Link_A_Media takes $18M for data recovery
Link_A_Media Devices, maker of technology used to recover and transmit data on storage devices, has brought in $18 million in a first round of funding. The Santa Clara, Calif. company is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Keynote Ventures, SunAmerica Ventures, and Itochu Technology Ventures.
Navy taps Solazyme to make jet fuel out of algae
The Pentagon announced today that it has chosen San Francisco-based biofuel company Solazyme to supply the Navy with jet fuel made entirely of algae derivatives. This isn’t the first time it has worked with the military, having already had its research and development funded by… Continue Reading
Chevron chips in $25M for biofuel company LS9
LS9, perhaps the company to watch synthesizing biofuels and chemicals from organic feedstocks like switchgrass, has brought in $25 million in a new round of capital from Chevron Technology Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Flagship Ventures.
This is the second big win, the South San… Continue Reading
Skyfire raises $5M more for better mobile browsing
Skyfire, make web browsing on your mobile phone as fast and easy as it is on your desktop computer, has raised $5 million in new funding.
The Mountain View, Calif. company said it had more than 1 million users when it lest beta testing a few… Continue Reading
Lofty valuations aren’t over for everyone — Ning raises $15M, valued at $750M
Ning, a startup that lets users create their own social networks, has raised $15 million in a fifth round of venture funding. The news was first reported in BoomTown, and a Ning spokeswoman confirmed the story.
The round, which comes from Lightspeed Venture Partners, doesn’t seem… Continue Reading
Mercantila lands $1M for retail site network
Mercantila, a San Francisco-based portal of related specialty retail web sites, has brought in $1 million in convertible notes from an undisclosed source. By “specialty” the company means niche — offering a springboard for e-commerce sites selling items like dog beds, massage tables, recumbent bikes,… Continue Reading
Solazyme wins big with $57M for renewable oil
Solazyme, producer of renewable oil derived from algae, just raised $57 million in third-round funding to bring its total capital to more than $76 million. In addition to producing so-called green fuels, the San Bruno, Calif., company is expanding its eco-friendly chemicals business — an… Continue Reading
MyBuys scores $7M for retail recommendation engine
MyBuys, provider of a software service that allows e-commerce sites to make recommendations to customers based on their past purchasing and browsing behavior, has landed $7 million in additional funding.
Based in Redwood City, Calif., the company had previously raised $10 million in 2007 from Lightspeed… Continue Reading
Outbrain, the news story recommendation service, gets $12M
Outbrain, a company that gives blog readers a way to rate and recommend news stories (see its widget at the bottom of this story), has raised another $12 million in a second round of funding.
VentureBeat first covered Outbrain in detail last year. It uses a… Continue Reading
Delphix raises $8M for database management
Stealthy database management startup Delphix has raised $8 million in a first round of funding, according to Private Equity Hub. The Palo Alto, Calif. company’s website doesn’t offer many specifics, but boasts “the enterprise database ecosystem is about to change” and says Delphix’s databases reduce… Continue Reading
Interview with Peter Nieh on using the government to bridge cleantech financing gaps
Peter Nieh is a founder of Lightspeed Venture Partners. The venture capital firm manages over $2 billion in capital and just closed its most recent fund, Lightspeed VIII, worth $800 million, earlier this year. Some of Lightspeed’s hits include Brocade, Ciena, Informatica and Riverbed Technology…. Continue Reading
Kosmix’s new approach to search gets $20M
Kosmix, a search startup that automatically builds pages about any topic, has raised a $20 million in new funding led by Time Warner. That brings the Mountain View, Calif. startup’s total backing to $55 million — pretty impressive, especially for an ad-driven company. It’s also… Continue Reading
Aprius lands $20M for high-speed server interconnects
Aprius, a developer of high-speed bandwidth interconnect systems, brought in $20 million in second-round funding from Menlo Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates. Previously, the Sunnyvale, Calif. company had raised $11 million. Its technology lets companies pool their server resources for fast, communal… Continue Reading
Casual Collective aims to develop addictive casual games
You can credit Paul Preece and David Scott for wasting a lot of your time. They’re the creators of the hit games Desktop Tower Defense and Flash Element TD, two Flash-based games that have been played more than 210 million times.
Hobbyists no longer, the two… Continue Reading
Shufflebrain launches Photograb game on Facebook to train your brain
I’m not a game designer. But imagine a game creation tool so simple and easy that even I can’t mess it up. Shufflebrain has created this tool as part of a game that transforms photo viewing into a fun experience. Within a few minutes, I… Continue Reading
Skyfire opens up its browser for a vastly improved web experience on Windows Mobile and Symbian devices
I’ve been spoiled by the iPhone. When I was using a Windows Mobile device today browsing the web with the mobile version of Internet Explorer, I was just about ready to throw the phone out the window. The experience was horrible. Then I opened the… Continue Reading
Somo Enterprises raises first round for mobile apps
Somo Enterprises has raised $1.55 million in a first round of funding, according to PEHub. The company is based in Palo Alto, Calif. and is working on mobile applications. Backers include The Hit Forge and Lightspeed Venture Partners. It isn’t clear what the company is… Continue Reading
Algal biofuel firm Solazyme scores $45M
Solazyme, a South San Francisco, Calif. company that makes biofuels and other products from algae, has raised $45 million or more toward its latest funding, according to VentureWire.
Early this year, Solazyme entered into a partnership with Chevron to develop its fuels. The company has also… Continue Reading
Identity management startup SailPoint Technologies raises $6.5M
SailPoint Technologies, a company that helps corporations manage issues around identity, user access and regulatory compliance, has raised $6.5 million in a third round of funding. All of the company’s existing investors, including Austin Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Origin Partners and Silverton Partners, participated.
Austin, Tex.-based… Continue Reading
Mobile browser Skyfire comes to Symbian devices. We have 100 private beta invites
The iPhone’s Safari web browser has ignited interest in browsing the “real web” on mobile devices, but it’s not the only mobile browser out there. Skyfire lets you see the web just as you would on your home computer but on a number of Windows… Continue Reading