The Big One

A breakdown on the day’s biggest Inno story.

Lucy: As for local startup funding, April will be remembered as the month when lots of small and medium deals were reached.

The total capital raised by local startups in April was a little lower than in March, with $358M raised in April compared to March’s $451M. Although, April’s deal volume was slightly higher at 34 compared to March’s 23.

Many local startups raised money from seed rounds or equity offerings. The award for one of the largest funding rounds of the month goes to marketing platform Drift’s $60M in Series C, followed by Formlabs (a 3D printing designer) and Zaius (a marketing tech startup), who both raised $30M each. Electronics company Nanterocomes fourth with $29.7M.

As we reported, a regulatory filing with the SEC showed that Notarizeraised $18.9M in an equity round. The Boston-based remote notary service didn’t provide any additional information on the round.

The last takeaway for the month is that Tom Brady raised funding, too: the digital production company he co-launched with Michael Strahan, Religion of Sports Media, announced it raised $3M at the end of April. Read more: These 34 Boston Startups Raised More Than $358M in April

In The Know

The Inno stories you need to read today.

Making Moves

Inside the people, companies and organizations making moves in Boston.

KG: Software provider Validity had a big day. They announced a significant investment led by Boston-based growth equity firm Silversmith Capital Partners and Mark Briggs as chairman and CEO. Briggs will be based here and was previously CEO of Ability Network.

Lucy: Yesterday, I got a tip that TripAdvisor allegedly sent out emails to reject “candidates” from jobs that they didn’t apply to. After reading a conversation on Twitter about it, I got in touch with the company to see if it could confirm the tip. TripAdvisor sent me the following statement: “TripAdvisor regrets any inconvenience that potential job candidates and recruitment prospects may have experienced when they received an erroneous email about their application status. The email was sent as a result of an error when managing our recruiting and job placement platform. Impacted recipients will receive a follow up communication from a member of TripAdvisor’s recruiting team concerning employment opportunities.” The company declined to disclose how many potential job candidates and recruitment prospects were impacted.

KG: My personal favorite travel app, Hopper, just released a new featured called Secret Fares. Keep your eye out for substantial discounts on the app and even more for long-haul flights.

Lucy: Also, Sheprd just launched their new iPhone app. You might remember the profile we did on Sheprd’s transportation fleet for students.

New Money

Your daily funding roundup.

KG: The robotics logistics industry continues to heat up with Soft Robotics raising $20M in an “oversubscribed” round led by Hyperplane Venture Capital. Just like their name, Soft Robotics makes soft robotic grippers that can pick all sorts of objects up, from bagels to bottles. The new investors in this round include: Scale Venture Partners, Calibrate Ventures, Honeywell Ventures, Tekfen Ventures, Yamaha Motor Co. “We’re proud of the team’s work to date to scale up the Soft Robotics’ technology platform and gain significant commercial traction across our customer verticals,” said Soft Robotics CEO Carl Vause.

Lucy: OwnerIQ, an advertising technology company that has a total of six locations in the U.S., including Boston, raised $4.3M in an equity offering, according to a new Form D.

In The Community

The events and happenings to know about tonight and this week.

Lucy: On May 22, come network with the Boston LGBTQ community in tech at Be Your Authentic Self @ Work, a free event presented by Spotify and Wayfair. For more May tech and startup events, take a look at our just-refreshed BostInno Approved. Read more: BostInno Approved: May’s Top Tech & Startup Events in Boston