Enterprise software maker CubeTree grows with $8M
CubeTree, a company that makes free collaboration and social networking software for enterprises, has brought in $8 million in a second round of funding. Based in Redwood City, Calif., the company is backed by InterWest Partners — the firm that led the round — and Trinity Ventures. Lotus Corporation founder Mitch Kapor has also contributed to the $12 million CubeTree has raised to date.
Founded just last year, the company helps other small businesses set up… Continue Reading
Alvine gobbles $21.5M to treat gastrointestinal disease
Alvine Pharmaceuticals, developer of drugs for autoimmune and gastrointestinal diseases, has raised $21.5 million more in first-round funding, bringing the total to $47.5 million. The San Carlos, Calif. received the expansion from Panorama Capital, InterWest Partners, Prospect Venture Partners, Sofinnova Ventures, Black River Asset Management and Flagship Ventures.
Gear6 takes $4M for caching technology
Gear6, provider of caching technology that stores data in centralized locations, has brought in $4 million of an anticipated $12.7 million in a first round of stock and promissory notes, according to a regulatory filing with the SEC. While investors in the round weren’t listed, the Mountain View, Calif. company was previously backed by Horizon Ventures, InterWest Partners and U.S. Venture Partners.
Pelican scoops up $7M for computational cameras
Pelican Imaging, a company specializing in computational cameras, has brought in $7 million in a first round of funding, according to PE Hub. Recent backers of the Soquel, Calif., company include Granite Ventures and InterWest Partners.
New funds puff up Cloud9 for business intelligence software
Cloud9 Analytics, maker of software that aggregates business intelligence for company leaders, has raised an undisclosed amount in second-round capital from InterWest Partners and Leapfrog Ventures, reports VentureWire. Both firms had also supplied the San Mateo, Calif. company’s $5 million first round of financing in 2007.
Cloud9’s software is based on change detection. For example, its primary application crawls data on Salesforce.com, alerting managers to any changes occurring on their teams and in their sales pipelines…. Continue Reading
Autonomic snags $20M to treat headaches
Autonomic Technologies, maker of implantable devices that can soothe severe headaches, has raised $20 million in a second round of funding led by InterWest Partners. The Menlo Park, Calif. company is one of three biotech firms InterWest has recently backed, including antiviral creator Eiger BioPharmaceuticals and autoimmune drug maker Lycera.
Previously, Autonomic raised a $5 million first round of capital from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and the Cleveland Clinic.
LensX Lasers nabs $22M for eye surgery lasers
LensX Lasers, a maker of surgical lasers used to repair cataracts, has brought in $22.36 million in a second round of funding from Versant Ventures, InterWest Partners and SV Life Sciences. Based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., the company was founded by the same team as similar startup IntraLase, which was bought by Abbott Medical Optics for $808 million in 2007.
Eiger snaps up $7.1M to treat hepatitis
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, developer of treatments for strains of hepatitis, announced that it brought in $7.1 million in first-round funding from InterWest Partners and Vivo Ventures. The Palo Alto, Calif. company will use the new money to push its lead compound — which targets hepatitis C — through its pipeline. It is also working on treatments for hepatitis D and various other viruses, it says.
Eiger spun out from research conducted on hepatitis C at Stanford University…. Continue Reading
Exalt musters $15M for wireless backhauling
Exalt Communications, a company that transmits wireless data through microwave radio systems to relieve congestion on regular networks, announced today that it brought in $15 million in third-round funding to expand its “backhauling” systems globally. The Campbell, Calif. company claims that demand for its products is on the rise as mobile users increasingly swap high-bandwidth data, including text messages, photos and video.
Its licensed and license-exempt microwave radios cover from 2 to 40 GHz, allowing for… Continue Reading
InterWest funds Exalt to meet rising backhauling demand
Exalt Communications, provider of wireless backhauling services, is one of five companies sharing a $21 million investment from InterWest Partners, reports VentureWire. Neither the amount of the investment nor its intended purpose have been disclosed.
