expand the Zivver platform. In our new, digital remote-first world, secure communications platforms will continue to rise in the coming years. Zivver is poised to take advantage of this remote shift, and is doubling down on their initial traction in the market.
5. FOSSA
HQ: San Francisco
Industry: Open Source, Developer Tools, Compliance
Funding: Raised a $23.2 million Series B on Oct. 15. Lead Investors: Bain Capital Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Costanoa Ventures
Web traffic: 262 percent monthly visits growth
Why I’m watching: Did you know that if your company develops software, you’re probably using a lot of open-source software? FOSSA provides a platform that helps enterprises manage and maximize open source use at scale. Gartner last year estimated that 90 percent of the code in 90 percent of software in development is subject to open-source licensing, a fact that can create a host of legal and security issues. FOSSA is betting big that organizations need to know a lot more about what’s in the software they build, and so are the company’s investors.
What did I miss? Send me your thoughts on Twitter @shamu5noonan.
– Shamus
