REAL TIME VC & PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS AND NEWS
ViVOtech, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based near field communication (NFC) software and systems company, has held a first closing of its Series D funding round. The company intends to use the funding, whose amount was not disclosed, to increase the adoption for its solutions worldwide. Founded in 2001 and led by executive chairman Michael “Mick” Mullagh, […]
Microsoft Corp. and Nokia are each investing up to €9m into a new mobile application development program at Aalto University (Finland) during the next three years. The AppCampus program (http://appcampus.aalto.fi/) will focus on fostering the creation of innovative mobile applications for the Windows Phone ecosystem, and in addition, Nokia platforms, including Symbian and Series 40, […]
Bloomfire Inc., an Austin, Texas-based provider of a social web application for team productivity, has raised $10m in Series A funding. Backers include Austin Ventures and Redpoint Ventures. Co-founded by CEO Craig Malloy, CTO Dave McCann, former vice president and Josh Little, the original inventor behind the application, the company provides socially-enabled tools designed to […]
Opscode, a Seattle, WA-based provider of cloud infrastructure automation solutions, has secured $19.5m in Series C funding. The round was led by Ignition Partners, with participation from existing investors Battery Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The company intends to use the capital to expand its software engineering, sales, marketing and business development efforts. In conjunction […]
Abingdon Health, a London, UK-based specialist medical diagnostics company, has raised £3m in funding. The round was led by Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO), with participation from other private investors. The company intends to use the funding to take a controlling 50.1% interest in Molecular Vision, as well as investing in other projects in […]
Edutor Technologies, a Hyderabad, India-based based startup, has raised Rs 2 crore (approximately $400k) in angel funding from members of Hyderabad Angels. The round was led by Sashi Reddi. According to reports, the company intends to use the funding to expand its offerings. Founded in 2009 and led by Ram Gollamudi – CEO, Prasanna Boni […]
BlablaCar, the European marketplace that connects drivers who have empty seats with paying passengers, has acquired PostoinAuto.it, the Italy-based car sharing site. Founded in 2010 and led by founder Olivier Bremer, PostoinAuto currently offers more than 30,000 empty seats every month. Founded in 2006 and based in Paris, BlablaCar (Comuto SA) operates under the Covoiturage.fr, […]
Simple IT, a Paris, France-based publisher, has raised €1.2m in equity funding from Alven Capital. The company intends to use the capital to develop its online and offline business. Founded in 2007 by Pierre Dubuc and Mathieu Nebra, Simple IT operates the website Site du Zéro, a free learning resource for IT, which has 2m […]
The London Distillery Company Ltd (TLDC), a London, UK-based boutique artisanal spirits manufacturer, has raised £ 250K in equity crowdfunding through Crowdcube. With the raising, forty-five investors acquired a 45% stake in the company. After receiving pledges from Friends & Family and Envestors private investor network amounting to £150k, Crowdcube members committed the remaining equity […]
Get Site Tracked, a London, UK-based company that provides a search engine optimized website package for sole traders and small business owners in the UK, has raised £100k in equity crowdfunding through Crowdcube. Twenty-nine investors have acquired a 33% stake in the company. Get Site Tracked intends to use the funding to expand its head […]
The Honest Company, a Los Angeles, CA-based e-commerce site that offers non-toxic and natural baby and family products, has completed $27m Series A financing. Backers include General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Institutional Venture Partners. The company intends to use the funding to accelerate development of their products, as well as the brand and community. […]
Tripbirds, a Stockholm, Sweden-based social travel site, has launched its public beta opening up the service to anyone. Co-founded by local entrepreneurs including CEO Ted Valentin, Jonatan Heyman, and Robert Kajic, the company received a round of seed funding in late 2011. Investors included Index Ventures, Passion Capital, Creandum and angel investors Peter Read, Andreas Ehn […]
According to a written statement, Allyes Group, a Beijing, China-based internet marketing services company, has received a strategic investment of undisclosed amount from Vision Knight Capital. Prior to the funding, in December 2011, Vision Knight Capital Founding Partner and Chairman Mr. David Wei joined Allyes’ Board of Directors as an Independent Director. The investment aims […]
PRIMEDIA, a Norcross, GA-based renter resource for apartment and rental home information and listings, has agreed to acquire eBay Inc.’s Rent.com subsidiary for an undisclosed consideration. The transaction, which is is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in second quarter of 2012. Upon closing, PRIMEDIA President and CEO Charles Stubbs will lead the combined company. Founded […]
Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc. (Nasdaq:SVVC), a San Jose, CA-based publicly-traded venture capital fund that invests in technology and cleantech companies, has recently acquired an additional 400,000 shares of Facebook, Inc. Two transactions, which closed in the the last two weeks, bring the fund’s total Facebook holdings to 600,000 shares of Class B common stock. […]