chris@arsenalvp.com

NEXT locks in $97 mln Series C

Lynwood, California-based NEXT, a technology company that connects shippers and carriers, has secured $97 million in Series C financing. Brookfield Ventures led the round with participation from other investors that included Sequoia Capital.

Whistle buys digital entertainment studio New Form

Whistle, a sports and entertainment media brand, has acquired Los Angeles-based New Form, a digital entertainment studio. No financial terms were disclosed. Whistle's backers include Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo, Aser Media, Liberty Global, NBC Sports, Sky Sports, TEGNA, Beringea and Emil Capital.

Varada procures $7.5 mln seed

Israel-based Varada, a provider of big data inline indexing, has raised $7.5 million in seed funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round with participation from StageOne Ventures and F2 Capital.

Israeli startup Lumigo nabs $8 mln seed

Tel Aviv-based Lumigo, a Tel Aviv based startup, a provider of a serverless intelligence platform, has raised $8 million in seed funding. The investors were Pitango Venture Capital, Grove Ventures and Meron Capital.

Silverton leads $4.65 mln round for Ontic Technologies

Austin, Texas-based Ontic Technologies, a protective intelligence technology platform, has raised $4.65 million in funding. Silverton Partners led the round with participation from Floodgate and Village Global.

Urgent.ly reels in $21 mln Series B

Urgent.ly, a mobility and roadside assistance platform, has raised $21 million in Series B funding. The investors included BMW i Ventures, InMotion Ventures and Porsche Ventures.

Spanish language digital voice assistant Sherpa.ai fetches $8.5 mln

Sherpa.ai, a Spanish language digital voice assistant, has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. Mundi Ventures led the round.

UK artificial intelligence company lands funding

UK-based Growth Intelligence, an artificial intelligence company, has raised 1.7 million pounds in funding. The lead investor was 24Haymarket, with other investors that included MMC Ventures participating in the round.

Andela scores $100 mln Series D

Andela, which is building distributed engineering teams with African software developers, has raised $100 million in Series D funding. Generation Investment Management led the round with participation from investors that included Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GV, Spark Capital and CRE Venture Capital.

Specialty chemicals producer Lygos nets $5 mln

Lygos Inc, a producer of specialty chemicals, has raised $5 million in funding. The investor was LG Technology Ventures, an investment arm of the South Korean conglomerate LG Group.