North America

Cerebral Therapeutics racks up $11 mln Series A

Aurora, Colorado-based Cerebral Therapeutics Inc, a developer of reformulated medications, which bypass the blood brain barrier using chronic implantable infusion systems, has extended its Series A round to $7.8 million. As a result, the company's total Series A funding is $11 million. Cerebral Therapeutics' investors included Granite Point Capital Management LP and Vivo Capital LLC.

LiveOak Ventures leads $3 mln seed round for Osano

Osano, which is building a platform for data privacy transparency, has secured $3 million in seed funding. LiveOak Ventures led the round with participation from investors that included Next Coast Ventures, Capital Factory and Social Starts.

VC-backed Lightspeed to raise up to $276 mln in TSX debut

Lightspeed POS, a Montréal-based point-of-sale solution for retailers, restaurants and e-commerce businesses, will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) today under the symbol LSPD. The company, which filed for an initial public offering (IPO) last month, is expected to raise $240 million. The amount could increase to $276 million if the IPO's greenshoe option is exercised in full. Founded in 2005 by CEO Dax Dasilva, Lightspeed secured about $207 million (US$166 million) in a Series D financing in 2017. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec led and was joined by IQ, iNovia Capital and Silicon Valley Bank. The IPO is the largest by a Canadian venture-backed technology company in two years.

Omidyar Network spins off new venture firm Flourish

Omidyar Network has spun off Flourish, a new venture firm focused on investing in "entrepreneurs whose innovations help people achieve financial health and prosperity." Flourish is launching with an existing $200 million portfolio across U.S. and emerging markets as well as an additional $300 million at its disposal over the next five years. Pam and Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, are backing Flourish.

VC-backed Rubrik taps Shirk as CRO

Rubrik, a cloud data management company, has named Brett Shirk as chief revenue officer. Previously, he worked at VMware where he was senior vice president and general manager of the Americas. Rubrik is backed by Bain Capital Ventures, Lightspeed Ventures, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures and IVP.

LinkSquares pulls in $4.8 mln

LinkSquares, a provider of AI-powered contract analytics software, has raised $4.8 million in financing. Hyperplane Venture Capital and MassMutual Ventures led the round. As part of the financing, John Murphy of Hyperplane is joining the LinkSquares board.

Jargon grabs $1.8 mln

Seattle-based Jargon, which is building a conversation platform for voice applications, has raised $1.8 million in funding. Ubiquity Ventures and Crosslink Capital led the round. In addition to the funding, Sunil Nagaraj of Ubiquity Ventures has joined the board.

Tsingyuan Ventures raises $51.7 mln venture-capital fund

Tsingyuan Ventures has raised a $51.7 million venture-capital fund, according to a filing with the SEC.

Magic Stone Alternative Capital raises $200 mill toward second fund

Magic Stone Alternative Capital, a Beijing, China-based venture firm, raised nearly $200 million out of the $250 million it is seeking towards its second fund, according to a filing with the SEC. The firm received commitments from 13 LPs.

Madrona leads Series A round for Knock

Seattle-based Knock, a provider of CRM solutions for property managers, has secured $10 million in Series A funding. Madrona Venture Group led the round.