San Diego-based Sweet Labs Inc., the company behind the Pokki app platform and OpenCandy advertising network, has sealed $13 million in Series C funding. Intel Capital led the round, with return backing from Google Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners. The company will use the new cash to expand its Pokki platform, which lets developers create and distribute desktop apps. Sweet Labs was formed in 2008.
3 min read · 29 September 2011
Comcast Ventures, the venture capital arm of publicly traded Comcast Corp., has formed a new portfolio company: CTI Towers Inc. The company will own, operate, and develop telecommunications towers throughout the United States, the firm announced Wednesday. No terms of the investment were released. Anthony Peduto has been named chief executive of the new company. He was previously chief operating officer of Optasite, a company that acquired and developed telecommunications tower sites.
3 min read · 28 September 2011
iJento, a provider of multichannel customer intelligence, has raised $8 million in financing. The round was led by Nauta Capital and Oxford Capital Partners, with financing from Silicon Valley Bank. The funds will be used to help expand the U.K.-based company’s software into North America.
4 min read · 28 September 2011
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Parking in Motion has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A financing from IDG Ventures and Fontinalis Partners. The company has developed a real-time parking database designed for automobile navigation systems, mobile phones, tablet devices and other data aggregators.
5 min read · 28 September 2011
London-based PrivateFly.com has raised 2 million pounds ($3.1 million) for its online service to aggregate private jet charter. The money comes from eight private investors, and will be used to roll out its service into new markets, and upgrade its mobile apps and enhanced real-time integration of pricing and availability with aircraft operators, the company said. Investors include Sam Friend, founder of wotif.com; and David Scowsill, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council.
3 min read · 28 September 2011
DisplayLink Inc. has raised $15 million in Series D financing. New investor Cipio Partners led the round with existing investor DFJ Esprit. Previous investors Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital and DAG Ventures also contributed. DisplayLink is based in Palo Alto, Calif. The company develops integrated circuits and software that connect monitors to laptops and PCs using standard interfaces such as USB, WiFi and Ethernet, either directly or via docking stations, adapters, and local area networks.
4 min read · 28 September 2011
Eric Ries, author of the “The Lean Startup,” offers a worthy attempt to bring the scientific method to the often intuitive exploration of young companies. What leads most startups astray is the lack of a disciplined, empirical procedure for making decisions, says Ries, who also writes on the blog Startup Lessons Learned and is a 2010-11 entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School. Ries (pictured) is by equal measure upbeat and cautionary. He sees a worldwide renaissance of entrepreneurialism, but worries about wasted, misguided efforts. Venture investors take heart. He has an answer, which he details in the October 2011 issue of Venture Capital Journal. “The nice thing about relying on human judgment and using the scientific method is ...
2 min read · 28 September 2011
Fundly, a cloud-based social fundraising platform for non-profits, has raised $5 million in financing led by Morgenthaler Ventures. Seed investors Kapor Capital, Correlation Ventures, Seraph Group, and Accelerator Ventures also participated in the round. As a result of the round, Morgenthaler’s Mark Goines will join the Fundly board. Fundly is based in Palo Alto, Calif.
4 min read · 28 September 2011
2 min read · 27 September 2011
3 min read · 27 September 2011
