DealsGoRound Grows Up, Rebrands as MyCabbage and Raises $950K

Too many deals and no way to keep up? Have no fear, MyCabbage is here. What started as a service project in CEO Kris Petersen’s kitchen two years ago has grown into a full blown deals marketplace, complete with social capabilities. What’s more, the company formerly known as DealsGoRound relaunched today after raising $950,000 from the likes of Lightbank, I2A and New World Ventures, plus some angel investors.

“We knew for quite some time that our product was evolving into something which was applicable across the world of savings and not specific to daily deals,” says Petersen. DealsGoRound was an appropriate name when their business operated on the reselling of deals from sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial, but now that they’ve expanded into the coupon and gift card management space, the name became more of a distraction. So how did the name come about? “Deals, gift cards, coupons…they’re all worth money, or ‘cabbage’ as we call it.”

Read more: Find out how MyCabbage intends to use their new funds and how Petersen feels about the growth of his business.

CakeStyle Bags $1M to Change the Way Women Shop Online

“Personal shopper.” This phrase, though brief, has sent many a woman’s heart aflutter. The idea that another person, an expert, would look at you and understand your style and figure out your body type and then dress you—the concept is nothing short of a fantasy. E-commerce fashion provider CakeStyle wants to make that dream a reality, by shipping packages of pre-selected items straight to women’s doors. Some might call it the Trunk Club of women’s fashion. I call it the latest Chicago startup to score another round of funding. CakeStyle announced yesterday a $1 million raise from Sandbox Industries’ Sandbox Advantage Fund.

According to reports, CakeStyle boxes range from $2,800 to $3,000 apiece. That’s a steep price tag, but one women are apparently willing to pay—with thousands of new customers and shipments reaching six times the number they were at the start of the year, business has been good. CEO and cofounder Cecelia Myers acknowledges that word of mouth has been instrumental to CakeStyle’s growth. She and her team plan to put their funding to work for marketing and expanding into other cities, and that includes building on this system.

“The first step will be building a strong referral program to turn existing customers in [new] cities into brand ambassadors,” Myers said. “Next, we want to share our style advice in the local markets through press and style events.” Such events will allow CakeStyle to demonstrate how the company can provide customized services to women in cities as different as Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

More on CakeStyle and its plans to expand out of Chicago here.

Target Data Raises $1 Million from Facebook Investor

Moving is a stressful process for the people doing it, certainly, but also for the marketers trying to reach them at that time. Target Data is a marketing solutions company that’s built its business on using big data and analytics to reach people in the pre-moving stage. Their objective is to make it easier for marketers to reach those people—frenzied though they may be—before they move. Their just-announced round of funding, $1 million from Bay Area firm Western Technology Investments (WTI), is a vote of confidence that they’re doing something right.

Last spring, Target Data raised $3 million in a round led by Apex Venture Partners. “We will use the new funds to continue to invest in world class talent, specifically analytics and marketing strategy positions,” said president and CEO Ross Shelleman. “We will also use the funds to launch a new digital offering where we will work with third parties to translate our offline data to online data for targeted display advertising.”

For marketers, movers are a valuable audience. Not only are they looking for a number of services as they pack up one home and head to another, they are also in the market for lots of new goods to stock their new abodes. Their struggle is getting their messages in front of people before they move, and that’s where Target Data comes in.

Learn more about Target Data and WTI here.