VentureBeat

eAsic takes $7M for integrated circuit technology

eAsic, provider of integrated circuit technology tailored to specific applications, has brought in $7 million of an expected $12 million round of convertible promissory notes, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., the copany is backed by Advanced Equities, Crescendo Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Evergreen Partners.

The VC walking dead: Extended edition

A couple weeks ago, Dan Primack of PE Hub blogged a list of venture capital firms he termed the “VC Walking Dead” — firms that by all indication appear to still be in business but lack the cash to bring new investments on board. This got us thinking. While Dan’s list included 14 firms, there had to be a lot more out there. Maybe they wouldn’t be big ones, or marquee names, but surely more… Continue Reading

Airband books $3M for its fixed-wireless network

Airband, the Dallas-based provider of a fixed-wireless network for businesses, announced that it brought in $3 million in sixth-round funding from undisclosed investors to continue building out its existing network.

The nine-year-old company gives its clients access to broadband wireless data, voice over IP service, and other network management services. Currently, 3,500 businesses use Airband across 14 US markets.

The company last raised capital in 2007 amounting to $12.5 million. It has raised $73 million to date…. Continue Reading

Metaplace raises more funding to be the MySpace of virtual worlds

Metaplace, a company that will allow anybody to build their own virtual world and access it through through an ordinary web browser, has taken $6.7 million in funding as it nears a public release.

There hasn’t been much hype around Metaplace yet, probably because of the failure of Second Life, There.com and other virtual world companies to take the real world by storm. However, Metaplace looks like one of the more promising companies in a new… Continue Reading

Envivio raises $25M for video compression

Envivio, a South San Francisco, Calif. company that handles video compression for broadcasting companies, has taken a significant $25 million financing.

The platforms that Envivio is aimed at include most of the largest markets — mobile TV, Internet TV and IPTV. The company works with standard video compression codecs like H.264 and Windows Media Video to make content more easily deliverable.

The funding amount is large, but not surprising. As video grows on the Internet, a number… Continue Reading

eASIC announces a 45-nanometer custom design process for smaller fish in chips

The hardest thing about starting a chip company these days is the cost. A big team of engineers has to work for 18 months or more to create a custom chip. Then it takes $1 million for the templates, or masks, that the factory needs to stamp out the chips. It takes 16 weeks for the chips to run through the factory.

The cost can hit $65 million before all is said and done. eASIC, a… Continue Reading

Networking chip firm Arteris raises $7.5 million

Arteris has raised $7.5 million in a third round of financing to fund its networking chip technology.

DoCoMo capital came aboard as a new investor, joining existing investors Crescendo Ventures, TVM Capital, Ventech and Synopsis Inc. in the round, according to VentureWire.

Current customers include STMicroelectronics NV and Texas Instruments Inc. The San Jose, Calif., and Paris, France-based company designs a chip interconnect technology that it licenses to chip design and chip making companies. It allows them… Continue Reading

CoreOptics raises $25M for optical networking systems

CoreOptics designs 10/40/100 Gbps optical networking subsystems for tier-1 networks. Along with sales of optical fiber, the company also makes signal processing technology aimed at lowering error rates in transmission.

Founded in 2001, CoreOptics has taken over $90 million to date. The company is co-based in Nuremberg, Germany and Manchester, New Hampshire, with additional offices in San Jose, Calif.

The source of the the $25 million funding was not disclosed, but CoreOptic’s past backers include T-Com Venture… Continue Reading

eASIC melds custom chips with fast-turnaround approach

Do chip start-ups really exist anymore?

Not seeing many, we were going to propose changing the name of Silicon Valley to Social Networking Valley. But now eASIC, a maker of rapid-turnaround custom chips, comes along to remind us that it’s still possible for start-ups to raise more money in the semiconductor field.

eASIC says today they have raised $48 million in a new round of venture funding from Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The… Continue Reading

ShoZu raises $12M to connect mobile phones to Web

ShoZu, a London-based company that lets users connect their cell phones to social networking sites, has raised $12 million in a third round of funding.

ShoZu was one of the finalists for “best mobile start-up” in the 2007 Crunchies awarded this month. The company says its service lets users transfer photos from their mobile phones to Web sites such as Facebook and Flickr without complicated navigation. Users can also receive copies of their friends’ latest Flickr… Continue Reading

Quorum, cellphone chip maker, sold to Spreadtrum for $70M

Spreadtrum Communications, a Shanghai maker of wireless chips, has acquired Quorum Systems, a San Diego, Calif., CMOS RF transceiver maker, and its unclear whether Quorum’s Silicon Valley  investors were able to make a significant return.

The deal is valued at $70 million including $55 million in cash and $15 million in stock. It also includes a $6 million cash earn-out over two years, based on performance.
Quorum had raised almost $40 million in funding from firms like… Continue Reading

Roundup: [Update: Facebook takes dip, maybe?], Crescendo Ventures, and more

Here’s the latest:

1) Another Googler goes to Facebook, to head its developer platform
2) Facebook traffic apparently took a dip last month — [Update: Or didn't. See Om's update, and a big looping conversation about Facebook on Techmeme]
3) Madonna latest in string of musicians to ditch record labels
4) Mozilla preparing mobile web browser, may improve mobile web user experience?
5) Mixx.com launches to let publishers give users relevant content
6) CBS acquires gossip site Dotspotter for $10 million
7)… Continue Reading

Metaplace, building a universe full of virtual worlds

When Raph Koster spoke to us in December about his startup Areae, he implied that independent games had a greater earning potential than traditional studio-produced games.

Now he’s putting his money where his mouth is, launching the website Metaplace and launching today at the TechCrunch40 conference.

Metaplace, launched by San Diego-based Areae, is a site on which amateur designers can create their own games. The concept may sound familar; similar ideas are in operation at Kongregate and… Continue Reading

Pure Digital raises $40M, its camcorders share with YouTube

Pure Digital, the San Francisco maker of low-cost camcorders, releases tomorrow (Tuesday) a new line of devices that let you upload video directly to YouTube.

Called Flip Video camcorders, they are the first that easily let you upload directly to YouTube. We reviewed Pure Digital in October, when it released a device that let you upload video to Grouper and Google in an easy way. YouTube, at the time, was too distracted with its explosive growth… Continue Reading

QuikCycle, lab automation software co., raises $8.9M

QuikCycle, a Santa Clara, Calif. company that sells software for lab automation and test management, said it has changed its name from Lumenare Networks to QuikCycle.

QuikCycle also said it has raised a $8.9 million round of funding from the struggling venture capital firm, Crescendo Ventures.

The full announcement is here.

Dash fills coffers for Web-connected car navigation

updated

Dash, the start-up offering the first car navigation device designed to be permanently linked to the Internet, has raised $25 million in a second round of funding.

The Mountain View Dash will launch its device in the Bay Area in late April, and nationally this fall, goes up against a host of other market incumbents, none aspiring to be as continuously connected to the Internet.

These other players are Garmin, TomTom and Magellan. Last week, Garmin released… Continue Reading

Next generation game start-ups, Bigdog Games and Areae, raise millions

D2C Games (also known as Bigdog Games) and Areae are two of the latest game start-ups boasting “next generation” technology, and they’ve just raised millions of dollars in venture capital.

D2C, of San Mateo, has raised $1.5 million in a first round of funding (Dan Primack broke the news), but there’s no sign it is moving in the direction of the more recent start-ups, Red 5 (see our story here) and the just-announced Areae. Both… Continue Reading