VentureBeat

QSecure takes $5.25M for electronic credit cards

QSecure, maker of credit cards containing smart chips, has raised $5.25 million of an anticipated $10.25 million fourth round of funding, according to a filing with the SEC. While it didn’t specify where the money came from, the Los Altos, Calif. company was previously backed by Allegis Capital, Societe Generale, UMC Capital and Worldview Technology Partners.

Axcient adds $2 million for data backup and recovery services

Axcient, a San Jose, Calif. provider of data backup devices and services, says it brought in $2 million more to bring its first round of funding to $8 million. It raised the first $6 million in September from Allegis Capital and Peninsula Ventures among others.

Based in Mountain View, Calif., the company will use its new funds to add more features to its products. It says its userbase has grown more than expected in the last… Continue Reading

Solera finds $7M for network forensics software

Solera Networks, maker of software that allows network operators to retrace their steps and pinpoint past glitches and security breaches, has landed $7 million in a second round of funding to expand its marketing efforts and its Washington, D.C. office in convenient proximity to likely government clients.

While the Lindon, Utah, company would not disclose any of its current customers, it did say its business is split pretty evenly between corporate and government organizations. Especially for… Continue Reading

Axcient lands $6M to back up data

Axcient, a San Jose, Calif. provider of data backup devices and services, says it brought in $6 million in a first round of funding from Allegis Capital and Peninsula Ventures. Its offerings can also aid in data recovery, both remotely and on-site.

The round remains open, and the company says it may raise more capital to last it through 2011. It plans to add more services to its growing portfolio. For now, it only has a… Continue Reading

DriverSide raises $5.3 million for car advice site

DriverSide has raised $5.3 million in a second round of funding for its site that gives advice to car owners.

The idea behind the site is to help drivers get the most out of their cars — a message that the company says works well in a recession. The site also helps owners buy or sell cars. Unlike other sites, the company says it focuses on the entire lifecycle of car ownership, from purchase to disposal… Continue Reading

Staccato, Artimi merge to keep UWB efforts alive

Ultra-wideband chip makers Staccato Communications and Artimi announced that they have merged, adopting the name of the former. The new entity also received $20 million in new equity funding, allowing it to refocus its energies on the top products from both companies.

San Diego-based Staccato plans to roll out new products utilizing both its existing chip technology and Artimi’s wireless USB offerings, the company says. It’s questionable whether the combined forces will fare any better than… Continue Reading

Compliance software maker Autonomic has a brand new bag, beta

Autonomic Networks has released a beta of its new compliance and auditing software, having dumped its old name (Vernier Networks), its old leader (replaced by new chief executive Paul Stich two months ago), and its old focus (network access control) all in the past year, reports VentureWire.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company now specializes in software and equipment to help companies enforce and monitor compliance with network security protocols. It can tell you who is accessing… Continue Reading

Ribbit investor Robert Ackerman talks about good returns, bad markets and ‘Communication 2.0′

Today was probably a good day for Robert Ackerman, managing director and co-founder of Allegis Capital. Less than a year after Allegis led the $10 million second venture round for Ribbit, “Silicon Valley’s first phone company,” BT announced that it has acquired Ribbit for $105 million. That’s supposedly a return of more than 500 percent for Allegis.

I spoke to Ackerman this afternoon, and he described the sale as another validation of Allegis’ investment strategy. That… Continue Reading

BT buys Ribbit for $105M

BT, the dominant British telecommunications company, has acquired Ribbit, a company that has styled itself “Silicon Valley’s first phone company,” for $105 million.

VentureBeat first heard news of the deal in July and reported it. At the time, the company’s spokesman Don Thorson adamantly denied that any deal had happened, but it was clear something was up. Today, the company confirmed the amount of the deal.

This is an impressive performance for Ribbit, which first launched in… Continue Reading

Source: Ribbit, “Silicon Valley’s first phone company,” bought by BT [Updated: Confirmed]

Updated with a response from the company.

Ribbit, a company that has styled itself “Silicon Valley’s first phone company,” has been purchased by BT, the dominant British telecommunications company, we’re hearing.

[Update: A company spokesperson has gotten back to us denying that there’s been an acquisition. However, the company wouldn’t comment on whether or not acquisition talks were taking place. There are a few possibilities here. One is that it my source (and I) are completely wrong… Continue Reading

Motorola buys into industrial wireless with Apprion investment

Apprion, a Moffet Field, Calif. company that makes wireless integration systems for harsh environments like industrial plants, has raised a new round of funding led by a strategic investment from cellular giant Motorola.

