Alastair Goldfisher

Chute Opens Up With $7M Series A

San Francisco-based startup Chute announced Tuesday it raised $7 million Series A round of funding led by Foundry Group, with existing investors Freestyle Capital and U.S. Venture Partners also participating. The company, which came out out of Y Combinator, previously raised about $3 million in funding from institutional ind individual investors, including Klout co-founder and CEO Joe Fernandez.

Sequoia, USVP Back Clustrix With Series C

Clustrix, a San Francisco-based developer of clustered databases to help make them manageable and searchable, has raised a $16.5 million Series C round of funding from current investors Sequoia Capital, U.S. Venture Partners, ATA Ventures and individual investor Don Listwin, a former executive of Cisco. The company, which was founded in late 2005 and came out of Y Combinator, has raised now raised $46.5 million to date.

Ed Tech Company Netchemia Raises $6.5M

Kansas-based Netchemia announced today that it raised $6.5 million from San Francisco-based growth-equity investor Mainsail Partners. The 12-year-old company provides schools with tools for hiring and managing employee performance. The company reportedly raised previous funding from undisclosed angel investors.

Venture Trends Look Like a Mixed Bag

Ben Franklin, 500 Startups, DFJ Rank as Most Active Investors in March

Ben Franklin Technology Partners Southeastern PA, a Philadelphia-based early-stage backer, invested $1.54 million in 11 deals during March, ranking it as the most active investor in the month. Draper Fisher Jurvetson was the most active institutional venture firm in the month, having backed seven companies with nearly $9 million, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Ben Franklin, 500 Startups Rank as Most Active Investors in March

DFJ was the most active institutional venture firm in the month, having backed seven companies

Edtech Incubator Imagine K12 Announces New Start Fund

Imagine K12, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based incubator focused in education tech startups, announced today it will fund participating startups in its program up to $100,000. The funding includes $80,000 in debt and $20,000 in equity. Support for the funding of the Imagine K12 Start Fund comes from various investors, including Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, Yahoo co-founder David Filo and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, among others.

Mobile Payments Startup ZooZ Cashes $2M Series A

ZooZ, a provider of a mobile payments platform, has raised $2 million in Series A funding from XSeed Capital and existing investers lool ventures and Rhodium. The San Francisco-based startup has now raised $3.5 million in total funding.

Bessemer Promotes Two to Vice President

Bessemer Venture Partners promoted Aviad Ariel and Sunil Nagaraj each to vice president. Ariel and Nagaraj will seek opportunities in a mix of sectors, geographies and stages. Ariel, based in Herzliya, Israel, joined the firm in 2011 and has focused primarily on Internet, wireless and semiconductors. Nagaraj, who works out of Menlo Park, Calif., also joined the firm in 2011. He focuses on mobile, developer tools and security investments.

Supercell Raises Super-Charged $130M Round Co-Led by IVP, Index

Supercell, a Helsinki, Finland-based company which merges social games with elements from traditional console titles, has raised a $130 million round of funding co-led by Institutional Venture Partners and Index Ventures. Also joining the round was Atomico Ventures. The company was co-founded by CEO Ilkka Paananen, a longtime director at mobile gaming startup Digital Chocolate.