Alastair Goldfisher

Dr. Oz Hearts iBeat: Backs cardiac-focused smartwatch maker

General Catalyst leads Contrast Security funding

Palo Alto, California-based Contrast Security, a provider of software application security, announced it raised $16 million in a Series B round of funding. General Catalyst Partners led the round, which included Acero Capital, as well as individual investors Ron Gula, founder of Tenable Network Security; Paul Sagan, former chief executive of Akamai Technologies; and John W. Thompson, chairman of Microsoft Corp. The company has now raised $24 million in funding. As part of the latest round, Steve Herrod, managing director of General Catalyst, has joined the board.

Canvas raises $300 mln for second fund

Canvas Ventures, whose partners backed Houzz, Lending Club and Mulesoft, has wrapped up its second fund, reaching its hard cap of $300 million. The fund, which closed during the summer, is more than 70 percent larger than the firm's previous early-stage fund in 2013, when the Portola Valley, California, firm raised $175 million in commitments.

Canvas raises $300 mln for second fund, Morgenthaler steps back

Q3 fundraising spikes, pushes year-to-date total above $33 bln

Boston's Pillar adds Sarah Hodges as partner

PIllar adds Hodges as partner

Boston-based venture firm Pillar Companies, which is looking to raise a $100 million inaugural fund, has added Sarah Hodges as partner. Hodges had co-founded Intelligent.ly and is a former adviser with Flybridge Capital Partners. She also previously worked at Pluralsight, Smarterer and FitnessKeeper. She blogged about her joining Pillar on Medium.

The Alexa Fund backs connected home device Nucleus

New York-based Nucleus, which provides a connected home intercom that incorporates the Alexa Voice Service, announced it has raised $5.6 million in Series A funding. The Alexa Fund, a $100 million fund established last year by Amazon to invest in voice tech, led the round. It's the first investment Alexa has led. Also participating in the Series A are BoxGroup, Greylock Partners, FF Angel (Founders Fund), Foxconn, Liquid 2 Ventures and SV Angel. Nucleus has now raised $10 million in funding since it was launched in 2014.

On the Bleeding Edge: Making sense of Rothenberg; Canaan open house in SF; and women in VC follow up

Sutter Hill leads $50 mln funding of Vlocity

San Francisco-based Vlocity, a cloud software company developing customer service technology, announced it has raised $50 million in a funding round led by Sutter Hill Ventures. The round includes participation from strategic investors, including Salesforce Ventures, Accenture, New York Life, Kennet Partners, TDF Ventures and Wildcat Venture Partners. Vlocity, which previously raised a $42.8 million Series A round in April 2015 led by Salesforce, has now raised $92.8 million in funding.