VCJ Staff

Sonic Corp. Names Centennial Ventures’ Jeffrey Schutz As A Director

Sonic Corp. named Jeffrey Schutz to its board. The Oklahoma City-based chain of drive-in restaurants said Schutz is managing director of Centennial Ventures. Leonard Lieberman also retired as a director after 21 years at Sonic. Centennial Ventures is a Denver-based VC firm with about $500 million of assets under management.

SVB Financial Group Names Greg Becker President

SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB) promoted Greg Becker to president. The holding company said Becker will remain president of Silicon Valley Bank , a position he has held since 2008. Ken Wilcox will remain chief executive officer of SVB Financial Group and Silicon Valley Bank.

ClearCount Medical Solutions Closes Series B Funding Round With $5 Million

ClearCount Medical Solutions closes its $5 million in Series B financing round. The Pittsburgh, Pa.-based company will use the funds to drive market penetration as well as R&D of its RFID-based solutions for hospital patient safety applications. The round was supported by new and existing investors, including Draper Triangle Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Austin Ventures Form Life Insurer With Carter; Austin Invests $5M, Commits Another $45M

Austin Ventures and Bob Carter, who is the co-founder of National Financial Partners, formed a life insurance distribution company. Austin Ventures invested $5 million and committed another $45 million in support of the newly created business that will provide exclusive ownership opportunities for the nation's leading independent insurance producers.

Institutional Venture Partners Closes Latest Fund At $750 Million

David Jones of Chrysalis Ventures Steps Down as Chair of Insurance Giant Humana

Goldman Sachs Leads $70M Investment in China's eHi Car Rental

CA Technologies to Acquire Venture-Backed Arcot Systems

Glu Mobile Gets $13.5 Million in Gross Proceeds From Private Placement

Glu Mobile Inc. received gross proceeds of about $13.5 million from a completed private placement. Existing shareholders that joined in the financing include Greenway Capital, Cannell Capital, Cypress Capital, Granite Global Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Scale Venture Partners and Stephens Investment Management. Glu Mobile is a San Mateo, Calif.-based publisher of mobile games.

Otonomy Inc. Closes Series B Financing Round At $38.5 Million

San Diego, Calif.-based Otonomy Inc. raised $38.5 million via a Series B financing. The round was co-led by Novo Ventures and RiverVest Venture Partners, and joined by Domain Associates and TPG Biotech. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical concern previously raised around $10 million in Series A funding with Avalon Ventures in June 2010. Avalon participated in the latest round.