Mimosa gulps $1.6M to archive data
Mimosa Systems, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based company that provides software for data archiving, has brought in $1.6 million in debt, rights and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. It is backed by August Capital, Clearstone Venture Partners, Dot Edu Ventures, Focus Ventures, Jafco Ventures and Mayfield Fund. It has now raised $21.6 million to date, including $3 million secured in June.
Adchemy raises $31M to increase online ad spending
Adchemy, a marketing firm trying to convince more major brands to advertise online rather than through traditional channels by offering advanced data analysis, has brought in $31 million in venture financing from Accenture, Mayfield Fund and August Capital. Based in Redwood City, the company has now raised $58 million total, from other backers including Hellman & Friedman, Google AdSense co-founder Georges Harik, Half.com founder Josh Kopelman, and other individual investors.
GroundWork lays claim to $5M for IT operations management software
GroundWork Open Source, a provider of open source systems and network management software, announced today that it raised $5 million in a fourth round of venture funding. The San Francisco-based company plans to use the money for further product development.
The round was led by Canaan Partners, and included existing backers Mayfield Fund, Jafco Ventures and SAP Ventures. It last raised financing in February 2007, bringing in $12.5 million.
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
Nokeena Networks renames itself Ankeena Networks
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nokeena Networks, a company that serves online video content at large scales and television quality, has changed its name to Ankeena Networks to avoid a trademark dispute, reports the San Jose Business Journal. No other details were provided except that the new name is the Hindi word for “eyes” — symbolic of the sights it gives its customer base, the company says.
The company has raised $15.2 million to date from Clearstone Venture… Continue Reading
LV Sensors shutters, looks for buyers for assets
LV Sensors, provider of semiconductor technology for wireless sensors used in cars, has closed its doors and is pursuing buyers for its intellectual assets, reports VentureWire. Based in Emeryville, Calif., the company had no choice but to shutter after failing to raise more capital in the spring. Its past backers include Mayfield Fund, U.S. Venture Partners and Panorama Capital, contributing a total of $27 million.
ONStor sells for $25M, taking $105M in capital down with it
ONStor, the ill-fated maker of data storage equipment for enterprises, has sold to software provider LSI Corporation for about $25 million, a paltry sum compared to the $130 million in venture capital it raised since its founding in 2001.
The big losers in the deal are ONStor’s fairly prestigious investors, including Foundation Capital, Velocity Interactive Group, Mayfield Fund and Worldview Technology Partners, among others.
Signs of trouble arose in April 2008 when the Campbell, Calif., company yanked… Continue Reading
Narus beefs up network security with $8.7M
Narus, provider of intelligence software to monitor network traffic and boost cyber security, has raised $8.7 million in a recapitalization round from American Capital, Mayfield Fund, NeoCarta Ventures, Panorama Capital and Walden International. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company has previously raised $90 million over five rounds of funding, reports VentureWire.
Narus says it will use the new financing to add to its sales headcount to keep up with steadily growing demand. With more enterprises relying on networking… Continue Reading
New York sues social network Tagged for alleged email invite scam
Even though it’s based in San Francisco, social network startup Tagged is getting busted by the state of New York for scraping users’ address books to send out millions of new invites. Spearheaded by attorney general Andrew Cuomo, the suit alleges that the company used deceptive marketing practices and invaded users’ privacy to “artificially inflate traffic on the site.” On top of snagging users’ personal contacts without their knowledge or permission, Tagged sent promotional emails… Continue Reading
Mimosa raises $3M for data archiving
Mimosa Systems, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based company that provides software for data archiving, has brought in $3 million in debt, rights and securities, according to VentureWire. While the investors in the round were not disclosed, the company has received $17 million in a fourth round of funding in the past from August Capital, Clearstone Venture Partners, Dot Edu Ventures, Focus Ventures, JAFCO Ventures and Mayfield Fund.
