Meebo partners with Hearst Magazines Digital Media, teen girls rejoice and chat
Meebo, the company that powers social interaction through instant messaging and group chat on its own and partner sites, has partnered with Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines. Seventeen.com and Popularmechanics.com are two of the digital media properties that are integrating Meebo’s chat and instant messaging services to drive users to the sites and create active, passionate communities.
The key reason Hearst entered the deal is to increase engagement on its sites, according… Continue Reading
Palo Alto Networks pulls in new funds to ride out recession
Bracing for the downturn, Palo Alto Networks has added $10 million to the third round of financing it announced in August.
Lane Bess, chief executive of the enterprise firewall and security firm, raised $27 million just a few months ago but felt it was prudent to raise more. He said that the company was taking the advice of one of its venture capital investors, Sequoia Capital, which advised clients to hunker down in a now-famous presentation… Continue Reading
Cisco acquires email startup PostPath for $215M
Networking giant Cisco Systems has agreed to acquire an email startup called PostPath for $215 million.
To explain the acquisition, Cisco touts PostPath’s security, scalability and compatibility with other email solutions — the Linux-based email service’s interoperability with Microsoft Exchange has been a selling point in the past. Cisco says it plans to incorporate the Mountain View, Calif. startup’s email and calendaring features into its WebEx software (acquired by Cisco last year), which is trying to… Continue Reading
Microsoft acquires DATAllegro data warehouse appliance company
Microsoft has acquired data warehouse appliance maker DATAllegro in an attempt to strengthen its presence in the enterprise business intelligence market.
DATAllegro specializes in large-volume, high-performance data warehouse appliances with anywhere from 1 terabyte of data to hundreds of terabytes. Microsoft said the addition of DATAllegro means that its SQL Server product will now scale to large-scale data warehouses. Microsoft said it would retain most of DATAllegro’s team in Aliso Viejo, Calif.
Terms of the deal were… Continue Reading
Planning for IPO, Mimosa raises another $17M for electronic archiving
Corrected
Mimosa Systems, a startup that helps companies archive emails and other files, has raised a $17 million fourth round of funding. Mimosa calls the latest financing a “mezzanine round,” meaning it should be the last round before an IPO.
The kind of comprehensive archiving that Mimosa offers is necessary for the “eDiscovery” process — namely, the process of searching through a company’s electronic records. With the growing number of legal requirements for corporate record-keeping, including the… Continue Reading
FireEye raises $14.5M for botnet protection
FireEye has raised $14.5 million in a third round of funding to continue its efforts to protect consumers and businesses from “botnets”, which are networks of infected and remotely controlled computers.
Ashar Aziz, the company’s founder and chief executive, says FireEye complements traditional antivirus and security programs. Not only does the Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup focus on botnets — which can be used for crimes ranging from identity theft to government espaionage — it’s also unique… Continue Reading
E-commerce company MarketLive raises $20M
MarketLive, a provider of e-commerce retail technology and services, has raised a new $20 million round of financing. Backers include new investors JAFCO Ventures and Northgate Capital, as well as Sequoia Capital, Sigma Partners, Globespan Capital and others.
MarketLive was founded in 1995, and it’s still growing. The Foster City, Calif. company says it added 33 new brands to its portfolio and launched 56 new sites last year. This is MarketLive’s fifth round of funding, according… Continue Reading
Aperto Networks, a WiMax equipment maker, gets $20M
Aperto Networks might come across as a new startup, having been in the wireless headlines lately with WiMax product announcements. However, the company is nine years old and has taken a massive $159 million in venture funding since its inception.
It makes WiMax base stations and network equipment for purposes ranging from residential-size deployments to full scale commercial. It also makes a base station that supports both fixed and mobile WiMax at the same time.
The $20… Continue Reading
Voltage raises $12M more for encryption technology
Voltage Security, a Palo Alto, Calif. company that offers encryption technology to large companies to protect their data, said it has raised $ 12 million fourth round of financing.
Trident Capital led the round with participation from existing investors including Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Cipio Partners and JAFCO Ventures. Peter T. Meekin, Managing Director at Trident Capital, joins the Voltage Board of Directors.
