Bay Area tech companies have been bringing in a wave of new capital to finance product development and bring their technology to more customers. Keep reading to catch up on last week’s local funding announcements and learn more about a recent HR software company acquisition. This is the Built In SF Weekly Refresh.
Covariant raised $75M. Artificial intelligence robotics company Covariant secured $75 million as an extension to its Series C funding round first announced back in 2021. The company builds robotic arms that automate picking, sorting and other repetitive manual tasks for warehouse operations. This new capital will allow Covariant to help more retailers deploy its technology. The Emeryville-based company is also hiring for a handful of roles. [SiliconANGLE]
Employee Navigator acquired HR and benefits software company Ease. Employee Navigator is a benefits administration and HR software solution for employers and insurance brokers. Last week, it announced the acquisition of Ease, which serves a similar function for small- and medium-sized businesses. The Ease and Employee Navigator products will function separately, but Ease’s features will be incorporated into the Employee Navigator platform over time. [Ease]
SF Tech Quote of the Week
“I really want our customers to be able to do incredible things. I want them to be able to build better software [and] spend less time on toil and more time making their products awesome.” — Christine Yen, CEO of Honeycomb
Honeycomb pulled in $50M. The observability company helps engineers and developers ensure their code is working properly. With a Series D round led by Headline, Honeycomb will fuel geographic expansion and develop other solutions for software development teams. [Built In SF]
More than 160 San Francisco startups made Y Combinator’s Winter 2023 cohort. Twice a year, Y Combinator selects a group of startups to invest in and spends three months working with recipients to set them up for success. The program culminates with Demo Day, when selected startups present their pitches to a curated audience of investors and press. Last week’s Demo Day kicked off with more than 160 San Francisco startups among YC’s current cohort. [Bay Area Inno]
These Bay Area tech companies raised the largest funding rounds in March. San Francisco’s AI sector pulled in big investments last month. The five largest funding rounds for local tech companies added up to a collective $7.8 billion. Three of those companies are focused on building solutions infused with AI. Fintech company Stripe topped the list with $6.5 billion raised. [Built In SF]
More funding news: Mojo Vision secured $22.4M to fund the company’s shift to focus on developing and commercializing its micro-LED display tech. [TechCrunch]
Web3 project Ecosapiens got $3.5M in its latest seed funding round to support its sustainability initiatives, which include a namesake NFT collection that finances carbon removal projects. [Business Wire]
