社交客户服务公司Sparkcentral完成1200万美元B轮融资
社交客户服务公司 Sparkcentral 已完成 B 轮融资，募集资金 1200 万美元，此轮融资由 Split RockPartners 领投。Sparkcentral 向企业提供一系列工具，帮助他们经由社交渠道对客户提供支持。
在此之前，Sparkcentral 已经募集资金 560 万美元 ，其中包括在 2013 年 10 月份完成的 450 万美元 A 轮融资。鉴于上一轮融资是在 15 个月前完成的，Sparkcentral 的 B 轮融资也处于正常的融资周期内。
我向 Sparkcentral 提了一个问题，即为何决定在 B 轮融资中募集资金 1200 万美元，因为在当前资本环境下，这一融资额只能算适中，即便参照以往的标准衡量。Sparkcentral 首席执行官达维·克斯滕斯（Davy Kestens）对此表示，1200 万美元融资额“符合公司增长曲线，”也是基于 Sparkcentral 在扩充团队规模和功能集时所需要的资金做出的一个决定。
同科技行业其他没有进入“死亡漩涡”（death spiral）的公司一样，Sparkcentral 也正在招募人才。该公司预计 2015 年员工数量将从现在的 30 人增至 60 人。Sparkcentral 的业务目前在美国和比利时两地同时展开。
Sparkcentral 究竟是做什么业务的？为此，我采访了 Sparkcentral 联合创始人马特·芬尼兰（Matt Finneran），他表示 Sparkcentral 曾经是一家专注于客户服务的社交媒体公司，现在则将自己定位于一家专注社交媒体的客户服务公司。在芬尼兰看来，Sparkcentral 不同于社交媒体管理领域的其他公司，比如总部设在芝加哥的 SproutSocial，因为它的业务重点并不在市场营销方面。
我本希望 Sparkcentral 能提供一下详细的最新财务数据，但该公司只是给出了比较数据，而非绝对数据。这样一来，我们只能对 Sparkcentral 最近的财务状况有个大概的了解。据 Sparkcentral 介绍，该公司 2014 年营收比 2013 年增长 320%。同期，Sparkcentral 客户数量增长了 100%。这两项数据表明，Sparkcentral 的客户数量日渐增多，而当前客户的合同价值也不断增长。
我又提到了有关财务的话题，让 Sparkcentral 谈一谈它如何实现增长和开支的平衡—— Box 对未来的收入增长进行了大规模投资 ，而不是将如何扭转短期亏损放在第一位，这种策略曾在 公开市场引发疑虑 。克斯滕斯表示，重要的是拥有“增长路线图”，但不从“悬崖上猛地掉下来”同样关键。
Sparkcentral 之所以不同于其他软件即服务（SaaS）公司，原因是由于有些客户属于 Delta 这样的大公司，月度经常性收入（MRR）与年度经常性收入（ARR）之比可能超出了正常标准范围——换句话说，我估计 Delta 不是按月向 Sparkcentral 支付购买软件的费用。克斯滕斯表示，鉴于此，该公司在追踪自家财务表现时更注重季度数据，也就不足为奇了。
在一个拥挤但增长迅速的科技细分市场，Sparkcentral 取得了飞速发展。该公司拥有实现发展计划所需要的资金，现在的问题是这些计划能否得到执行。我会在未来几个季度继续关注这家公司，看一看能否弄到最新的营收数据。
Social Customer Service Firm Sparkcentral Locks Up A $12M Series B
Sparkcentral, a company that provides tools to help businesses conduct customer support over social channels, has raised a $12 million Series B round of funding, led by Split Rock Partners.
The company previously raised a total of $5.6 million, including a $4.5 million Series A round of capital in October of 2013, or around 15 months ago. That places the company’s Series B round inside of a normal raising schedule.
I asked Sparkcentral why it decided to raise $12 million for its Series B — in the current capital climate, the sum is slightly modest, even if standard by historical norms. The company’s CEO Davy Kestens indicated that the sum “fit [the company’s] growth curve,” and was predicated on how much money Sparkcentral would need to expand both its staff, and feature set.
Like quite literally every company in technology that isn’t entering some sort of deathspiral, Sparkcentral is hiring. The firm, which splits its operation between the United States and Belgium, expects to double its current 30 person employee base in 2015.
So, what is Sparkcentral? I spoke to its co-founder Matt Finneran, who indicated that the company was once a social media company focusing on customer service, but now thinks of itself as a customer service firm that focuses on social media. In the view of Finneran, Sparkcentral is different from other players in the social media management space because it does not have a marketing focus, like the Chicago-based Sprout Social.
I asked the company to detail is recent financial performance, and it responded with comparative, and not absolute data. That weakens the dataset. Still, according to Sparkcentral, its revenue grew 320 percent in 2014, when compared to the year prior. During that same period, its customer based expanded 100 percent. Those two figures imply that the company is landing increasingly large clients, that it is seeing increasing contract value among current customers, or some combination of the two.
