Teranetics scores $2M for Ethernet chips
Teranetics, maker of chips that allow 10-gigabit Ethernet signals to be transmitted over copper wire, has brought in $2 million of a targeted $12.3 million round of equity, debt, rights and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. The San Jose, Calif. company was previously backed by Columbia Capital, GGV Capital, Global Catalyst Partners, LSI Logic, U.S. Venture Partners and Venrock.
RuggedCom buys WiMax equipment provider WiNetworks
RuggedCom, a public company that makes networking equipment that works in unfavorable environments, has acquired WiMax equipment developer WiNetworks for $9 million. It will also take on $5 million in debt from the Israeli company. Rugged hopes that the deal will add to its arsenal as it eyes the burgeoning Smart Grid sector. Many networking companies are looking to ride the wave toward a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid, offering their services to help transmit… Continue Reading
Sylantro and BroadSoft merge to form VoIP powerhouse
The voice-over-internet-protocol space just got less crowded. Big name BroadSoft has just acquired long-time competitor Sylantro Systems for an undisclosed sum. The merger may portend many to come for VoIP companies in 2009 as the recession encourages further consolidation, industry insiders predict.
BroadSoft and Sylantro are unique in that both enjoyed generous venture backing going into the deal — raising $72 million and $113 million respectively to date. Even though it brought in less, Broadsoft was… Continue Reading
Tilera launches new generation of multicore embedded chips for communications
It isn’t easy to establish a custom chip architecture these days. But Tilera has managed to do that in the past year and now it is moving on to its second generation of products.
Today, San Jose, Calif.-based Tilera is launching two models of its new TilePro family of chips for telecom and networking infrastructure where energy-efficient performance is paramount. The chips are based on the custom Tile architecture that Tilera debuted a year ago.
If Tilera… Continue Reading
Envysion raises $3M to manage video surveillance
Envysion, a company that provides equipment and software to manage video surveillance systems, has raised $3 million in a third round of funding. The round came from existing investors, led by Columbia Capital with High Country Ventures, Bear Equity and angel investors participating.
Louisville, Colo.-based Envysion says it’s a pioneer in providing “managed video as a service,” which takes applies the “software as a service” business model to video surveillance. The company has raised a total… Continue Reading
Turbine picks up $40 million, keeps mum about its next steps
Jim Crowley, the CEO of Turbine, isn’t an easy man to get a straight answer from. I heard that his company, which makes “massively multiplayer online” games such as “The Lord of the Rings Online,” was raising a new round of venture capital about a month ago. That’s a big deal, since Turbine is one of the big success stories in this industry and raising a new round could mean big new projects are in… Continue Reading
MMO game publisher Turbine raising $40M; former CEO launches Play Hard Sports
Turbine, a game publisher that makes massively-multiplayer online games but may soon be enacting a major strategic shift, is in the process of taking $40 million in new funding led by Granite Global Ventures, according to Dan Primack.
While its Lords of the Ring Online: Shadows of Angmar computer game franchise has found success, expectations are that the company will move toward the console market. Primack also speculates that it could be preparing to take a… Continue Reading
Avatar company Gizmoz raises $6.5M
Gizmoz, an Israel-based company that lets you create 3D avatars, has raised $6.5 million in a second round of venture funding.
DoCoMo Capital — a subsidiary of NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest cell phone operator — led the round, which Gizmoz plans to use for expansion in Asia. ngi capital and previous investors Benchmark Capital and Columbia Capital also participated.
Gizmoz is also unveiling a new partnership with AOL, which will allow AOL Instant Messaging users to animate… Continue Reading
Chip company Teranetics raises $25M
Teranetics, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip company, has raised $25 million in a fourth round of funding, PEWire reports. The company has raised $53 million since 2003.
The current round included Columbia Capital, Granite Global Ventures, Global Catalyst Partners, Venrock and U.S. Venture Partners.
Teranetics serves the 10-gigabit Ethernet copper channel market. Read our previous coverage here.
Mobile Posse raises $10M for mobile advertising
Mobile Posse is a mobile advertising firm that claims to deliver targeted advertising, as well as “idle screen interactive content delivery,” which takes advantage of the time a customer is not directly using a phone to display ads.
The McLean, VA company recently signed on with its first carrier, Revol Wireless, an operator in Ohio with about 250,000 customers.
Softbank Capital led the $10 million second round, with Court Square Ventures and Columbia Capital also participating.
