Clinical-stage immunotherapy company Aduro BioTech has closed on $19.25 million in Series B financing. Morningside Ventures contributed to the round, in addition to other unnamed investors. Stephanie O’Brien will represent Morningside on Aduro’s board. The new funding will help Berkeley, Calif.-based Aduro continue development and trials of its lead cancer vaccine.
3 min read · 20 April 2011
Beijing-based ShineOn Holding Inc. has closed its Series B financing round, bringing the total raised by the company to $51.5 million. Mayfield Fund participated in the investment round along with GSR Ventures, Northern Light Ventures and IDG-Accel Capital. ShineOn produces LED products with low thermal resistance, and high brightness, designed for TVs, monitors, and notebooks.
3 min read · 20 April 2011
HipGeo, a Los Angeles-based developer of location-aware technology, has raised $500,000 in seed financing. Morado Venture Partners, a seed stage fund run by former Yahoo executives, led the round. Galen Buckwalter, former chief scientist of eHarmony, also contributed, as did San Diego-based angel investor Robert Bingham. HipGeo’s location-aware platform is designed to automatically create a record of the places users go and how they get there.
2 min read · 20 April 2011
New York-based Kodiak Capital Group has invested $1.5 million in China Kangtai Cactus Biotech Inc., a developer and manufacturer of cactus-based products in China. The money is aimed at supporting the company’s growth strategies.
2 min read · 20 April 2011
Cambridge, Mass.-based Bluebird Bio, which is developing gene therapies for genetic disorders, has inked $30 million in fresh capital from investors including ARCH Venture Partners, Third Rock Ventures, TVM Capital, Forbion Capital Partners and Easton Capital Investment Group. ARCH Venture Partners was a new investor in the company, and the firm’s managing director Steven Gillis will join Bluebird Bio’s board. The company completed a $35 million Series B in early 2010.
3 min read · 20 April 2011
TRACON Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for cancer, has closed on a $14 million first tranche of venture financing. JAFCO and Nextech Invest co-led the round, which included investments from Arcus Ventures, Brookline Investments and BHP. JAFCO’s Kenji Harada and Hironori Hozoji, and Nextech Invest’s Myoung-Ok Kwon, will join the company’s board as a result of the round. San Diego-based TRACON will use the money to continue development of its treatments.
4 min read · 20 April 2011
Ticketfly, a San Francisco-based independent ticketing and social marketing company, has closed on $12 million in Series B financing, bringing its total raised to $15 million. Mohr Davidow Ventures led the round, which included participation from existing investors High Peaks Venture Partners, Contour Venture Partners and angel investors Roger Ehrenberg and Howard Lindzon. The company announced an initial $3 million round in May 2010.
3 min read · 19 April 2011
Benvenue Medical Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of minimally invasive solutions for spine repair, has closed a $35.5 million Series C round. Domain Associates and Technology Partners co-led the round, which included support from existing shareholders Versant Ventures and DeNovo Ventures. Nimesh Shah, principal at Domain Associates, and Roger Quy, general partner of Technology Partners, will join the board as a result of the round.
3 min read · 19 April 2011
Cambridge, Mass.-based Localytics has closed an undisclosed amount of Series A financing, led by existing shareholders investors Launchpad Venture Group and New York Angels. Hub Angels came in as a new investor. The money will be used for expanded sales and development. The company announced in May 2010 that it had sealed $700,000 in an initial round of financing.
3 min read · 19 April 2011
TreatFeed, the maker of a multi-level marketing driven shopping application, has sealed $5.4 million in a venture round led by Norwest Venture Partners. As a part of the funding, NVP General Partner Josh Goldman and Partner Tim Chang have joined TreatFeed’s board. TreatFeed is based in Los Angeles.
3 min read · 19 April 2011
