North America

Poka fetches C$10 mln

Canada-based Poka, a training and knowledge platform for manufacturers, has raised C$10 million in financing. The investors included iNovia Capital, Uncork Capital, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH.

ViewPoint Therapeutics attracts $35 mln Series B

San Francisco-based ViewPoint Therapeutics Inc, a developer of crystallin stabilizers to prevent and treat cataracts and presbyopia, has raised $35 million in Series B financing. The Rise Fund led the round with participation from other investors that included Novo Holdings A/S, Biotechnology Value Fund LP, Mission Bay Capital LLC, Lagunita BioSciences LLC and the University of Michigan through its MINTS initiative.

Mars Petcare unveils venture fund and accelerator

Brussels, Belgium-based Mars Petcare, a provider of pet nutrition and health care, has launched a $100 million venture fund. Digitalis Ventures is working in partnership with Mars Petcare on the fund named Companion Fund. Also, Mars Petcare has teamed up with Michelson Found Animals and R/GA to launch Leap Venture Studio, an accelerator. Both the venture fund and the accelerator will be focused on pet care startups.

Ponddy Education inks $6 mln Series A

San Jose, California-based Ponddy Education Inc., a provider of personalized language learning, has secured $6 million in Series A funding. Chenco Holding Company LLC led the round with participation from Osnaburge Ventures LLC and MIC Ponddy AR Fund LP.

Epsagon grabs $4.1 mln seed

Epsagon, a provider of automated end-to-end performance monitoring technology for serverless architectures, has closed $4.1 million in seed funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners, StageOne Ventures and Ariel Maislos led the round.

Smartcare procures $6 mln

Smartcare, a provider of cloud-based solutions for child care centers, has raised $6 million in funding. Lyrical Partners led the round with participation from other investors that included Charter Oak Equity and Dakota Capital.

Craft Ventures' Sacks and Lee, Andreessen, Vy Capital and others back Multicoin Capital

Austin-based Multicoin Capital, a cryptofund that invests in blockchain tokens, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding. The investors included David Sacks and Bill Lee of Craft Ventures, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Vy Capital and Passport Capital.

Custom furniture retailer Interior Define lands $15 mln Series B

Interior Define, a custom furniture retailer, has raised $15 million in Series B financing. Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Fifth Wall led the round.

Ignition names former Microsoft CIO Jim DuBois and Satbir Khanuja as venture advisors

Ignition Partners has named former Microsoft CIO Jim DuBois and DataSphere Technologies CEO Satbir Khanuja as venture advisors.

TIMIA invests $2 mln in local discovery tool Parkbench

Canadian specialty finance firm TIMIA Capital Corp has provided a $2 million funding facility to Parkbench Inc, a Toronto discovery service for local events, deals, news and real estate. The revenue-based facility includes a first investment of $1 million and a further $1 million to be deployed when milestones are met. Parkbench, launched in 2014 by CEO Grant Findlay-Shirras and CMO Amanda Newman, targets its online service to real estate agents and mortgage brokers. In 2016, the company secured financing from U.S. accelerator and venture capital firm 500 Startups.