Mascoma teams with Chevron to turn ethanol byproduct into diesel and jet fuel

Mascoma teams with Chevron to turn ethanol byproduct into diesel and jet fuel

Soon after announcing funding for Soane Energy — a company working to clean up its oil extraction projects — Chevron released news that it will partner (PDF) with biofuel maker Mascoma to turn lignin, a byproduct of ethanol production, into diesel and jet fuel.

If the… Continue Reading

Live event ticket search engine FanSnap lands $5M

Live event ticket search engine FanSnap lands $5M

FanSnap, one of the more visible startups competing with Ticketmaster as a live event ticket destination (even though it doesn’t sell tickets itself, it just aggregates them), has raised $5 million in a new round of funding from Highland Capital Partners. The site says it… Continue Reading

GE participates in $14.2M for Advanced Electron Beams

GE participates in $14.2M for Advanced Electron Beams

General Electric announced today that it has poured more cash into Advanced Electron Beams (AEB), a company working on making electron beam technology more energy efficient. With electron beams used widely to instigate industrial and manufacturing chemical reactions, the company’s offerings could add up to… Continue Reading

Overseas Craigslist rival OLX brings in $5M to fuel rapid growth

Overseas Craigslist rival OLX brings in $5M to fuel rapid growth

OLX, a self-styled Craigslist competitor that has gained traction abroad, announced that it’s raised $5 million in a third-round of capital to continue its expansion in 87 countries and 39 languages. It will use the money to improve its site and beef up its marketing… Continue Reading

ScanScout nabs $5.1M for contextual video advertising

ScanScout, an online advertising network that places ads in contextually relevant video content, just brought in $5.1 million of an anticipated $8.1 million third round of financing, according to PE Hub. Based in Cambridge, Mass., the company’s backers include General Catalyst Partners, Time Warner, First… Continue Reading

Stealthy decision engine Hunch.com raises $2M

Hunch.com, the secretive self-dubbed “online decision engine,” announced that it brought in $2 million in a first round of funding — even though very little information is available about it anywhere on the web. For now, its web site is simply a form people can… Continue Reading

VC-backed Cash4Gold attracts complaints (updated)

[Updated: Cash4Gold representative Weronika Cwir has responded, and vehemently denied many of the allegations made in this article. She said the main source VentureBeat quoted was a short-term employee terminated by the company who has malicious intent. Below is her response in italics:]

Virtually every point… Continue Reading

Deca.tv snaps up $10M for online production studio

Deca.tv, the web site of the Digital Entertainment Corporation of America, just brought in $10 million in a second round of funding to produce and distribute video content across the internet.

Based in Santa Monica, Calif., the company is the brainchild of Sony Pictures alums Chris… Continue Reading

Underdog Roost lands $8 million for real estate search, foreclosure watch

Underdog Roost lands $8 million for real estate search, foreclosure watch

Roost, a real estate search engine that aggregates listings from the reliable Internet Data Exchange (IDX), has brought in $8 million in second-round funding. At the same time, it announced that new information about 1.5 million foreclosure-related properties will now be available on its web… Continue Reading

Ticket search engine FanSnap scores $5.5M

Ticket search engine FanSnap scores $5.5M

FanSnap, a search engine that helps users find event tickets at the last minute, has landed $5.5 million in second-round financing to finish building out its service (currently in beta), and to add new ticket vendors. The round was led by General Catalyst Partners.

Before you think “Geez, as if… Continue Reading

Mobile search and ad company Jumptap raises $26 million more

Mobile search and ad company Jumptap raises $26 million more

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… Continue Reading

Elemental Technologies raises $7.1M for video software

Elemental Technologies, a Portland, Ore. provider of parallel video processing software, has raised $7.1 million in new funding led by General Catalyst Partners and Voyager Capital.

Elemental says its software can perform video encoding, transcoding and filtering at unprecedented speeds without sacrificing quality by using general… Continue Reading

Low cost, super-efficient solar cells? Newly funded, Wakonda Technologies says it’s possible

Low cost, super-efficient solar cells? Newly funded, Wakonda Technologies says it’s possible

In the solar cell market, there are three broad categories. Thin-film manufacturers produce cells that convert little of the sun’s energy to electricity, but are dirt cheap. Opposite thin-film, companies like Spectrolab and Emcore make highly efficient, but very expensive cells. Between are the standard… Continue Reading

Nanotech chip timing co. Sand 9 raises $8M

Quartz timing is old hat for wristwatches and clocks, but surprisingly enough, it’s still used in state-of-the-art computers. Sand 9 is the latest in a new generation of startups that wants to update timing for silicon chips.

If they’re successful, the cost and form factor for… Continue Reading

Big companies line up to invest in cellulosic — Mascoma is latest beneficiary, gets $81M

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… Continue Reading

E-commerce company Retail Convergence raises $25 million

Retail Convergence is an e-commerce company formed out of one purchase, nine year old off-price retailer site SmartBargains.com, and newly-launched invite only private sale site Ruelala.com.

Investors include General Catalyst Partners, New England Development, Breakaway Ventures and Mugar Enterprises.

Ruelala.com is sort of like invite-only social network… Continue Reading

Price-setting company SignalDemand gets $20M

Price-setting company SignalDemand gets $20M

SignalDemand, a startup that delivers software-as-a-service to help manufacturers set their prices, has raised a hefty $20 million second round of funding.

Chief executive Michael Neal says the money will go toward international expansion and to continue SignalDemand’s “march across verticals.” The company focuses on “disassembly”… Continue Reading

Imprivata, a secure access innovator, raises $15M

Imprivata is a Lexington, Mass. company that is working on single sign-on authentication technology, which consolidates all of a corporate user’s accounts to a single password and adds additional security measures to prevent hackers.

The company’s software works together with physical location trackers like keycards, so… Continue Reading

Mascoma takes on $50 million more for cellulosic ethanol

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… Continue Reading