US

Weave Communications raises $17 mln

Weave Communications Inc said Sept. 7 that it raised $17 million in a Series B-1 funding round led by Catalyst Investors. Existing investors Crosslink Capital and Pelion Venture Partners also participated in the round. Weave, of Lehi, Utah, provides voice, SMS, email and marketing services to dental and optometry offices.

Battery Ventures boosts staff with seven promotions

Battery Ventures announced it has promoted seven team members in its various offices and industry sectors. Boston-based Zack Smotherman, who has been at the firm since 2013 and focuses on transactions in industrial technology, was named principal. Roland Anderson, Sabrina Chiasson and Satoshi Harris-Koizumi, all based in Boston, were each promoted to vice president. Three other team members were promoted associate: Brandon Gleklen and Dominic Kallas of Boston, and Adi Dangot Zukovsky of Herzliya, Israel.

IVP adds four to team

Menlo Park, California-based late-stage investor IVP announced that Kelly O’Kane, Parsa Saljoughian, Chloe Breider and Jason Kong have joined the firm. O’Kane is returning to IVP as its first vice president of business development. Saljoughian is returning to IVP as a vice president on the investment team. The two were previously senior associates at the firm. Breider and Kong join IVP from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, respectively.

Excision BioTherapeutics scores $10 mln seed

Excision BioTherapeutics, a developer of advanced gene editing therapeutics that treat life-threatening disease caused by neurotropic viruses, has closed $10 million in seed funding. ARTIS Ventures led the round.

Ireland puts $23.8 million in Finistere-managed Irish agtech fund

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund said it launched a $23.8 million Ireland AgTech Fund, to be managed by Finistere.

Merck to buy VC-backed Rigontec

Merck has agreed to acquire Germany-based Rigontec, which focuses on RIG-I targeting RNA therapeutics. According to terms of the deal, Merck will make an upfront cash payment of 115 million euros to Rigontec’s shareholders. Also, based on the fulfillment of certain milestones, Merck may make additional contingent payments of up to 349 million euros. Rigontec is backed by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Forbion Capital Partners, High-Tech Gründerfonds, MP Healthcare Venture Management, NRW.BANK, Sunstone Capital and Wellington Partners Life Sciences.

Thai event management platform Event Pop books Series A

Event Pop, a Thai event management platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding. InVent led the round with participation from Beacon Venture Capital.

Swedish VR games studio Fast Travel Games collects $2.1 mln Series A

Stockholm-based Fast Travel Games, a virtual reality games studio, has raised $2.1 million in Series A funding. Industrifonden led the round with participation from Creades, Inbox Capital and return backer Sunstone Capital.

Wireless tech company Metawave reels in $7 mln

Metawave Corp has secured $7 million in funding. The investors included Khosla Ventures, Motus Ventures and Thyra Global Management. Palo Alto, California-based Metawave, which spun out of PARC earlier this year, is a wireless tech company.

Deutsche Boerse invests in U.S. "regtech" startup, says source: Reuters

German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse Group has participated in a $5 million equity investment in RegTek.Solutions Inc, a U.S. startup providing software to help financial firms comply with trading regulations, according to a source told Reuters.