LevelEleven, a Detroit-based company focused on enterprise gamification and CRM technology, has completed its $1.5 million seed financing. The seed round was led by Detroit Venture Partners with additional funding from private equity investor Rick Inatome, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and The First Step Fund...
There are apps that cater to salesmen, to cooks, to contractors and to stockbrokers. Why not an app for farmers? FarmLogs — a Y Combinator grad relocated to Ann Arbor, Mich. — has raised $1 million to invest in its digital management platform for farmers – and by farmers I mean the ones out of Steinbeck novels, not the ones on Facebook...
With the November elections right around the corner, education reform is a hot topic these days, thanks to a flood of reports indicating that the U.S. has fallen behind its peers on a number of educational fronts — from enrollment and high school graduation rates to achievement and teacher salaries. Diminishing interest (and performance) in STEM education, in particular, has prompted a billion-dollar movement to reform and improve science and tech programs in the U.S.
With STEM education reform now being touted as the key to America’s economic future, it’s easy to forget the other side. One recent national study, for example, found that only “one quarter of eighth and 12th graders are proficient in writing.” On top of that, College Board reported that reading and writing scores on the SAT hit record lows in the U.S. last year.
Chicago-based ParkWhiz Inc. announced today it has raised $2 million in investment capital in a round led by Hyde Park Venture Partners.
Hyde Park Angels and San Francisco-based Amicus Capital also participated. It's the first round of funding for ParkWhiz, which launched in 2006 and boasts more than a million customers and works with 2,000 parking lots that control 3 million spots nationwide.
ParkWhiz will now hire 20 employees, doubling its staff, according to co-founder and CEO Aashish Dalal. The company built its business around parking at events such as concerts and football games and is now also focused on offering discounted, reserved spots at downtown garages, as well as enhancing its mobile presence...
Investor and Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen received a lot of attention a couple of years ago when he wrote that “software is eating the world.” Part of his argument revolved around the idea that software—really good software—will begin to change all manner of industries in the years to come. It’s a thesis that gets bolstered as startups like FarmLogs appear...
Web design team leader Nathan Henry turned to technology to save nearly 50 percent on his regular parking downtown — and he has no contract tying him any single garage.
He uses ParkWhiz, a free web and mobile site that tells motorists in real time the cheapest parking garage vacancies nearby, and offers a discount on those spaces.
“Sometimes I take mass transit, but sometimes I need my car,” said Henry, a South Loop resident who drives to work in River North. “I didn’t want to pay $20-plus each day.” …