The company recently said it saw record financial performance for… Continue Reading
JAFCO Ventures raises $150M fund
JAFCO Ventures, a Palo Alto venture capital firm with ties to an established venture firm in Japan called JAFCO, said it has raised $150 million to invest in technology companies.
General partner Joe Horowitz said the firm invests in the communications, components, digital media, Internet, software and wireless sectors. While it invests in U.S. companies, it seeks to help those companies with business development in Japan and Asia. It is the four-year-old firm’s third fund. Its… Continue Reading
41st Parameter raises $10.07M more for anti-fraud software
41st Parameter, a Scottsdale, Arizona company that helps retail companies prevent online fraud, said it has raised $10.07 million in a third round of funding.
The financing was led by JAFCO Ventures, with participation from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Norwest Venture Partners.
The company’s statement is here.
It has now raised around $25.5 million in total VC funding since 2005, and its valuation post-money is now $56 million, reports Dow Jones’ VentureWire (subscription required).
The 41st Parameter… Continue Reading
GTronix, fabless chip company, raises $10.25M more
GTronix, a Fremont, Calif. fabless chip company, has raised $10.25 million in a third round of funding, according to a regulatory filing cited by Pe Wire. Jafco Ventures was joined by return backer Menlo Ventures.
Solidcore raises $10M for tracking changes across IT systems
Solidcore Systems, a Palo Alto, Calif. provider of technology that tracks and controls changes across a company’s IT systems, has raised $10 million in a fourth round of venture capital financing.
The round was led by JAFCO Ventures, and included existing backers Matrix Partners, Menlo Ventures and Sevin Rosen Funds. Total financing to date is $40 million and, according to a statement by the CEO to VentureWire, the latest round saw a valuation increase of 20… Continue Reading
Mimosa raises $17M for email archiving
Mimosa Systems, an email archiving company based in Santa Clara, has raised $17 million in a third round of financing, and plans to use the cash expand into Europe and Japan.
The market for archiving is strong, and Mimosa trails companies such as Zantaz, of Pleasanton, which said it has sales exceeding $100 million last year (there’s a good story about email archiving in the Merc, which includes a look at Zantaz).
Mimosa’s funding, reported by VentureWire… Continue Reading
Oodle, giving you classifieds — with a touch of help
updated
Oodle, the San Mateo, Calif. online classifieds company has oodles of competition, but venture capitalists have invested $11 million more to help it stand out.
On its face, Oodle is not that different from Craigslist, and other classifieds startups, such as Edgeio, LiveDeal and Vflyer, to name a few.
But Oodle, which announces its new financing tomorrow, is using the money to offer tools to help you make better buying decisions. Take its car classifieds, for example…. Continue Reading
Infinera, optical networking company, files for IPO, at long last
Infinera, the Sunnyvale, Calif. fiber-optic equipment company that says its technology is superior to existing offerings, has filed to go public, submitting its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise about $150 million.
It isn’t profitable, but sales are showing momentum.
It brought in $44.3 million during the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to just $4.1 million for all of 2005. The company had losses of $89.1 million for last year.
There’s a good summary of… Continue Reading
GroundWork Open Source, an IT management co., raises $12.5M
GroundWork Open Source, a San Francisco open source IT operations management company, has raised a $12.5 million in a third round of financing, according to VentureWire (sub required)
The round was led by new investor Jafco Ventures, and included SAP Ventures and existing backers Canaan Partners and Mayfield Fund. The company has raised a total of $24 million, VentureWire said.
Devicescape connects your device to WiFi hotspots
Devicescape releases a software today that connects any of your WiFi devices automatically to a WiFi hotspot or muni network.
This is significant, because more cellphones are being equipped with WiFi, as the cost of WiFI chips hit bottom rates of $2. And by accessing WiFi with a Skype or other Internet (VoIP) phone, you can make cheap calls.
The service, a software download, automatically detects when there’s a Wifi network nearby; you can set the… Continue Reading
Digital display component co., Miradia, raises around $15M
Miradia, a Sunnyvale start-up building digital micro displays components, has raised around $15 million in third-round funding, according to PE Week. Return backers include Global Catalyst Partners, Jafco Ventures, Sequoia Capital, VentureTech Alliance and Worldview Technology Partners, the report said.