Semiconductor startup Avalanche closes $11.5M funding round

A startup is hard at work making a new type of high-speed memory that stores data even when the power is turned off. Avalanche Technology, a company focused on Spin Programmable Memory (SPMEM) non-volatile memory class storage solutions (not pictured), has raised $11.5 million in a new round of funding.

This is the semiconductor startup’s third round of institutional funding.

Previous investors Sequoia Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Thomvest Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and Leader Ventures all … Continue Reading

SendGrid raises $21M from Bessemer, Foundry, others to make automated e-mails painless

E-mail infrastructure startup SendGrid has raised $21 million in its second round of funding and created a partnership with Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform to convince more enterprises to use its e-mail delivery solutions, the company announced today.

SendGrid helps more than 37,000 clients with sending all kinds of e-mails to their customers, including shipping notifications, confirmations and even notes to let you know you’ve been ousted as the “mayor” of a location on Foursquare. On … Continue Reading

Twilio is going international, has $17M to spend on souvenirs (and new hires)

Cloud-based phone service provider Twilio is ready to get some new stamps on its passport. The company is rapidly expanding internationally as it takes on a $17 million third round of funding, led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Union Square Ventures.

Twilio offers a pay-as-you-go platform for phone and messaging services, and it provides application programming interfaces (APIs) so that developers can build phone and messaging apps on top of its platform. Airbnb, for example, … Continue Reading

Smule to make beautiful music with $12M in funding

Music app maker Smule today announced a new funding round of $12 million to support future expansion plans, and to hire more employees.

Smule is the company behind the I am T-Pain autotune app, Ocarina, a very early hit on the iPhone, Glee Karaoke, and many more.

“This gives us some confidence we should put our foot on the gas,” Smule co-founder and chief executive officer Jeff Smith told VentureBeat. Smith said the money will … Continue Reading

Soluto raises $10.5 million for anti-frustration crusade

Soluto, winner of TechCrunch Disrupt New York 2010, has raised $10.5 million in a second round funding from Index Ventures. The company’s software specializes in the tangibly intangible: anti-frustration.

The free software detects the nerve pumping in your forehead by monitoring repeated actions or errors. Once it sees a pattern, it attacks the problem and prevents unnecessary coronaries.

Most interesting is what Soluto is doing with information received from user downloads. Data is collected anonymously … Continue Reading