North America

Snowflake Computing racks up $450 mln

San Mateo, California-based Snowflake Computing, a data warehouse built for the cloud, has raised $450 million in funding. Sequoia Capital led the round with participation from Altimeter Capital, Capital One Growth Ventures, ICONIQ Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Redpoint Ventures, Sutter Hill Venture, Wing Ventures and Meritech Capital.

Classting inks $6.5 mln

Seoul, Korea-based Classting, an education social platform, has secured about $6.5 million in funding. The investors were Mistletoe and the Korea Development Bank.

Venture-backed Blue Ant Media acquires Saloon Media

Blue Ant Media has acquired Saloon Media, a Toronto-based television and digital content production company. Terms weren't disclosed for the deal, which will see Saloon's management team join Blue Ant’s global production unit. Blue Ant, a Toronto-based content producer, distributor and channel operator, said the acquisition is a key step in the expansion of its North American business. Led by CEO Michael MacMillan, who co-founded the company in 2011, Blue Ant creates content for factual, factual entertainment, digital series, kids programming and other genres. Its backers include Difference Capital, Gibraltar & Co, Kensington Venture Fund and Relay Ventures.

Moonshots raises $20 mln for its inaugural fund

Moonshots Capital, a seed-stage venture firm founded by military veterans and serial entrepreneurs-turned VCs, announced it has raised $19 million for its inaugural fund. LPs include Dave McCormick, Co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates. The firm, led by Managing Partners Kelly Perdew and Craig Cummings, has offices in Los Angeles, California and Austin, Texas. Moonshots said it has already invested in four deals, including cybersecurity company New Knowledge and business travel booking provider Shep.

Menlo hires Tiffany Spencer as VP marketing

Menlo Ventures said it has hired Tiffany Spencer as vice president of marketing. Spencer joins Menlo from Bessemer Venture Partners.

Marketplace G2 Crowd raises $55 mln led by IVP

Chicago-based G2 Crowd, which operates a marketplace for businesses to buy and manage software and services, announced it has raised $55 million in a Series C round of funding. IVP led the round, which included participation from Emergence Capital and returning investor Accel. The latest investment brings the company’s total fundraising to date to $100 million. As part of the financing, Jules Maltz from IVP has joined the board.

Seattle cloud security company Shujinko raises $2.8 mln

Seattle-based Shujinko, which provides automation technology for the construction and auditing of cloud environments, announced it has raised $2.8 million in seed funding from Unusual Ventures, Defy, Vulcan Capital, PSL Ventures and Vas Ventures. Sujal Patel, the founder of Isilon Systems, and Andrew Peterson and Zane Lackey, co-founders of web application security leader Signal Sciences, also participated in the round. The company was incubated at startup studio Pioneer Square Labs. Shujinko co-founders Scott Schwan, CEO, and Matt Wells, CTO, previously worked at Starbucks and at mobile payments provider Cardfree.

Data collaboration platform Cinchy nabs $3 mln in Blindspot-led deal

Cinchy, a Toronto-based enterprise data collaboration platform, has secured $3 million in a financing round. Blindspot, a Canadian investor in wealth management technology, led the deal. It was joined by ScaleUp Ventures, MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, Techstars, BDC Capital and other investors. Blindspot Partner Kevin Foley will join the board. Founded in 2014 by CEO Dan DeMers and CTO Karanjot Jaswal, Cinchy's platform enables multiple systems and users to collaborate on data in real-time, without requiring separate application databases. The startup's customers, which include financial institutions, save time and money by avoiding complex integration work.

Optina Diagnostics raises $4 mln for early detection of Alzheimer’s

Optina Diagnostics Inc, a Montréal-based developer of an eye scan for early detection of Alzheimer's, has raised $4 million in a seed-stage financing. Zoic Capital, a U.S. medical device venture capital firm, led the round. It was joined by Desjardins Capital, DigitalDx Ventures, Pallasite Ventures, Barney Pell, Barney Pell's AngelList Syndicate, Advisors.fund and Hike Ventures. Optina uses artificial intelligence and spectral retinal imaging to detect Alzheimer's disease in order to treat it in patients before irreversible damage occurs. The company, led by CEO David Lapointe, will use the funds raised to advance clinical development and accelerate growth and market readiness.

PE-backed Lifemark raises financing from Northleaf

Northleaf Capital Partners has made an investment in Toronto-based Lifemark Health Group, a provider of physiotherapy, independent medical assessments and homecare services in Canada. Lifemark is a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity.