Alastair Goldfisher

Early-stage VC Defy adds Brian Rothenberg as partner

Early-stage investor Defy Partners, which recently raised $262 million for its second fund, has tapped former Eventbrite exec Brian Rothenberg as a partner. He joins Co-Founders and Managing Directors Neil Sequeira and Trae Vassallo, who launched the firm in late 2017.

Data Spotlight: Megadeals rising as Uber tops VC list in April

Yes VC, seeking $50 mln, holds interim close for inaugural fund

San Francisco-based Yes VC has raised $10.755 million toward a $50 million target for its inaugural fund, according to a regulatory filing. The filing reports 44 investors have so far backed the firm, which makes pre-seed and seed-stage investments. The firm was launched last year by Caterina Fake and Jyri Engeström and this year added David Pickerell as an associate.

SaaStr co-founder Mallun Yen seeks $30 mln for Operator Collective

Mallun Yen, co-founder of the blogging platform SaaStr, is seeking to raise $30 million for a venture fund called Operator Collective, according to a regulatory filing. The fund has not yet raised any commitments.

Foodtech company Nutrition Innovation raises $5 mln

Venice, California-based Nutrition Innovation, a food and technology company focused on innovating sugar in the North American market, announced it has raised $5 million in Series A funding at a valuation of $40 million. The Series A funding was led by VisVires New Protein, as Asian foodtech fund, and includes Enerfo Group, a Singapore agtech firm.

Mayfield taps investing veteran Saiprasad a partner with focus on AI, analytics

Embrace raises $4.5 mln from Pritzker and others

Culver City, California-based Embrace, provider of performance management technology for mobile, announced it has raised $4.5 million in additional capital led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Joining the round was Greycroft Partnersand Vy Capital with follow-on from the founders of Parse and MoPub, Eniac Ventures and the Chernin Group.

Eightfold.ai raises $28 mln for talent management

Mountain View, California-based Eightfold.ai, creator of a talent intelligence platform that uses AI tech to identify talent, announced IVP has joined its list of investors as it's raised $28 million in a Series C round of funding. Foundation Capital and Lightspeed Ventures joined the round. The company, founded in 2016, has now raised $55 million in total funding.

Five years from intern to partner: 137 Ventures taps Nick Procaccini

Home security company Kangaroo raises $10.26 mln led by Greycroft

New York-based Kangaroo, which provides smarthome security, announced it has raised $10.26 million a Series A round led by Greycroft. Lerer Hippeau and angel investors also participated. As part of the funding, Ian Sigalow, a partner and co-founder of Greycroft, has joined the board.