Funding and Acquisitions Roundup: Swivl follows up a successful Kickstarter campaign with $500,000 in Seed funding for its personal photographer robot

By Brian Kovalesky, StartUp Beat Editor

Today’s early-stage startup funding and acquisitions news:

Swivl, startup that has built a very cool looking photography and videography robot that is able to take photos or videos using your iPhone, iPad, DSLR, or Android device, has landed $500,000 from Grishin Robotics. Swivl was actually originally successfully crowdfunded earlier this year, raising $157,782—exceeding its goal of $120,000. The company has already shipped 10,000 robots, according to TheNextWeb. San Carlos, California-based Swivl was founded in 2010. New York City-based Grishin Robotics was founded by Dmitry Grishin, the co-founder and chairman of the Mail.Ru Group, the largest Internet company in the Russian-speaking world. While not necessarily ‘hot’ sector, the robotics business has gradually gained momentum over time, with companies like iRobot finding great success among consumers, and companies like RobotAppStore garnering considerable investor attention.

More funding and acquisitions news…

Piictu joins forces with stealth Betaworks startup Kandu, will be closing its app on May 31 (via TheNextWeb)

Recargo And Xatori Merge To Make PlugShare The Essential App For Electric Car Drivers (via TechCrunch)

Urturn Raises $13.4M Series A, Led By Balderton, For Its Social Expressions Platform That Lets Teens Create Memes & Movements (via TechCrunch)

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