Plants are a little different from your standard wireless environment — temperature extremes, toxic chemicals and dangerous equipment are all par for the course, and the average worker isn’t exactly lugging around a laptop. That being the case, the requirements for networking are… Continue Reading

Rosum raises $15 million for mobile GPS alternatives

Rosum has raised $15 million to invest in its navigation technology which is an alternative to global positioning system (GPS).

The Redwood City, Calif., company uses signals embedded in broadcast TV signals to fix the location of different moving objects. It serves as an alternative to GPS because it works in areas where GPS devices can’t get a clear view of satellites in the sky.

The company is focusing its efforts on femtocell, voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP), and… Continue Reading

Ribbit, “Silicon Valley’s first phone company”

Ribbit is a remarkable new company, and it knows it: It calls itself “Silicon Valley’s first phone company.”

That sounds like marketing overreach for a young company barely launched, but when you look at what it’s doing, you can see why they can get carried away.

Ribbit, based in Mountain View, Calif., has developed technology, built on years of prior work of its founders, that lets a developer insert phone software into any Web application. The developer… Continue Reading

QSecure raises $5M for card authentication

QSecure is a Los Altos, Calif. company that has devised a security measure to prevent theft of credit and debit card information.

The company’s technology centers around a tiny electronic chip embedded in the card’s magnetic strip. When the card is swiped for a transaction, the chip causes part of the strip to change, making each transaction unique.

The $5 million funding was the company’s third. Existing investors Allegis Capital, Societe Generale, UMC Capital and Worldview Technology… Continue Reading

Roundup: Brightroll, Tumblr, Collective, Veeker, MobileEye, all raise cash

Here’s the latest action:
1) Brightroll raises $5M for video ads
2) LGC Wireless acquired for $169M plus
3) InterviewUp, answers for job interviews
4) Alibaba.com to go public
5) Yahoo’s CMO leaves, without explanation
6) Tesla’s shocking $1M crash tests
7) Tumblr, Collective Media, Veeker, MobileEye, BioFuelBox, GameLayers, Shooner, all raise cash
Boston’s Entrepreneur site

Brightroll serves billionth video ad, raises $5 million – The mark comes less than six months after serving half that number. The San Francisco company, which helps large… Continue Reading

Staccato raises $17.5M for wireless device technology

Staccato Communications, a San Diego, Calif. maker of semiconductors and equipment that wirelessly connect devices to personal computers, has raised $17.5 million in financing, bringing its total to $53 million.

Investors include Allegis Capital, Bay Partners, Charles River Ventures, Formative Ventures, Interwest Partners and Vision Capital.

Apprion, industrial wireless application network co., raises $12M

Apprion, a Moffett Field, Calif. company that develops wireless application networks for the oil, gas, chemical and power industries, will announce tomorrow that it has raised a $12 million second round of funding.

This round is led by Anvil Investment Associates, and includes participation from strategic investor CTTV Investments, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures, and previous investors Advanced Technology Ventures and Allegis Capital.

From the statement:

“This round of funding firmly validates Apprion’s technology and… Continue Reading

Collinear raises $3.1M for TV and projection technology

Collinear Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif. company developing high-power RGB illumination (see definition) based on semiconductor lasers and non-linear optical technology, has raised $3.1 million in a second round of funding.

Investors are Tallwood Venture Capital and Allegis Capital, according to PE Week Wire.

The company is focused on the television and front projection markets, and says it is developing technology that will improve cost and performance.

Collinear was originally funded in December of 2004, with the same… Continue Reading

Inertia raises $8M to help wineries market online

Inertia Beverage Group, a Napa, Ca. company that helps wineries market their wine online to consumers, retailers and restaurants, has raised $8 million in a second round of funding led by Allegis Capital and Sid R. Bass Associates.

Here is the statement, and here’s a snippet:

Winery direct sales to consumers have exploded over the past five years leaving many wineries across the globe with the challenge of managing data and customers coming in from various points… Continue Reading

Visto, Silicon Valley’s most controversial company

The mobile email company, Visto, has become one of the most controversial companies in Silicon Valley.

The Redwood City company has reportedly raised another $35 million in venture backing led by new investor Altitude Capital Partners, adding to the whopping $350 million the company has already raised. It is in the red, after ten years, and hasn’t announced a major customer in several months. Its penchant to file lawsuits is also worrying, and we’ve said before… Continue Reading