VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Paris-l’hospital, France-based car rental startup Drivy secured $8.3 million (€6 million) in a new funding round with Index Ventures and Alven Capital as lead investors to fuel its expansion in Europe.

Today, home-rental Airbnb has received a rare funding that reached a hefty USD500 million from a funding round from investors led by TPG, Dragoneer Investment Group and T. Rowe Price along with other mutual funds.

New York, US-based investment firm TPG Growth committed $100 million in a joint venture with Gurgaon, India-based emerging business market builder Smile Group to help Internet and e-commerce firms expand to India, Africa, and other emerging markets.

Airbnb’s Storefront has received additional USD7.3 million funding led by Spark Capital, reported TechCrunch.

Hospitality startup Airbnb has increased its service arm to Los Angeles through a partnership with Homejoy and Handybook, reported TechCrunch.

Venture capitalists are putting their support on travel tech startups that seek to enhance the travel experience of consumers even with the popularity of travel booking platforms, TechCrunch reported.

Chicago, Illinois-based tutoring marketplace WyzAnt acquired New York-based Tutorspree, a fellow marketplace competitor, that has been closed down since September 2013, for an undisclosed amount.

After years of continued growth since the first modern accelerator began in 2005, the startup accelerator trend has slowed for the first time in 2013, according to a report from TechCrunch.

Consumer web companies had been filling the IPO lull typically experienced during the holiday season, said Reuters.

Airbnb co-founder and CTO Nate Blecharczyk said the company was not interested in releasing financial information, including its USD200 million investment round held a year ago.