Alastair Goldfisher

Canvas leads $12.5 mln funding of CrowdFlower

CrowdFlower, a provider of a crowdsourcing service for data scientists, has raised $12.5 million in Series C financing led by Canvas Venture Fund. Bessemer Venture Partners and Trinity Ventures also participated in the round. The San Francisco-based company has now raised $28 million in total funding.As part of the latest round, Rebecca Lynn, general partner of Canvas, has joined the board.

Auth0 raises seed funding from Bessemer, K9

Seattle-based Auth0, which provides a cloud-based for app developers in need of identity and authentication services, has raised $2.4 million in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. K9 Ventures, Portland Seed Fund and NXTP Labs also participated in the funding.

Emergence promotes Subotovsky and Floyd, adds to team

Emergence Capital Partners announced two promotions and three additions to its team. The San Mateo, California-based firm, which focuses on enterprise companies, has promoted Santiago “Santi” Subotovsky to partner and Joe Floyd to principal. In addition, Jake Saper has joined Emergence as senior associate, John Chen as associate, and Julia Mailander as marketing manager.

Hardware manufacturer Kateeva raises $38 mln

Kateeva, a maker of flat panel OLED displays, has raised $38 million in a Series D round of funding from from Samsung Venture Investment Corp, Sigma Partners, Spark Capital, Madrone Capital Partners, DBL Investors, New Science Ventures and VEECO Instruments Inc. The Menlo Park, California-based company has now raised more than $110 million since it was founded in 2008.

Cloudyn raises $4 mln

San Francisco-based Cloudyn, which helps companies manage their cloud-based systems, has raised $4 million in Series A funding led by Titanium Investments. Existing investor RDSeed also participated. Cloudyn has now raised $5.5 million in total financing, having raised a seed-stage round in 2011. As part of the latest funding, Alexander Aivazov, managing partner of Titanium, has joined the board.

Google buys anti-tremor spoon maker Lift Labs

Google announced today that it has acquired Lift Labs, a venture-backed startup that makes a spoon and other devices to help people with tremors, such as those living with Parkinson's. The acquisition price is undisclosed. The San Francisco-based company launched a year ago, disclosing it raised $1 million in seed funding from Rock Health and undisclosed angel investors in Silicon Valley. Lift Labs had previously raised $800,000 from the National Institutes of Health.

High-tech baby gear company 4moms raises $40 mln

Castanea Partners leads $40 million funding round of Pittsburgh-based, high-tech baby gear company 4moms, with participation from existing investor Bain Capital Ventures.

LightCyber from Israel secures $10 mln; Battery leads round

Apple reportedly on trajectory to scoop up VC-backed Path

Apple reportedly is eyeing a purchase of VC-backed Path, according to tech blog PandoDaily.

SoftBank closes $100 mln venture fund

SoftBank Capital, an investor in Fitbit, Kabbage and others, has raised $100 million for a new venture fund, according to a regulatory filing. SoftBank's portfolio includes xAd, which raised a $50 million round last week. SoftBank Capital has offices in Massachusetts, New York and San Carlos, California.