Plugg conference finalists to present in Brussels: Discount for our readers
In Brussels on March 12, Plugg, the European startup conference organized by TechCrunch’s Robin Wauters, promises to be an excellent event with a host of knowledgeable speakers and lively competition.
Wauters has extended a 15 percent discount off the €450 registration price. Simply head on over to the sign-up page hosted by Amiando and enter the promotional code plugg09-media-venturebeat at the bottom.
Presenting at the event will be some of Europe’s most prolific tech pundits, each of… Continue Reading
CloudSwitch secures $7.4M for stealthy cloud software
CloudSwitch, a Waltham, Mass. company that creates cloud management software, just brought in $7.4 million in first-round funding to continue development on several stealthy projects. Little is known about what may distinguish its products from those offered by similar cloud firms RightScale, Hyperic and Amazon Web Services, only that they “will help enterprises dramatically reduce costs,” according to its web site.
The company, backed by Atlas Ventures and Matrix Partners, also says it’s hiring but doesn’t… Continue Reading
Xelerated raises $13 million for fast networking chips
Xelerated, a maker of networking chip sets for carriers, has raised a $13 million round from its existing investors.
Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund led the round. Others included Accel Partners, Alta Partners, Amadeus Capital Partners and Atlas Ventures.
The company said in a news release that proceeds of the round will be used to develop its network processors and Ethernet switching chips. It will also expand sales and support overseas. The company’s chips are application-specific standard… Continue Reading
Big companies line up to invest in cellulosic — Mascoma is latest beneficiary, gets $81M
With oil past $120 a barrel and possibly headed to $200, cellulosic ethanol companies are looking like a smarter investment choice every day. Following the increase of Range Fuels’ second funding to $166 million, its competitor Mascoma has pulled the wraps off an $81 million funding of its own, with $10 million coming a major oil and gas producer, Marathon Oil Corporation.
Range, Mascoma, Coskata and others are all racing to raise huge amounts in an… Continue Reading
Mascoma takes on $50 million more for cellulosic ethanol
Mascoma, an East Coast biofuel startup with a multi-pronged approach to commercializing cellulosic ethanol, has just become one of the most heavily funded companies of its kind with a $50 million funding reported by peHUB.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., Mascoma is in the process of building several demonstration-scale ethanol plants in three other states: Michigan, New York and Tennessee. It’s partnered with a variety of different corporations and universities at each location.
What that boils down to… Continue Reading
Lilliputian Systems, a fuel-cell maker, adds on $20M
As the name implies, Lilliputian Systems is developing tiny fuel cells that the company says will be usable in consumer electronics like cell phones and laptop computers.
Although secretive, the company has made claims that its butane-fueled cells will be far cheaper, and run for much longer, than current battery technology. It has not yet announced plans to manufacture or sell the cells.
Lilliputian is backed by Atlas Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Rockport Capital Partners,… Continue Reading
Songbird, a browser-integrated media player, received $8M last year
Although we reported in October 2006 that Songbird had taken $1 million from Atlas Ventures and Sequoia Capital, it apparently only took another two months for the company to land another $8 million.
The funding in December 2006 came from the same two funds, according to TechCrunch. It remained unreported, until now.
Songbird works within Mozilla Firefox as an open platform that developers can use to integrate a customized media player into their own website. By working… Continue Reading
Video site Dailymotion raises $34M to grab lead in Europe
Dailymotion, a Paris, France-based video-sharing site that’s a distant competitor to YouTube, has raised $34 million in funding, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The site, like many others, lets you share personal videos privately with friends or publicly with anyone. Like its competitors, people can also comment on each other’s videos, embed Dailymotion video clips in other sites, tag videos, view selected channels, etc.
However, Dailymotion has distinguished itself by tailoring its site to country locations…. Continue Reading
Arca Discovery raises $18M for cardiovascular drug
Arca Discovery, a Denver developer of a next-generation beta blocker for heart failure, raised $18 million in a second funding round. (The release is out, but not yet available on the Web.) The round was led by Skyline Ventures and joined by Interwest Partners, Atlas Ventures, Boulder Ventures and the Peierls Foundation.
Later this year, Arca plans to file for FDA approval of bucindolol, a failed beta-blocker designed to lower heart rate and blood pressure in… Continue Reading
Xelerated raises $23M for network processor
Xelerated, a Santa Clara, Calif. company that makes a high-speed processor for corporate and metro networks, said it has raised a $23 million round of financing.
The round was led by the Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund (the Sixth AP Fund), and included existing investors Atlas Ventures, Alta Partners, Accel Partners and Amadeus Capital Partners.
Here’s the announcement.
The company has now raised about $80 million since 2000.
Music player Songbird gets $1M, releases cross-platform version
Songbird, the San Francisco start-up that has made a smart music player that searches and plays music on your desktop and on the Web, has raised about $1 million from Atlas Ventures and big name venture capital firm, Sequoia Capital.
It will soon unveil its second release, which has some cool new features. Songbird originally played only on windows, but the coming version will play on other operating systems, including Mac OS and Linux. It began… Continue Reading