Based in Campbell, Calif., Exalt has witnessed an increase in demand recently as more people send rich media — videos, photos, texts — through regular wireless networks. Accordingly, backhauling has become even more critical to keep networks congestion-free. Backhauling refers to… Continue Reading
Satori brings in $22M to stop Alzheimer’s in its tracks
Satori Pharmaceuticals, a company that says it’s developing drugs with the potential to actually stop Alzheimer’s disease in its early phases — an unprecedented claim — landed $22 million in second-round funding to push its products through a first battery of tests.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., the firm has broken away from the usual drugs, like Pfizer’s Aricept, that slow the symptoms but don’t address the base-level process of the disease. Most of these treatments have… Continue Reading
SpectraLinear nabs $9.8M for computing timers
SpectraLiner, a company that provides internal clocking devices used in computing and internet communications systems, has raised $9.84 million in third-round funding, according to peHUB. It hasn’t disclosed plans for the new money but currently has six products on the market.
The Santa Clara, Calif. firm had previously raised $28 million and a $3 million bridge loan. Its investors include Horizon Ventures, Cypress Semiconductor, InterWest Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Velocity Interactive Group.
Bivio nets $15.8M for flexible networking systems
Networking systems developer Bivio Networks just took in $15.8 million in a round led by Silver Creek Ventures and including new Japanese investors Itochu Techno-Solutions Corporation and Cross Technology Partners, as well as existing backers InterWest Partners, Storm Ventures, Venrock and Goldman Sachs. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based company builds systems through Linux that can be used for security, management or compliance purposes. It will use its new financing to expand sales overseas.
Tween mobile provider Kajeet bags $1M
Kajeet, the cell phone service provider for kids and tweens, closed a $1.05 million second-round of venture backing to continue product and market development. The Bethesda, Md.-based company is coming off a big win last week, striking a deal with Amazon to sell its phones through the site’s wireless store (it also landed a coveted spot on Amazon’s holiday toy list).
It’s currently selling four different youthful models on the site — built by Samsung, LG… Continue Reading
Staccato, Artimi merge to keep UWB efforts alive
Ultra-wideband chip makers Staccato Communications and Artimi announced that they have merged, adopting the name of the former. The new entity also received $20 million in new equity funding, allowing it to refocus its energies on the top products from both companies.
San Diego-based Staccato plans to roll out new products utilizing both its existing chip technology and Artimi’s wireless USB offerings, the company says. It’s questionable whether the combined forces will fare any better than… Continue Reading
Double down? Spin in? New questions for a new economy
[Editor's Note: We focus a lot on how hard it must be to raise money as a startup in this economic climate, with little attention paid to how agonizing it must be for VCs to pick and choose who is to survive. Below, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Bruce Cleveland offers his take on what firms are looking for, even though it might be too much to ask -- including some thoughts on spin-in startups and... Continue Reading
Video processor maker Silicon Optix sells assets and tech to IDT
Silicon Optix, developer of high-definition video processors, has sold out almost entirely to Integrated Device Technology (IDT) for an undisclosed amount. The sale includes the transfer of intellectual property and engineering teams in addition to its Emmy-winning products (it was awarded for producing sharp picture quality).
San Jose, Calif.-based IDT, which specializes in semiconductor solutions for the digital media industry, says the acquisitions — including two flagship brands, HQV and Reon — will complement its existing… Continue Reading
HD electronics maker VizionWare short circuits
VizionWare Inc., a producer of cables and adapters, has shuttered — and fast. The announcement went out today and the company’s website has already disappeared. Attributed to disappointing sales in Blu-ray connectors, its close leaves investors who contributed $21 million since its 2002 founding out in the cold, including Novus Ventures (with a 27 percent stake), Access Venture Partners, DFJ Mercury Venture Partners, Individuals’ Venture Fund and InterWest Partners.
The Austin, Tex.-based company started to unravel… Continue Reading
Avaak brings in $7M to prep wire-free camera
Avaak, a creator of video networking technology, received $7 million in its first round of private funding — money that will go toward putting the finishing touches on its new camera system, the Vue Personal Video Network. Even though it was initially developed for homeland security purposes, the company is now touting the Vue as a “lifestyle product” for regular consumers.
The company hasn’t revealed much about the camera, slated to launch in early 2009, except… Continue Reading
New $32M round helps APT battle lung transplant rejection
APT Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that it has raised $32 million in its second round from a flock of investors led by Three Arch Partners, and including InterWest Partners, Pinnacle Ventures, Charter Life Sciences, Great Point Partners, Versant Ventures and Vivo Ventures.
APT, headquartered in Burlingame, Calif., develops drugs to combat lung diseases. Currently, the spotlight is on a compound that could prevent lung transplant rejection. The company plans to use the $55 million brought in… Continue Reading