Teachscape buys Edgenuity for teacher accountability software
Teachscape, a consultancy that provides online training to school teachers, has announced its purchase of Edgenuity, maker of software that helps schools craft instruction plans. The San Francisco-based firm plans to use its acquisition’s technology to build a web-based platform for school districts to measure how well their teachers and curricula are performing, enforcing a greater degree of accountability. Financial terms of the all-stock deal have not been disclosed.
Called the Edgenuity Achievement Suite, the software… Continue Reading
JS-Kit nabs SezWho as blog comment services converge
Blog commenting services have been consolidating over the past year, thinning out a once crowded market. Most recently, JS-Kit, maker of blog widgets for polls, ratings and comments, acquired competing commenting company SezWho — which itself absorbed blog semantic search firm Tejit last May. And just last fall, Wordpress parent company Automattic bought comment provider IntenseDebate. No financial terms were disclosed for any of these deals.
JS-Kit says it will keep the SezWho service live for… Continue Reading
Koofers raises $500K to pass along old exams, study guides
Every high school and college campus has unofficial channels for swapping old exams, opinions about teachers, study guides and grim grade distribution tales. Now online student community Koofers aims to centralize all of this on the web — and it just racked up a $500,000 tranche of an anticipated $2 million first round to expand to new campuses.
The site targets professors as well as students, and all members can upload documents relevant to courses and… Continue Reading
JackNyfe takes $3.8M for link social networking
JackNyfe, the developer of an application that lets users rate, search, copy and comment on links on any web site within a social-network framework, has raised $3.8 million in second-round funding from Altos Ventures and undisclosed others, reports peHub. Not much is known about the Hillsborough, Calif. company. Even its site is pretty spare, except for the careers section, which lists several engineering and design positions.
JS-Kit, the widget company for dummies, gets boost
JS-Kit, the Silicon Valley company that makes it easy for bloggers to add comments, polls, product reviews or ratings system to their websites, has gotten a boost when it most needs it.
It has raised $3.6 million in a second round of funding led by Altos Ventures, right when the climate for getting such capital is turning harsh. With the market turning downward and venture investors renewing their focus on profitability, many widget companies aren’t likely… Continue Reading
Trilibis raises $5.7M to support more mobile apps
Phone application publisher Trilibis Mobile announced that it just brought in $5.7 million in second-round funding to enhance its current platform. Altos Ventures led the round, followed by ATA Ventures and several individual contributors.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based company provides a platform called SmartPath that allows businesses to customize, distribute and update a range of mobile applications tailored to their needs. The money will go toward developing a new and improved version of SmartPath capable of… Continue Reading
Demandbase launches lead generation platform with Adobe funding
Here’s an interesting new use of Adobe’s AIR platform for creating hybrid web/desktop applications. With a free AIR app called Demandbase Stream, users can watch in real-time as other businesses visit their websites, then use that info to pursue a sale. The data scrolls across the bottom of their screens like the CNN news ticker, and when you see something interesting, you can look up relevant contacts via the Demandbase Central Platform.
With Stream, chief executive… Continue Reading
Business software company Provade raises $3.3 million
Provade offers web-based software to help businesses better manage goods and services procurements. Its software is based on Oracle’s software platform, and like many startups that make their money from serving Oracle’s clients, it is based in San Mateo, Calif., near Oracle headquarters.
It has raised $3.3 million in funding from Altos Ventures, one of its existing investors.
WhiteHat Security secures $7M
WhiteHat Security, a provider of website security services has raised a fourth round of funding.
Claiming to be the only complete solution for website security, the company’s WhiteHat Sentinel service is a subscription-based service that offers control of site vulnerabilities that are customer-controlled and expert-managed.
This new funding will be used to expand on service such as its Sentinel program.
This $7 million round was led by Horizon Ventures and existing backers Altos Ventures, Garage Technology Ventures and… Continue Reading
CrownPeak raises $6M for web content management
CrownPeak, a startup that offers online software to help companies manage their web content, has raised $6 million in a second round of funding.
This round brings CrownPeak’s total funding to $10.25 million. It was led by SunAmerica Ventures, with backing from existing investors Sigma Partners and Altos Ventures.
The Los Angeles startup says its customers include 3M, Hyundai Motors and Home Depot. Through its website ContentManagement.com, CrownPeak also offers a more affordable solution for small- and… Continue Reading
Outspark out to change online game culture
Outspark, a rapidly growing community games publisher with one million users in just five months, is out to change the online game market.
Based in both San Fransisco and Seoul, Korea, Outspark wants to challenge the subscription-based model of Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) games that’s predominant in the U.S. by offering games for free and getting revenue from the sale of virtual goods instead of subscriptions.
It’s a model borrowed from the highly successful Korean and Chinese… Continue Reading
Accelovation raises $4M for online software for IT market research
Accelovation, a Mountain View, Calif. maker of online software for researching emerging technology markets, has raised $4 million in a second round of funding.
This is the worst name for a company we’ve heard in a while. It is meant to be a joining of the words “acceleration” and “innovation.
Thomvest Ventures led the round with a $2 million investment, VentureWire (sub required) first reported this morning. Other investors included Altos Ventures and individuals.
Thomvest and Altos invested… Continue Reading
Roundup: Warner CEO changes online music stance, engineers become scarcer, and more
Here’s the latest action:
1) Warner CEO praises Apple, DRM-free music
2) VMWare is after your engineer blood
3) Berners-Lee warns of walled gardens
4) Microsoft completes $47M acquisition
5) Another VC speaks in favor of taxing himself
6) Joost rolls out new ads
7) Billeo raises $7M for easy payment
Warner Music CEO now supporting DRM-free music, iTunes – “We used to think our music was perfect just the way it was … of course, we were wrong,” said Warner Music CEO Edgar… Continue Reading
Data protection company Guardian Edge raises $13.5M
GuardianEdge, a San Francisco company offering data protection software for large businesses, has raised $13.5 million in a second round of funding. The investment was led by Cargill Ventures, and first announced in May.
The company says its software is used to ensure compliance with consumer privacy policies and to secure mobile computing. Customers include Lockheed Martin Corporation, Deutsche Bank AG and Humana Inc, it says.
Yesterday, PE Wire said Thomvest Ventures Inc. Altos Ventures and… Continue Reading
Outspark raises $4M to bring Korean games to U.S.
Updated
Outspark, a company with offices in Seoul, Korea and San Francisco that hopes to help publish Asian multiplayer online games in English, said it has raised a $4 million first round of financing from Altos Ventures and Doll Capital Management (DCM).
Outspark hopes to distinguish itself by offering Asian game developers a platform and other services for the complicated translation process. Han Kim, partner at San Francisco’s Altos Ventures, said the driving assumption is that… Continue Reading
Consumer product manufacturing software co., DemandTec, buys deal management co., Tradepoint
DemandTec, a San Carlos maker of software for retailers and consumer products manufacturers, said it has acquired TradePoint Solutions, of Pleasanton, which makes deal management software linking manufacturers, sales agencies and retailers.
The TradePoint software application will now be marketed as DemandTec TradePoint.
DemandTec raised around $50 million in venture funding from firms like Altos Ventures, Athena Technology Ventures, Cargill Ventures and Crosspoint Venture Partners.