AOptix nabs $12.9M for eye-recognition
AOptix Technologies, developer of iris-recognition technology and the wireless communication systems it requires, has brought in $12.9 million in a fourth round of funding to build new products. The Campbell, Calif. company says it is in the middle of commercializing its first product, called the InSight 2 Meter Iris Recognition System. It has also benefited from recent defense contracts for its long-distance and high-bandwidth wireless systems.
Northgate Capital led the round, joined by Kleiner Perkins Caufield… Continue Reading
Maxim Integrated acquires Mobilygen for video compression
Surveillance semiconductor company Maxim Integrated Products announced that it will buy private video chip maker Mobilygen for an undisclosed amount. The large public company hopes the acquisition will provide it with the compression technology it needs to make analog security cameras compatible with digital streaming, recording and storage systems.
Maxim is particularly interested in Mobilygen’s technology because it is cheaper to use and requires less power to operate than other solutions, executives at the company told… Continue Reading
Noble Environmental Power files for $375M wind power IPO
Despite a rough market for IPOs — as evidenced by Real Goods Solar’s tough first day of trading yesterday — Noble Environmental Power, an Essex, Conn., wind power startup has filed plans to raise up to $375 million in an IPO
Its share sale will be underwritten by Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan and Credit Suisse; CPP Investment Board is a minority backer. Noble Environmental currently manages 282 MW; its wind farms are located in New York, Michigan,… Continue Reading
SearchMe, a search engine startup with a visual interface and a lot of funding
SearchMe is another search startup that wants to take on Google.
It is a visual search engine, that shows you results in a series of revolving panes, with each pane featuring a search result. In iTunes, this format is used to feature the covers of albums, not search results.
SearchMe also has other potentially useful features. It offers categories to help you find what you’re looking for more quickly. For example, if you type in “labrador puppies,”… Continue Reading
PEAK Surgical’s plasma electrosurgical tools net $21M
Palo Alto, Calif.-based PEAK Surgical, a device company developing new surgical tools that aim to control bleeding via electric energy, raised $21 million in a third funding round. Investors included Signet Healthcare Partners, Lehman Brothers and Venrock Associates.
The company is working on new electrosurgical tools that it says should offer significant improvements over the existing technology for using electric pulses to heat surgical instruments for cutting or coagulation of tissue. PEAK doesn’t go into great… Continue Reading
Lehman Brothers raises $365M venture fund
Lehman Brothers said Wednesday it has raised a $365 million venture capital fund to back mid- to late-stage technology companies.
In a statement sent to VentureBeat, the Boston and Menlo Park, Calif. firm said $75 million was committed by the investment bank itself, with the rest coming from outside sources.
Since launching in 1995, Lehman Brothers Venture Partners has invested in more than 80 portfolio companies, including recent IPO companies such as Isilon Systems (Nasdaq: ISLN), ShoreTel… Continue Reading
Kontera raises $10.3M more for “in-text” ad technology
Kontera, a San Francisco company that helps online publishers scans for key words in articles on their sites and then matches them real-time with relevant “in-text” ads, has raised $10.3 million in a second round of funding.
Investors are Israeli venture firm Carmel Ventures and existing backers Lehman Brothers and Sequoia Capital.
From the company’s statement:
ContentLink, Kontera’s flagship product, is an In-Text ad unit based on a patent pending real-time contextual analysis technology that finds relevant… Continue Reading
KaloBios draws in $20M for antibody drugs
KaloBios, a Palo Alto, Calif., biotech antibody-therapeutic company, raised $20 million in a third funding round. The company is developing new drugs based on monoclonal antibodies, which target specific cells or proteins in the body. Its lead candidate, an antibody against granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, or GM-CSF — a protein that helps regulate the white-blood-cell immune response — is intended to treat a variety of immune-related diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.
Lehman Brothers led… Continue Reading
Mark Logic secures $15M for XML content server
Mark Logic, a San Mateo, Calif. company that sells a XML content server, said it has raised $15 million in a third-round financing, led by existing investors Sequoia Capital and Lehman Brothers.
XML stands for Extensible Markup Language, a language that allows users to share data across different information systems, particularly the Web.
The company’s statement is here.
Mark Logic seeks to let publishers integrate content from different sources, letting them repurpose the content into multiple products… Continue Reading
IPO still on hold, Light Sciences beams up $30M
Snoqualmie, Wash.-based Light Sciences Oncology, a developer of light-activated cancer drugs, raised $30 million in a second funding round, even though it still has an IPO registration on file with the SEC. The latest funding closes out the company’s second round, which includes a $15 million investment by Fidelity Investments I wrote about here.
The company didn’t name its latest investors in its press release, but according to VentureWire they include Lehman Brothers, the hedge fund… Continue Reading
Tumri, the online ad network, raises $10M more
Tumri, online advertising company that lets publishers choose the type of advertisers they want to run in a so-called AdPod on their Web sites, has raised a $10 million second round of funding.
Lehman Brothers Venture Partners led the round, which included existing investors Shasta Ventures and Accel Partners.
There’s a whole gaggle of new advertising networks, perhaps too many, but with merger and acquisition fever raging in this sector, it makes sense that investors double… Continue Reading
AOptix raises $15M more for iris recognition
AOptix Technologies, a Campbell, Calif. company that makes lasers for iris recognition, and which can work from about 60 feet away, has raised $15 million in a third round of funding.
The round was led by DAG Ventures, and included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Clearstone, 3i and Lehman Brothers.
Here is the company’s statement. The company continues to work on its underlying optical broadband technology for other applications.
The company previously raised $27 million.
Aerovance, asthma treatment company, finishes raising $60M
Aerovance, a Berkeley, Calif biopharmaceutical company looking to find a partner for its asthma treatement, Aerovant, reached back to year-old news and announced it has finished raising $60 million in a third round of financing.
There is “substantial very, very strong interest” by pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the asthma treatment, the company told VentureWire (sub required), though no specifics were given.
Here is the company’s announcement of the funding last year.
The company’s drugs target severe… Continue Reading
Jazz Pharmaceuticals files for gutsy $172M IPO
Jazz Pharmaceuticals, a Palo Alto, Calif. company that seeks to license drugs from other companies, buy other drug companies and develop its own drugs, all in the area neurology and psychiatry, has filed for a $172.5 million IPO.
Here is its filing. It is four years old, and lost $81 million last year.
This is largely a financial engineering strategy, and it will be interesting to see whether the public is willing to buy stock in such… Continue Reading
Peak Surgical raises $8M for surgical device
Peak Surgical Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based surgical device startup, has raised around $8 million in Series B funding, according to a regulatory filing cited by PE Week Wire. Backers include Venrock Associates and Lehman Brothers.