North America

Jewelry brand Luca + Danni pulls in $6.2 mln

Rhode Island-based Luca + Danni Inc, a jewelry brand, has secured $6.2 million in funding. Ross-Simons Inc. becomes a majority investor in Luca + Danni Inc as a result of the deal while PJC, a Boston-based venture fund will retain a stake.

VC-backed Rgenix appoints new chief medical officer

New York City-based Rgenix Inc, a developer of first-in-class small molecule and antibody cancer therapeutics, has named Dr. Robert Wasserman as its new chief medical officer. Recently, Wasserman was chief medical officer at Toronto-based Northern Biologics, a developer of first-in-class immuno-oncology products. Rgenix's backers include Lepu Medical, Oceanpine Capital, WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund, Novo Holdings A/S, Sofinnova Partners, Alexandria Venture Investments LLC and the Partnership Fund for New York City.

Shatter Fund names Franklin Templeton president/COO as adviser

Shatter Fund LLC, an venture firm focused on technology companies led and founded by female entrepreneurs, has named Jenny Johnson as an adviser. Johnson is president and chief operating officer of Franklin Templeton.

Beekeeper raises $45 mln

Beekeeper said Sept. 16 that it raised $45 million in Series B financing, co-led by Thayer Ventures and Swisscanto Invest by Zürcher Kantonalbank. Also participating were prior investors including Atomico, Alpana Ventures, Edenred Capital Partners, Fyrfly, Hammer Team, investiere, HighSage Ventures, Keen Venture Partners, Samsung NEXT, Swiss Post, and Swisscom. Beekeeper is a digital workplace app where operational systems and communication channels live within a platform.

VC-backed Verve Therapeutics expands scientific advisory board with new addition

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Verve Therapeutics, a next-generation cardiovascular company, has named Dr. Andrew Geall to its scientific advisory board. Geall is vice president of formulations, analytics and chemistry at Avidity Biosciences. Verve's backers include GV, ARCH Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital and Biomatics Capital.

Rafay Systems attracts $8 mln Series A

Rafay Systems, a provider of an automation framework for containerized app lifecycle management, has secured $8 million in Series A funding. Ridge Ventures led the round with participation from NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Costanoa Ventures and Moment Ventures.

LINQ inks Series A

Oakland, California-based LINQ, a construction data and document search tool, has secured an undisclosed amount of Series A funding. The investor was Stanley Black & Decker.

Middesk nabs $4 mln seed

Middesk, a provider of background checks for businesses, has secured $4 million in seed funding, according to a Medium blog post. Accel Partners led the round with participation from Sequoia Capital and Y Combinator.

Insilico Medicine grabs $37 mln

Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine, an artificial intelligence company, has secured $37 million in funding. Qiming Venture Partners led the round with participation from other investors that included Eight Roads, F-Prime Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, Sinovation Ventures, Baidu Ventures, Pavilion Capital and BOLD Capital Partners.

SV Tech Ventures gathers over $23.1 mln for third fund

SV Tech Ventures has raised over $23.1 million for its third fund, according to an SEC filing. The target is $100 million. Based in Palo Alto, California, the venture firm focuses on high-tech companies.