Mixpanel, Sleek and Tier 1 Get Funding

Great news for a product analytics company, an “entrepreneurs operating system”, and a business that specialises in IT asset disposal. 

Aspirations are on the agenda as Mixpanel, Sleek and Tier 1 have received tech funding.

Product analytics company Mixpanel picked up a $200 million (£149 million) Series C investment from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities.

Sleek, which provides an “entrepreneurs operating system” – such as company registration and compliance, secured $14 million (£10.4 million) in Series A funding, led by Jungle Ventures and White Star Capital.

Bridges Fund Management, a specialist sustainable investor, announced its latest undisclosed investment in Tier 1, a business that specialises in IT asset disposal (ITAD), IT refurbishment and the reselling of used IT hardware.

Mixpanel Powers On

Mixpanel was founded in 2009 and according to LinkedIn is used by over 26,000 companies from different industries around the world, including Expedia, Uber, Ancestry, DocuSign and Lemonade. Mixpanel has “over 6,000 paying customers”, while the others use a freemium option.

Headquartered in San Francisco, the firm has offices in New York, Seattle, Austin, London, Barcelona and Singapore.

The tech company says it enables product teams to learn from their user engagement data. For example, it can show where and why users drop off, build retroactive funnels and analyse conversion rates.

In terms of the funding, Amir Movafaghi, CEO of Mixpanel, is a bit vague: “We plan to continue investing and embracing an open ecosystem approach that lets customers leverage all the great innovation in the modern data stack.”

Sleek Seeks to Shine

Sleek was set up in 2017 in Singapore by Julien Labruyere and Adrien Barthel. It will use the funding for tech and product development, expand its presence in existing and new markets, and for recruitment. For the latter, this means new product managers, corporate secretary executives and data analytics interns in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the UK. Sleek currently has 210 staff.

Its platform is designed for business, and offers a “company secretary”, bookkeeping, payroll, tax advisory and an employment visa service. It has assisted more than 5,000 companies with their back office operations.

Sleek recently unveiled its Business Account to let users open a deposit account through its platform. More services will be launched soon, starting with the ability to issue debit cards to accompany this business account offering.

Although Sleek started in Singapore, its team has since opened offices in Hong Kong and the Philippines. It opened an Australian office in September. In addition, it acquired Ltd Companies, a UK incorporation management company, for an undisclosed sum as it seeks to expand into the UK market.

Ltd Companies has incorporated more than 450,000 companies since its foundation in 2005. Sleek’s platform will be deployed to the existing Ltd Companies clients, building an SME operating system for UK-based entrepreneurs and businesses.

No Tears at Tier 1

Based in Manchester, Tier 1 works with corporate clients to dispose of their end-of-life IT equipment. It then refurbishes these assets and re-sells them both through its own online channel and via third party IT resellers. Any assets that cannot be resold are broken up for recycling.

According to the UN, 54 million tonnes of e-waste was produced globally in 2019, and 83% of this was not recycled sustainably, typically ending up in landfill (where it can be extremely toxic). The UK alone generated 1.5 million tonnes of e-waste – equivalent to 55 kg per household, the second highest total in Europe.

Tier 1 has an exclusive partnership with the charity ComputerAid, which works to broaden access to technology in developing markets. It has also developed a programme with the charity Antz Junction, whereby serving prisoners are given the chance to find work and provided with further support after they are released.

Bridges is backing the existing Tier 1 management team, led by CEO Jonathan Rose. As part of the investment, the company’s leadership team will also be bolstered by the addition of a new chair (Steve Richards, previously chairman of musicMagpie), a new CFO (Matt Freier, ex-Autocab and KPMG) as well as a new CMO (Helen Quinn, formerly of Interflora and Manchester United), to “deliver the company’s impact-driven growth strategy”.

This is the fourth new investment Bridges has made from its Sustainable Growth Funds this year. Since 2002, Bridges has raised over £1.2 billion to invest in solutions that “support the transition to a more inclusive and sustainable economy”.

Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton is the Editor of eWeek UK. He has 18 years' journalism and writing experience. His career has taken him to China, Japan and the UK - covering tech, fintech and business. Follow on Twitter @TonyFintech.
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