Ubicom snaps up $4.4M for home networking processors
Home and entertainment processor maker Ubicom, known for making silicon chips used in consumer products like wireless routers, has brought in $4.4 million of a targeted $10 million round of preferred and common stock, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in San Jose, the company is backed by August Capital, Investorcorp Technology Partners, Tenaya Capital (formerly Lehman Brothers Venture Partners), Mayfield Fund and Levensohn Venture Partners. It last raised capital in January, bringing… Continue Reading
Satmetrix takes $1M for customer loyalty software
Satmetrix Systems, a Foster City, Calf. company that rovides customer loyalty software, has raised $1 million in debt financing, according to a regulatory filing. VentureBeat last covered it when it acquired its rival Informative in 2007. It has raised about $30 million from Aspen Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Stanford University and Siebel Systems (since acquired by Oracle), and $75 million from New Enterprise Associates, Walden International, Apex Venture Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds, Crystal Internet Venture… Continue Reading
ShotSpotter refines gunshot sensors with QinetiQ buy
ShotSpotter, maker of sensory systems used to detect gunshots, has acquired technology from British defense firm QinetiQ for an undisclosed amount. The deal will extend ShotSpotter’s reach into new markets, including law enforcement and military combat.
The Mountain View, Calif., company provides equipment used to pinpoint the exact location of gunshots, allowing authorities to properly respond. Unsurprisingly, its roster of 40 customers includes city governments, police departments and military groups. Its sensors are currently active in… Continue Reading
Ubicom rakes in $7M for home networking processors
Processor provider Ubicom, known for making silicon chips used in consumer products like wireless routers, announced that it raised $7 million in a fifth round of financing from August Capital, Mayfield Fund, Levensohn Venture Partners, Lehman Brothers Venture Partners and Investcorp Technology Partners. This brings its total capital raised close to $140 million since its founding in 1996.
Also big news for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Ubicom is the promotion of Gangesh Ganesan, formerly vice president of sales… Continue Reading
Recession: A good time to trade money for power?
[Editor's Note: There's been so much doubt and hysteria surrounding the recent economic downturn that few have turned their eyes to the opportunities actually being provided by the crisis. Below, venture capitalist Pascal Levensohn explains why he's more optimistic about the startup climate than ever. He also cites a counter-intuitive Harvard Business School study on employee motivations that he says predicts some shakeups in the coming months and year.]
Is it possible that tough economic times… Continue Reading
Content delivery company Radiance sells to Comcast for $5M
Radiance Technologies, a Santa Clara, Calif. company that builds systems to help large companies distribute video and other digital information, has sold to Comcast for $5 million, Multichannel reports. Investors will be marking this one in the loss column. The company, founded in 2000, had raised a total of $26 million from Sutter Hill Ventures, Vanguard Ventures, Levensohn Venture Partners, ChevronTexaco Venture Equities and Net Partners
ShotSpotter picks up $7.5M for gunshot sensing
ShotSpotter, a Santa Clara, Calif. startup that can help police and other security forces detect and triangulate gunshots in real-time, has raised $7.5 million for sales, marketing, and international expansion, in its fourth funding to date.
The technology ShotSpotter has developed is conceptually simple: A network of audio sensors attached to phone lines or wireless communication devices is spread across an area, generally within a city. When shots are fired, the sensors pick up the sound,… Continue Reading
Microsoft buys ad yield company Rapt
Microsoft has acquired ad pricing software company Rapt for an undisclosed amount.
San Francisco-based Rapt’s software helps web sites get the most money out of their ads through pricing and other strategies. Microsoft says it will include Rapt’s technology in its Atlas Publishing Suite.
We previously covered Rapt after two of its co-founders sued the company’s chief executive and investors Accel Partners and Levensohn Venture Partners for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud. They settled 10 days… Continue Reading
Capella wires in $15M more for optical switches
Capella Intelligent Subsystems makes optical switches for traffic management in optical networks. Their switches have the ability to be wavelength-selective, allowing higher level monitoring and routing capabilities.
The company has been around for some time, having been started in 2000 and funded with $44 million. We reported last year that it had jump-started its sputtering operations with a fresh $20 million infusion.
Lucas Venture Group led the latest investment of $15 million, while previous investors Levensohn Venture… Continue Reading
Levanta raises $8M for Linux data center automation
[Update: Previous backer Morgenthaler Ventures did not participate in the latest round, according to a report by Dow Jones.]
