VentureBeat

Mobile search and advertising company Jumptap has raised $26 million in a fourth round of funding led by AllianceBernstein, with all previous investors participating.

The company has positioned itself as an alternative to Google’s search and ad services for mobile devices. The largest carrier in the country, Verizon, is partnering with Google for these services. But Jumptap has business relationships with AT&T and 16 other carriers of various sizes, and has said it reaches around 150 million mobile subscribers.

Jumptap’s other partnerships include a deal with iPhone analytics firm PinchMedia. Startup competitors include Medio.

Previous investors have already put a total of $25 million $73 million into the company, and include: General Catalyst Partners, Summerhill Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Valhalla Partners, and WPP.

Representing a potential medical quantum leap similar to, but even more important than the commercialization of X-ray imaging, Pacific BioSciences has taken a whopping $100 million to make it possible to affordably map out an individual’s entire genome in a matter of minutes, and for under $1,000 dollars.

While several startups, including 23andMe and deCODEme, are already offering cheap genetic testing for individuals, the technology Pacific Bio is looking at is about as different from those as looking at a satellite image of a town is to walking through it. The company is working on a system to “read” each DNA letter in a person’s genetic makeup, providing an in-depth view of every factor affecting a given person’s health.

The idea sounds fairly simple: Individial DNA molecules are captured in tiny holes on a chip, where they are pulled apart and rebuilt with enzymes identical to those present in the body, but with the addition of chemical markers. A type of digital camera takes a picture of the process, identifying the specific fragment being looked at. We covered the technology in more depth when it was first revealed, and have mentioned various competitors, most notably Complete Genomics and BioNanomatrix, who want to do sequencing for under $100.

In practice, of course, operating at such tiny scales is difficult, and accurately sequencing thousands of genes at once seems nearly impossible. But the company says it will be ready to commercialize by 2010, a Herculean feat if it can pull it off. The new funding indicates that it is at least gaining the confidence of venture capitalists.

If and when that happens, it will be time for early investors including Alloy Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Mohr Davidow Ventures — who collectively plowed more than $70 million into Pacific Bio over four previous rounds — to rake in the money.

However, it will just be the beginning for a whole new field of medical technology centered around finding uses for all the new information in individuals that becomes available. Preventative medicine is the obvious use, but others, like data mining for new cures and information on diseases, are also possible. Laws regulating the use (and misuse) of such information by insurers, employers and others will also have to be formulated.

A passel of new investors joined the funding, starting with co-leads Deerfield Management and Intel Capital. Also in were Morgan Stanley, Redmile Group, T. Rowe Price, and an unnamed “large financial institution.” Other previous investors Maverick Capital, AllianceBernstein, DAG Ventures and Teachers’ Private Capital also participated.

Obopay, the Redwood City, Calif. company that lets you send payments to people from a mobile phone, has raised $29 million more in a third round of funding.

The service launched last year, and it’s not clear how much traction it has. The funding announcement was made quietly, after the fact (see wording), quite low-key given the intense competition the company is facing in mobile payments. There are at least eight other players, ranging from Google and PayPal, to smaller players like Kushcash (coverage here), Paymate (coverage here), Danal, PaymentOne, Payoneer and Vivotech (all covered or mentioned here). Granted, they each have their own strategy and focus.

We previously wrote about the company here, mentioning its BREW technology. It previously raised $17 million

Richmond Global Cellular led the round, which included AllianceBernstein L.P., Citi, Societe Generale and others. Previous investors Qualcomm and Redpoint Ventures also participated, the company said.

In May, Google Checkout announced its support of mobile payments. Last month, PayPal launched its mobile payment version, however only announcing it officially this Tuesday (see eweek article).

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, a Philadelphia-based maker of “molecular imaging agents” that help highlight diseased tissue in various medical scans, raised $26 million in a third round to develop early-detection products for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

AllianceBernstein and Safeguard Scientifics led the round. Previous investors including Pfizer Strategic Investments Group, the venture arm of Pfizer; Lilly Ventures, the venture arm of Eli Lilly; RK Venture Group; and BioAdvance also joined the round.

Avid’s development efforts are focused on new imaging agents for neurological problems. It recently announced initial positive results for AV-1, its lead compound for imaging the clumps of beta-amyloid protein that are often characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.

The company’s release on the funding is here.

Portola Pharmaceuticals, a South San Francisco, Calif., biotech aiming to develop treatments for blood clots and other heart-related problems, raised $70 million in a third round of financing dominated by late-stage and public-market investors.

Among new investors in the round were Brookside Capital; AllianceBernstein; Teachers’ Private Capital, the private investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; Goldman Sachs, T. Rowe Price, IBTM and CIDC. They were joined by existing investors Abingworth, Alta Partners, Advanced Technology Ventures, Frazier
Healthcare Ventures, MPM Capital, Prospect Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures.

Portola plans to use the funding for additional clinical trials of its two leading drug candidates, both experimental blood thinners targeting different blood proteins that promote coagulation. PRT054021, an oral molecule that inhibits Factor Xa, showed promising signs in a recent mid-stage human test, and will advance into further clinical trials. Meanwhile, PRT060128, which prevents blood platelets from aggregating, has completed early trials and should move into mid-stage testing by the second half of 2007. Should they receive regulatory approval, both compounds would compete with blood thinners already on the market.

Portola aims to go public and may do so as early as next year, the company’s chief financial officer, Mardi Dier, told VentureWire (subscription required).

Brightcove, a company that gives media outlets and other businesses a platform to deliver online video, has raised a whopping $59 million in a third round of funding.

Amid the trend of consolidation hitting the sector, this funding will help tide the company over. There are oodles of other companies doing something similar, from Twistage, to Reality Digital, vSocial and GridNetworks.

Besides, no one can afford to let Brightcove go under. All kinds of media groups are using Brightcove technology to get online, and they’re investing in it too. They include customers The New York Times Company, and Transcosmos Investments & Business Development, which participated in the latest investment. With so much capital, though, you have to wonder whether Brightcove will ever be able to return a profit on the investment.

AllianceBernstein, Brookside Capital, and Maverick Capital led the latest investment. Other investors include Accel Partners, Allen & Company, AOL, General Catalyst Partners, The Hearst Corporation, and IAC/InterActiveCorp.

We first wrote about Brightcove here.

[Update: Bambi Francisco says the value of the company, after the investment, is $220 million]