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’ Kia Kokalitcheva.

led the equity financing, which included participation from new investors and (the global investments and partnerships arm of The Times Group of India). Existing backers , and also pitched in.

The Series C round brings Santa Monica, Calif.-based Headspace’s since its inception in 2010 (was it really founded a decade ago?!) to $168.2 million, according to Crunchbase data. The company declined to disclose at what valuation the latest round was raised. It closed on a $36.7 million in June 2017.

To rise above the hype around meditation, Headspace claims to be “the most science-backed digital mindfulness product in the market.” As an example of that, the company says it’s currently in progress on over 70 clinical research studies with institutions such as and .

Over the years, it’s branched out from its consumer app into different product lines including “Headspace for Work,” its B2B segment that counts , , and among its 600 enterprise customers. It’s also offering “Headspace Health,” an effort to integrate mindfulness into health care. In general, the company says its goal is to help its users apply mindfulness to improve their health via content around stress, anxiety, sleep and focus, among other things.

Growth

Since its founding, Headspace said it has experienced over 62 million downloads in 190 countries and has more than 2 million paid subscribers.

In addition to growing its direct-to-consumer business,Headspace says it will continue to invest in its Headspace for Work segment, which has seen its revenue double year over year from 2017 to 2018 and most recently in 2019. It also plans to continue putting money into its health care segment. I’ve reached out for more specifics regarding its financials and will update this piece if I get them.

In 2019, the company launched localized versions of the app in French and German, and appointed former executive as head of its European division to lead expansion in that region. Also last year, Headspace launched in Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. It expanded into Asia through strategic relationships with partners such as The Times of India. The company plans to use its new capital in part to continue expanding internationally.

Investors talk

, founding partner of blisce/ said, Headspace’s aim with its offerings “resonates deeply with blisce/’s core belief that it is possible to both ‘Do Good’ while also building a strong business with sustainable growth.”

, CEO of of India, notes that Headspace co-founder began his mindfulness journey as a monk in India, and as such, he is “excited to bring things full circle through” a strategic partnership.

Of course, Headspace is not alone in the meditation app space. Last February, announced the close of an $88 million Series B round that propelled it into unicorn status with a $1 billion valuation. In July, it announced a $27 million extension to that round.

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Colorado’s only tech unicorn is one that wants to kill traditional coupons. It’s nothing personal of course, but rather a shift toward an app-based system that offers cash back when shoppers buy anything from burritos to groceries.

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, a Denver-based payments company just raised an undisclosed nine-figure Series D led by . The company is now valued at $1 billion. The startup offers a coupon alternative for consumers that want to save money and get cash back rewards. Users of the Ibotta app can shop at places like , , , among others and get cash back rewards for each transaction.

, founder and CEO of Ibotta told me that its “trying to put the paper promotions business out of business.” In addition to offering cash back awards, Ibotta lets users purchase using those rewards through their own app.

The free Ibotta application has more than 35 million downloads, and to date Leach said the company has given $600 million back in rewards to its customers.

Ibotta’s angle isn’t necessarily an outlier in the fintech space. When allowing payments in-app, he explained that there are “certainly a lot of moving pieces.”

“You need to be compliant with relevant regulations, you need to be aware of how to mitigate risk, fraud, and you also have to have a larger user base in order to be interesting to merchants,” he said. The exec compared Ibotta’s in-app purchasing power to China’s .

The especially unique aspect of Ibotta is that its enabling the mom-and-pop liquor store down the street (for example) to have a sophisticated tech element through a dedicated app that pushes customers their way.

“Most grocery stores may have not invested heavily in their own apps… many people have never even built their apps,” he said. And that’s “because they can rely on our traffic, because we’ll give them their share of voice and footprint.”

For retailers with existing robust rewards program, like Starbucks for example, Ibotta provies a convenient add on.

“Every retailer has their own loyalty program, but the problem is there’s millions and millions of people who don’t have [every retailer’s] app on their phone,” he said. A single app that aggregates all your favorite brands from Adidas to Burger King, tends to be convenient, he added.

Leach said the company’s size helps.

“If we were too small we wouldn’t be considered able to move the needle to [a customer’s] business, plus we wouldn’t have the marketing budget,” he said. “But if you get too big it’s hard for you to pay attention to fast emerging trends and new disruptive technologies.”

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Sound good to you? The Seattle-based coffee empire is hoping that’s the case.

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just poured into a food startup-focused fund, Valor Siren Ventures Fund. The fund will be managed by , and will invest in companies innovating in food or retail, . The fund is working to raise an additional $300 million in coming months.

We haven’t seen too much Starbucks steam in the tech world, other than a few investments, and three acquisitions, including . Investing in a fund is a first for the company,.

The concept of corporations creating venture funds continues to gain momentum, as our own Jason Rowley reported back in September. His piece illustrates how active this sector really is while pointing out how many tech companies have entered into investment initiatives including , , and of course .

As Jason reported, part of this drive might be the realization by corporations that they can’t beat out startups when it comes to innovation. Thus, entering as financial partners might be next best option.

, president and CEO of Starbucks, Kevin Johnson, had a similar, tech-heavy mindset. He sounds right at home in the world of venture capital: “We believe that innovative ideas are fuel for the future, and we continue to build on this heritage inside our company across beverage, experiential retail, and our digital flywheel.”

He added that Starbucks is accelerating a so-called “innovation agenda” and that the entrepreneurs they’re helping may enter into commercial relationships with Starbucks in the future.

Last year, the company was shooed out of a neighborhood as a threat to “old-world” feel and historic charm, . At the time, Starbucks said it believed independent stores and small chains can continue to grow and thrive alongside their outlets. Fast forward a little less than a year later, and it seems that Starbucks isn’t just betting that small operations will thrive, but is pouring into them with investment.

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