VCJ Staff

Cedexis Raises $6M Series A Funding from Madrona and ATV

Occipital Lands $7M Series A Led by Foundry Group

Opinionaided Wraps Up $4.3M

Start-up Opinionaided has closed on $4.3 million from SoftBank Capital, BlueRun Ventures, General Catalyst and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, as well as from angel investors, including DreamIt Ventures’ Mark Wachen and Jonah Goodhart of Point Ventures Group. Opinionaided is a free question-and-answer app, downloadable on the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, which gives advice and opinions in real-time. With the Series A round, the company also announced the formation of a board, which includes investors Jay Jamison, a venture partner at BlueRun Ventures; and Joe Medved, a partner at SoftBank Capital. Softbank and BlueRun were the lead investors on the Series A round.

Twin Lakes Capital Partners with Jay Strongwater

American designer Jay Strongwater and firm Twin Lakes Capital have teamed up to form Jay Strongwater LLC, a company designing home products and personal accessories. The company will be owned by Jay Strongwater and an investment group led by Twin Lakes. It will be based in New York City. Terms were not released.

ABRY Partners Backs Airband With $20M--UPDATED

ABRY Partners is putting $20 million into fixed wireless voice and data service provider Airband Communications Inc. The funds are aimed at fueling acquisitions as well as other growth efforts. Boston-based ABRY Partners will take a seat on the Airband board. Airband is backed by investors including Sevin Rosen Funds, Crescendo Ventures, Key Venture Partners and Dolphin Equity Partners.

Ignition Leads $8M Round for AppFog

AppFog, provider of a cloud-based PHP PaaS hosting service, has added $8 million in new funding. Ignition Partners led the Series B round, with participation from return backers Madrona Venture Group, First Round Capital and Founders Co-Op. The company has raised a total of $9.8 million, and will use the new money to expand its development team. AppFog is based in Portland. As a result of the round, Frank Artale, managing director at Ignition, will join the board.

Grant Victor Inks New Funding

Kaysville, Utah-based Grant Victor, a provider of ATM services and products, has inked an undisclosed amount of financing from Portland-based Endeavour Capital. The company also added David Charles as chief executive. Charles was the founder of Red Hawk Industries, a provider of equipment and services for financial institutions that he sold to United Technologies Corp. in 2006.

Yaupon Therapeutics Adds $14.4M Series D

Malvern, Penn.-based Yaupon Therapeutics Inc. has closed on $14.4 million in Series D financing. The company, a specialty pharmaceutical maker, is backed by Vivo Ventures, Palo Alto Investors, Burrill & Company and Aperture Venture Partners. The new funds will help the company go through the regulatory review process for a drug designed to treat early stage mycosis fungoides, the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Another Deal Site, Groupalia, Inks $26M

Daily deals site Groupalia has sealed $26 million in funding from a long list of venture investors, including Nauta Capital, Caixa Capital Risc, General Atlantic, Insight Venture Partners and Index Ventures. Formed in May 2010, the company has 600 employees and operates in Spain, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru.

Verinata Health Closes on $46.5M in Series C

Verinata Health Inc., a company focused on maternal and fetal health, has raised $46.5 million in Series C round, with another $2 million expected by the end of the month. The company, backed by Mohr Davidow Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Alloy Ventures, will use the funds for continued research and development.