Investors back mobile ad company, Millennial — forgive fake ad counter
Millennial Media, a Baltimore, Md., company that serves ads to mobile phones, has raised a $15 million a second round of funding.
A bunch of companies have launched to grab a portion of the lucrative mobile ad market. The cut-throat competition has pushed companies like Millennial into aggressive marketing tactics that cross the line. Earlier this year, we caught the company running a fake ad counter on its home page, which gave the impression of many… Continue Reading
Imagine raises $15M more, for yet another video streaming technology
Imagine Communications, a company boasting powerful new streaming technology for home broadband providers, has raised a $15 million second round of financing.
The San Diego, Calif. company has R&D in Israel. The round was led by Court Square Ventures, and included previous backers Columbia Capital and Carmel Ventures.
The firm was founded by Ron Gutman and Doron Segev, previously at BigBand Networks, a company that has sued Imagine for patent infringement.
From the company’s statement:
The new financing will… Continue Reading
Zayo Bandwidth raises $225M for fiber-based networks
Zayo Bandwidth, a Louisville, Colo. regional provider of fiber-based network services, has raised a whopping $225 million in private equity funding.
See the story in Rocky Mountain News.
It has quietly snatched up four fiber-optic networks in the eastern U.S. in recent months, the story says.
Lead investors in Zayo are Oak Investment Partners, Columbia Capital and M/C Venture Partners. Other investors are Colorado-based Centennial Ventures and Battery Ventures. The holding company is called Communications Infrastructure Investments… Continue Reading
Gizmoz offers fun avatars
Gizmoz, of Israel, launches a service tonight that lets you create avatars that are more realistic and full-featured than those of competitors such as Voki or Meez.
You load your own photo, and Gizmoz morphs it into a three-dimensional image. You can dress it with a range of accessories — wigs, clothes, hair, makeup, skin color, and even make finer edits, such as facial changes. (See screen-shot at bottom of the Gizmoz creator page). You can… Continue Reading
College music site Ruckus raises $10M
Ruckus, which provides college students free unlimited PC and laptop download access to more than two million songs, has raised $10 million in a second round of financing.
The service is apparently making headway on competitor Napster, which offers a similar service. Earlier this month, Penn State dropped a partnership with Napster, in favor of Ruckus — because Ruckus did not charge it for the contract.
However, there’s no sign the company is making headway on revenue…. Continue Reading
Avail Media, a provider of Internet TV services to broadband operators, raises $17M
Avail Media, a Reston, Virginia provider of IPTV and advanced media services to broadband operators, said it has raised $17 million in Series-B venture financing.
The round was co-led by Washington, D.C. area funds Novak Biddle Venture Partners and Columbia Capital,
Avail Media was founded in early 2007 as the result of the merger between Auroras Entertainment and Broadstream Communications.
The company is led by CEO Ramu Potarazu, who told VentureWire (sub required) separately that the company’s… Continue Reading
Are the mobile advertising upstarts out of control?
Serving ads on mobile phones is a lucrative business, forcing companies with a stake in the game to engage in aggressive marketing — perhaps too aggressive.
Millennial Media, one of a handful of Young Turks targeting this market, is a case in point. The company, which recently raised $6.3 million, has just launched a marketplace for advertisers and publishers that has a fake ad counter on its home page.
In its fervor to stay up with aggressive… Continue Reading
Tilera, secretive ASIC fabless semiconductor co., raises $20M
Tilera, Santa Clara, Calif. ASIC fabless semiconductor startup, has raised around $20 million in a second round of funding, according to PE Week.
Columbia Capital led the deal, and was joined by return backers Bessemer Venture Partners and Walden International, PE Week said. The company is run by Bessemer operating partner Devesh Garg.
This follows after the company reportedly raised a first round less than a month ago. We’re not sure if we’ve gotten the rounds mixed… Continue Reading
Roundup: Amazon-TiVo video punch, Metacafe’s woes, Google’s tracking & more
(Updated) roundup of latest tech stuff:
Amazon.com answers Wal-Mart on video downloads — There are so many video download services, it’s easy to get jaded. Wal-Mart just announced its own download service, but the test site looks awful (it still badly garbled as of this writing). A more promising video service is the offering by Amazon Unbox to download movies directly to your TiVo. This is significant: It’s the first service letting people watch regular TV programming… Continue Reading