Levanta, a San Mateo, Calif. provider of Linux data center automation, has raised $8 million in new VC funding from Levensohn Venture Partners, vSpring and Walden International.
Here’s a copy of the statement.
Here’s a snippet:
Specialists in Linux data center automation, Levanta marries virtualization technology with comprehensive Linux life-cycle management. Levanta’s Linux data center automation solutions offer system monitoring,… Continue Reading
Customer loyalty company Satmetrix Systems buys Informative
Satmetrix Systems, a Foster City, Calif. company that provides a customer loyalty service software, has acquired Informative, a South San Francisco online customer loyalty company, according to PE Wire.
No financial terms were disclosed. Satmetrix has raised around $30 million in VC funding from firms like Aspen Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Stanford University and Siebel Systems.
Informative had raised around $75 million from firms like New Enterprise Associates, Walden International, Apex Venture Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds, Crystal… Continue Reading
BroadLogic Network raises $17M more for cable provider chip
BroadLogic Network Technologies, a San Jose, Calif. company that makes a video-processing chip that lets cable providers upgrade their networks to provide faster internet access and more high-definition television content, has raised a $17 million round of financing.
Comcast, the nation’s leading cable provider, led the round, which included cable operator Advance/Newhouse and existing investors Intel, Cisco Systems, Time Warner Investments, Levensohn Venture Partners, Rho Ventures, Walden International and Presidio.
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 28… Continue Reading
ShotSpotter, gunfire tracking company, raises $12 million
ShotSpotter, a Santa Clara, CA, company that enables police departments and the military to locate the precise source of gunfire, has raised $12 million in its third round of financing.
The technology, which is deployed in neighborhoods throughout 15 American cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, and DC, enabled the capture of a top-10 most wanted fugitive, provided the first physical evidence in the Ohio sniper case, and caused a decrease in gunfire by some 60… Continue Reading
Capella, optical switch company, restarts with $20M
Capella, a provider of optical switches for broadband networks, said it has raised $20 million of equity and debt financing in what amounts to a financial restarting of the company.
Capella sells wavelength selective switches (WSS) for use in reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADM) applications.
The funding was was co-led by Levensohn Venture Partners and Rustic Canyon Partners and included funding from Formative Ventures, as well as participation by existing investors. Square1 Bank provided the banking and… Continue Reading
Dave Duffield’s return, Mobile YouTube, Visto’s bulldog & more
(Updated) end of week roundup:
Peoplesoft founder Dave Duffield launches new company, Workday — Some details have already leaked out, but the launch announcement coming is Monday. No surprise that it’s related to his former love, Peoplesoft, which got gobbled by nemesis Oracle — something he says he he took pretty hard. Duffield, who always loves to rally the troops, is back at it again: Workday is doing the sort of back-office software stuff that Peoplesoft was… Continue Reading
Roundup of best Silicon Valley news: YouTube, FON, Ning & more
Catching up:
YouTube is making $7.5 million a month –Everyone has been guessing whether YouTube is profitable, given the high costs it faces hosting all its videos. This guy says YouTube is doing $7.5 million a month in ads, and is profitable.
FON, the company that wants to encourage people to share their WiFi routers, having problems? — The general manager of US division has left. We’re beginning to think this Fon idea my be too clunky to fly…. Continue Reading
Rapt co-founders sue Accel & Levensohn for playing hardball
Two co-founders of Rapt have sued the company’s chief executive and venture capital backers, Accel Partners and Levensohn Venture Partners for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud.
Rapt is a San Francisco company that provides software to help companies find the right price for their goods to maximize profits.
It is another one of those stories we are getting familiar with in the valley — where start-up founders get washed out of their ownership holdings, while venture… Continue Reading
Zend raises $20 million to ride the Web 2.0 “PHP” boom
Updated
Zend Technologies, the Cupertino start-up that sells software to develop Web sites based on the popular PHP scripting language, has raised $20 million in a fourth round of venture capital (release here).
By raising so much cash, the company must be aiming to produce a substantial return to make it worthwhile for its investors. It had already raised $16 million.
PHP is hot right now. Zend supports open source PHP initiatives, but it also offers commercial PHP… Continue Reading