Huddle extendes Cloud-based Enterprise Startups

The clouds appear to be clearing for cloud-based enterprise startups. Huddle, the enterprise cloud collaboration company co-headquartered in London and San Francisco, is today announcing that it has raised another $51 million in funding.It decides to double down on growing its business in the U.S. and Europe. Specifically, co-founder Andy McLoughlin tells me that Huddle plans to hone in on sectors like government that have been some of the most successful for the company, building more features that cater to them.

This latest round which brings the total raised by Huddle to date to just over $83 million was made at a valuation of between $250 million and $300 million,this is what techcrunch reports.

That valuation and the funding event both speak to the how the clouds appear to be clearing for cloud-based enterprise startups. Earlier this year, Box  a competitor to Huddle filed for and then stalled on an IPO; but just yesterday it updated its S-1 with improving revenue figures. Another cloud company, New Relic, is expected to go public soon, too.

This latest round was led by Zouk Capital, with participation from the Hermes GPE Environmental Innovation Fund; and it also included Huddle’s previous: Matrix Partners, Jafco Ventures, DAG Ventures, and Eden Ventures. As part of this round, Nathan Medlock, Partner at Zouk Capital, led the deal and will join the Huddle board.
sources:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/11/enterprise-cloud-collaboration-service-huddle-raises-a-51m-growth-round-at-250m-300m-valuation/?ncid=rss

Google's Web Starter Kit simplifies cross-device site development

Google launched Web Starter Kit on last Thursday, a download that consists of all the templates and tooling developers need to create sites that function on any device and any display(which the term you most familiar as "responsive").

Today’s Internet users don’t have just one device. They prefer as physical keyboard for their PCs but they want as touch screens on mobile. These days, no two screen sizes are alike. Users expect the same website to perform differently depending on the device by which it is accessed.

In its introduction to the kit, Google divides the workflow in to three functions: developers can pick a template, build the site and test it out.

The kit is designed to not just create attractive websites across Internet connected devices uses Google Chrome, but all browsers. That’s because it’s based on the Web standards provided by the W3 Coalition to make the Web accessible

Google's Web Starter Kit may tie into some new design concepts coming from Google in the coming weeks and months, including the expansion of its Polymer Web design principles it announced at Google I/O 2013 and the rumored Google Quantum Paper project for Android design.

sources:

http://readwrite.com/2014/06/19/google-launches-starter-kit-for-a-more-consistent-web#awesm=~oHT6OW4nNaS8eG