Voxeo buys messaging platform IMified
Communications service provider Voxeo announced that it purchased IMified, a hosted development platform for instant messaging applications, for an undisclosed amount. The deal is part of a broader acquisition startegy for Voxeo, which has already gobbled up two companies this year and has designs on three more. It hopes to provide its customers with more conversational modes of communication over any medium.
Voxeo has remained fairly immune from the downturn, seeing a 105 percent jump in… Continue Reading
TimeBridge raises $5M to make scheduling business meetings easier
TimeBridge, a startup that helps coordinate business meetings, announced it has raised $5 million in a second round of funding.
The company’s key idea is that it doesn’t want to replace the calendar you already use; instead it wants to connect your calendar with everyone else’s schedule, regardless of what software they’re using. TimeBridge integrates with products like Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, and Apple iCal. That should mean more schedule sharing and automatic calendar updates, with… Continue Reading
CPower snags $10.7M to reduce corporate energy use
Energy management firm CPower, which helps businesses optimize their operations while reducing their energy use (and glean financial rewards for doing so), has raised $10.68 million in a second round of capital from Mayfield Fund (in its first energy investment), among others. The New York-based company will use the fresh financing to develop its technology offerings and expand to other regions.
CPower specializes in turn-key energy solutions, meaning that businesses can adopt its systems and practices… Continue Reading
Rubicon Project raises more money, says ad optimization business is looking up
For many young companies in the advertising industry these days, the recent economic downturn is ugly.
But the Rubicon Project, a company that helps take ads from ad networks and place them on publishers’ web sites, says it grew revenue by 150 percent in the first quarter of this year over the fourth quarter of 2008.
It’s not disclosing how much money that is — but any growth is decent considering overall advertising slowed sharply by the… Continue Reading
Data switch-maker Hammerhead dead in the water
Telecom data-switching company Hammerhead Systems has folded due to the poor economy, reports VentureWire. Specifically, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company failed to recruit enough mobile carriers as customers for its Ethernet aggregation switches, which rout data from mobile users back to operator networks.
The company claims this functionality helped carriers adapt aging equipment to modern traffic demands — but to no avail. It just let go 50 of its 53 employees, and the several that remain… Continue Reading
Roundup: Brin backs Parkinson’s study, iPhone gets shakable ads, and more
Google co-founder backs major Parkinson’s study – Sergey Brin says he plans to contribute money and DNA to a study run by his wife Anne Wojcicki’s startup 23andMe.
Dockers introduces shakable iPhone ad — Users can shake their iPhones to make urban street dancer Dufon perform his moves. The ad was created by mobile ad company Medialets.
Twofish launches analytics platform for social games — The company’s Elements platform will help social game and virtual world developers understand and make… Continue Reading
Zenprise nabs $10M for automated mobile troubleshooting
Zenprise, a company that has automated troubleshooting processes for mobile phone customers, just raised $10 million to grow its sales and marketing operations, as well as its presence in the U.S. and abroad. The Fremont, Calif.-based company says it monitors mobile phone systems and can provide step-by-step resolution instructions to smartphone customers encountering problems, thereby lightening the load of calls into IT and customer support teams.
Mobile management products are in greater demand than ever before,… 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
Deca.tv snaps up $10M for online production studio
Deca.tv, the web site of the Digital Entertainment Corporation of America, just brought in $10 million in a second round of funding to produce and distribute video content across the internet.
Based in Santa Monica, Calif., the company is the brainchild of Sony Pictures alums Chris Kimbell and Michael Wayne, who were interested in creating professional-grade digital shows for a variety of other web properties. They already have a project with popular blog BoingBoing in the… Continue Reading
Mayfield brings cleantech sector expert on board
Mayfield Fund announced today that it’s hired Coskata founder Todd Kimmel, a specialist in cleantech investing, to expand its portfolio of energy technology companies. Before now, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based firm has focused almost exclusively on demand-side opportunities — companies that offer ways to gauge and reduce energy consumption. The addition of Kimmel, who has experience working with renewable energy providers, will help Mayfield address the supply side of the equation, says managing director Navin… Continue Reading