North America

Silicon Valley Data Capital raises $59 mln toward venture capital fund

Silicon Valley Data Capital said it has added more capital to its venture-capital fund with a total of $59 million raised, according to a filing with the SEC.

EU launches new venture funds of funds program

The European Commission said it launched Venture EU, a program to encourage venture investing backed by about $506 million of funding.

VC-backed Globetouch appoints new CEO

Oakland, California and India-based Globetouch, a provider of global connectivity services for the connected car and the internet of things, has named Alfredo de Cárdenas as CEO. Prior to this appointment, de Cárdenas was chief operating officer of Globetouch. Globetouch’s backers include Hermes Growth Partners, Impact Venture Capital, Spark Telecom Ventures and Wholesale, Verizon Ventures, CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, Digicel, NTT DoCoMo, 263 China and Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd.

Sustainable Restaurant Group amasses funding

Sustainable Restaurant Group, an operator of Bamboo Sushi and Quickfish, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding. Bain Capital Double Impact was the lead investor. Kitchen Fund also participated in the funding.

Directly rakes in $20 mln Series B in Northgate-led round

San Francisco-based Directly, a crowd-powered AI platform for customer service, has secured $20 million in Series B funding. Northgate Capital led the round with participation from Microsoft Ventures, Costanoa Ventures and True Ventures.

Knotel racks up $70 mln Series B

Knotel, an agile workspace provider, has raised $70 million in Series B funding. Newmark Knight Frank and The Sapir Organization led the round with participation from other investors that included The Wolfson Group, The Moinian Group and Wainbridge Capital.

Serruya co-leads $6 mln Series B round of Plus Products

Plus Products, a U.S. branded cannabis products maker, has raised US$6 million in a Series B financing. The round was led by Serruya Private Equity, which invests on behalf of Canada's Serruya family, and Navy Capital Green Fund, a U.S. cannabis investor. Founded in 2015, Plus Products manufactures cannabis-infused edibles from a 12,000 square-foot facility in Adelanto, California. The company will use the funds raised for rapid production capacity expansion, factory automation, working capital, and new product development.

Nexford University books $4 mln seed

Washington, D.C.-based Nexford University, an online provider of workforce education, has raised $4 million in seed funding. The investors included Magnify Ventures.

Holberton School nabs $8.2 mln Series A

San Francisco-based Holberton School, a college alternative for training full-stack software engineers, has raised $8.2 million in Series A funding. Daphni and Trinity Ventures led the round with participation from Omidyar Network.

Veerum procures $3.9 mln seed

Calgary-based Veerum, an artificial intelligence platform that predicts and resolves issues, has raised $3.9 million in seed funding. Brick & Mortar Ventures led the round with participation from other investors that included Blackhorn Ventures and Creative Ventures.