Continuing the financial theme, I asked the company how it weighed a balance between growth, and spend — Box famously invested heavily in future revenues, only to see its short-term losses spook the public markets. Kestens indicated that it is important to have a “roadmap for growth,” but that it is also critical to not “drive off a cliff” at full clip.
Sparkcentral is different from other SaaS companies in that, given that some of its clients are large firms like Delta, its ratio of monthly recurring revenue to annual recurring revenue (MRR v. ARR) is likely outside of the norms — I presume that Delta isn’t paying for much software on a monthly basis, in other words. Kestens said that his firm is, given that, unsurprisingly more focused on quarterly data when it comes to tracking its own performance.
SparkCentral has grown quickly inside of an expanding, if crowded technology market category. It has the capital to pull off its plans, so now the question is execution. I’ll check in with the firm in a few quarters, and see if I can scare up some new revenue numbers.
IMAGE BY FLICKR USER DANIEL DIONNE. UNDER CC BY 2.0 LICENSE (IMAGE HAS BEEN CROPPED)
来源：techcrunch
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2015年01月26日
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大数据＋机器学习＋平台，Dato拿了1850万美元B轮融资大数据在硅谷炙手可热，拿融资自然也不再话下，拿到千万级美元融资的也有不少，不久前大数据分析云服务GoodData就获得了Intel Capital领投的2750万美元。据华尔街日报消息，机器学习平台 GraphLab 刚刚改名Dato，并获得了 1850 万美元新融资，投资方为 Vulcan Capital 、Opus Capital 、New Enterprise Associates、Madrona Venture Group。此前他们曾获得680万美元融资。
GraphLab 提供了一个完整的平台，让客户能够使用可扩展的机器学习系统进行大数据分析。简单来说，就是从别的应用程序或者服务中抓取数据，让机器学习这个模型，并将学到的知识作为基础，自动地进行准确的预测和决策制定。这么讲挺抽象，我们还是具体举几个例子吧。可能最好理解的就是民主国家政府的民意调查，可以通过社交网络、媒体等提取数据，分析出民众到底在关心什么，分析出哪些区域的哪些问题必须关注、解决。其实，生物医学研究团队也会使用 GraphLab，主要是来分析临床记录，从而预测病人的病情发展趋势。零售业可以做价格预测、用户推荐；金融服务业可以做诈骗预警；市场公司则可以通过情绪分析锁定关键客户。现在 GraphLab 的客户已经包括 Zillow、Adobe、Zynga、Pandora 等。
那为什么是 GraphLab（现在应该叫 Dato 了）会获得这么多客户的青睐呢？ 其实，将原始数据转化为决策依据，并作出预测，这个过程还是很复杂的。往往需要大量的数据处理工具，收集、清洗数据，再建模分析，得出结论，进行展示；还需要大量的数据科学家或同样知识渊博的软件工程师来配合完成。既耗时费力，还投入不菲。所以 GraphLab 这样的平台，可以让毫无编程经验的数据科学家，快速地将理念转化为生产环境可以使用的产品，提高企业的生产效率，自然受欢迎。值得一提的是，Dato 现在能处理各种数据类型。
GraphLab 的创始人 Carlos Guestrin 是机器学习界国际公认的大牛，曾被 Popular Science 杂志评为 2008 年 “Brilliant 10”，还获得过美国青年科学家总统奖。2008 年在卡耐基梅隆大学带着两个学生研发了 GraphLab 的原型，2012 年被 Jeff Bezos 游说去了华盛顿大学。
在 Madrona Ventures 和 NEA 的资金支持下，2014 年 3 月创办了 GraphLab，并以测试版的形式推出了第一个商业版。2013 年 10 月，增加了机器学习功能，推出了新版本。现在的 GraphLab 已经不仅仅是图谱分析了，更是一家基于 AI 的大数据公司，能够处理各种数据类型，所以公司也改名叫 Dato 了。
在美国现在的大数据公司主要有四类：
数据的拥有者、数据源：特点是业务优势能收集到大量数据，就像煤老板垄断一个地区的矿一样。其实大多数有能力产生或收集数据的公司都属于这类型，比如Vantage Sports和收集了PB级数据的包子铺。
大数据咨询：特点是非常技术，提供从基础设施规划建设维护到软件开发和数据分析等的服务，但不拥有数据，比如Cloudera这家不到500人的startup是最著名的Hadoop架构咨询公司。
做大数据工具的：比如AMPLab出来的Databricks和Yahoo人主导的Hortonworks。
整合应用型：特点是收集拥有或购买一些数据，然后结合AI来解决更多实际的痛点。
像 Dato 这种做整合应用型的大数据公司才有可能有希望。未来是 AI 的，而 AI 的食物是数据。就像很多产业链一样，最困难且最有价值的创新往往发生在接近最终用户的那端，比如 iPhone。大数据行业最有价值的部分在于如何利用机器去处理数据得到洞见，影响组织和个人的行为，从而改变世界。收集和整理数据在未来会变得标准化和自动化，而利用 AI 进行分析的能力会变得更为关键。
[36氪，作者: 小石头]
HaaS云服务提供商Altiscale完成B轮3000万美元融资
一提到Hadoop，大家可能就会想到数据中心复杂的内部设置，但Altiscale希望通过将全部服务转向云端，并提供Hadoop即服务（Hadoop-as-a-Service，简称“HaaS”），减少这种工作的复杂性。今天，Altiscale宣布完成B轮3000万美元融资，用以继续推进这一目标。
此轮融资由Northgate领投，红杉资本和General Catalyst Partners等现有投资方跟投，Altiscale的融资总额也由此达到4200万美元。
Hadoop是一个旨在帮助企业处理大数据的开源项目。
Altiscale同时还宣布，麦克·马希亚戈（Mike Maciag）加盟该公司担任首席运营官。马希亚戈具有丰富的从业经验，在加盟AltiScale以前已经在5家创业公司工作过。在这5家公司中，已有两家上市，有两家被收购，还有一家至今仍在运营。
马希亚戈曾见证了Hadoop开源平台的发展历程。他表示，自己之所以最终加盟AltiScale，是因为该公司已经打下了在这一领域获得成功的基础。正如他所说，AltiScale已经开发了相关产品，并证明该产品可以投入规模运营。现在，AltiScale需要更多的资金将这项工作推向深入，同时进军更广阔的市场。
此轮融资还表明投资方对AltiScale的产品创意非常有信心。之前1200万美元的融资令AltiScale有了今天这种成绩，现在他们需要更多的投资，创建一个组织来发现和支持更多的客户。
AltiScale在众多Hadoop厂商中之所以能脱颖而出，是因为该公司诞生于云时代，具有处理Hadoop工作负荷的明确目标。正如AltiScale创始人兼首席执行官雷米·斯塔塔（Raymie Stata）告诉我，运营Hadoop并不是一件轻松的事情，仍然需要付出大量艰辛。斯塔塔在雅虎开始了自己的职业生涯，雅虎旗下有一个庞大的组织来支持Hadoop相关项目，但大多数采用Hadoop平台的公司并没有这种资源。
斯塔塔表示，这也是他创建Altiscale的主要原因之一。通过将服务放入云端，Altiscale可以将Hadoop推向更广阔的受众，在客户遭遇一些不可避免的问题时，他们完全可以信赖Altiscale的服务。有时，Altiscale会在处理阶段发现问题，有时则是客户主动上报问题，因此客户不是被迫自己去追踪问题，然后留给Altiscale来解决。
斯塔塔称，解决问题的时间可以从几天缩短至几小时，因为他的公司完全专注于Hadoop。相反，对于大多数IT部门来说，这是另一个他们需要解决的问题。
值得一提的是，Hadoop近来已成为一个热门领域。另一家Hadoop厂商Hortworks最近宣布，该公司将提交S-1文件，迈出公开上市的第一步。去年3月份，Cloudera宣布该公司的估值超过了40亿美元。
Altiscale Lands $30M To Continue Building Hadoop Cloud Service
When you think of Hadoop, you probably think of a complex on-premises set up in your data center, but Altiscale wants to reduce some of that complexity by moving the whole thing to the cloud and offering Hadoop as a service. Today it got $30M in Series B funding to continue that quest.
The round is led by Northgate, with participation from previous investors Sequoia Capital and General Catalyst Partners. Today’s funding brings Altiscale’s total raised to $42M.
Hadoop is an open source project designed to help companies process big data.
The company also announced it brought Mike Maciag on board to be its Chief Operating officer. Maciag is a seasoned industry veteran with experience at five startups before joining AltiScale. He indicated two had gone public, two were sold and one was still operating.
Maciag, who has seen this process before, says what attracted him to Altiscale was that they have the pieces in place to succeed. As he explained, the company has created the product and proven it works at scale. Now, they need more money to bring that to the next level and take it to a broader market.
And presumably, it shows investor confidence in the idea. The first $12M got them to this point, but they needed a significant investment to build out an organization to find and support more clients.
What makes Altiscale unusual among Hadoop vendors, is that it was born in the cloud with the express purpose of processing Hadoop workloads. As company founder and CEO Raymie Stata told me, running Hadoop is not a simple matter and it’s still a bit rough around the edges. He got his start at Yahoo! which has a huge organization supporting its Hadoop efforts, but most companies trying to work with Hadoop don’t have that luxury.
He says that’s one of the main reasons he created Altiscale. By putting the service in the cloud, it brings Hadoop to a much wider audience and customers can lean on his company when they hit those inevitable issues. Sometimes the company picks them up in the processing stage and sometimes it’s in the form of a help ticket from the customer, but instead of being forced to track down the problem themselves, customers can leave it to Altiscale to do that.
And he says, that process of solving the problem can be reduced from days to hours because his company is entirely focused on Hadoop. Whereas for most IT departments it’s just another problem among many to track down.
It’s worth noting that Hadoop has been a hot commodity lately. Just recently Hortworks, another Hadoop vendor announced it was going public by filing an S-1. Last March Cloudera announced a valuation of more than $4B.
来源：TC
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