2 min read · 21 January 2015
Jibo, which develops a connected, consumer robot for the home, announced it has raised $25.3 million in Series A funding. RRE Ventures led the round, with participation from CRV, Flybridge Capital Partners, Fairhaven Capital Partners, Two Sigma, Formation 8, Samsung Ventures, Osage Venture Partners and individual investors. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company had previously raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding, led by CRV. Jibo held a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo from mid-July to mid-September last year in which it pre-sold 4,800 units and raised $2.8 million. The product acts like a smart assistant, reminding users of tasks and interacting with the household.
4 min read · 21 January 2015
Battery Ventures announced today that Dharmesh Thakker, a former Intel Capital managing director who was an early investor in platform companies Mirantis, enLighted, BlueData and Elastic Box, is joining the firm as a general partner. Thakker, who will work out of Battery Ventures' office in Menlo Park, Calif., is due to start on Feb. 1. At Battery, he will focus on venture investments in cloud infrastructure, big data, security and next-generation enterprise applications. Thakker joined Intel Capital in 2011. He previously was with Advanced Technology Ventures.
3 min read · 21 January 2015
Interana, a provider of metrics for businesses to see how customers behave and products are used announced it has raised $20 million in Series B funding. Index Ventures led the round, with participation from new investors AME Cloud Ventures and individuals Harris Barton (an angel investor and former San Francisco 49ers lineman) and Mike Olson (chief strategy officer at Cloudera). Existing investors also participated in the round, such as Battery Ventures, Data Collective and Fuel Capital. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Interana has now raised $28.2 million in total funding. As part of the Series B, Mike Volpi, general partner at Index Ventures, has joined the Interana board.
6 min read · 21 January 2015
Shapr, a provider of a professional networking platform to help users build connections, find job opportunities and source talent, has launched today. As part of the launch, the company, which has locations in New York and Paris, disclosed it has raised $3 million in seed funding from investors, including Frédéric Mazzella, founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar.
3 min read · 20 January 2015
New Enterprise Associates, which is planning to raise $2.5 billion for its 15th fund, announced that Frank Torti that Rick Yang have each been promoted to partner, while Aaron Jacobson was named a principal. Torti joined the firm in 2007 and has focused on healthcare, particularly biopharma and medical devices. Yang also joined in 2007 and focuses on the IT space and fintech. Jacobson, who has been with NEA since 2011, focuses on IT and energy technology.
3 min read · 13 January 2015
AngelList, which was co-founded in 2010 by Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi, released its stats for 2014 in which it reports having helped 243 startups raise more than $100 million from 2,500 investors.
1 min read · 08 January 2015
Privateer Holdings, which invests in companies in the cannabis space, announced that Founders Fund has made a multi-million dollar investment in its Series B round.
2 min read · 08 January 2015
Formation 8, which closed a $500 million second fund last month, has added Lior Susan as a partner to head up early-stage hardware investments.
2 min read · 06 January 2015
New York-based Reonomy announced it has raised $13 million in a Series B round. Bain Capital Ventures led the funding, which includes existing investors SoftBank Capital, Resolute Ventures, High Peaks Venture Partners, KEC Ventures, FinTech Collective and Solon Mack Capital, the family office of William Mack, Richard Mack and Stephen Mack. Reonomy, which provides a data platform covering commercial real estate, has now raised about $18 million in total funding, including a $3.7 million Series A round raised last year. As part of the funding, Mike Krupka, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures, has joined the board.
3 min read · 06 January 2015
