Ad network Ecast raises funds to the tune of $17M
Ecast Network, a San Francisco-based company that disseminates advertising through digital juke boxes, has brought in $17 million in a round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. It is backed by Crosslink Capital, DCM, El Dorado Ventures, LG Electronics, Foundry Group, Focus Ventures and Mobius Venture Capital. It raised $12.3 million last May, and $20 million in 2006.
E-Cast snags $17M for bar and club entertainment
E-Cast Media, a company that provides interactive media in the form of music, videos and games to display monitors located in bars, clubs and other entertainment venues, has brought in $17 million in equity, according to a filing with the SEC.
Based in San Francisco, the company is backed by Crosslink Capital, DCM, El Dorado Ventures, Focus Ventures, Doll Capital Management, Mobius Venture Capital, LG Electronics, Escalante Capital Partners and Foundry Group. It has raised... Continue Reading
Technorati raises $2M more
Blog search engine Technorati has raised $2 million in new funding from existing investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mobius Venture Capital, and others. The San Francisco company has now raised more than $32 million.
The funding was first reported in TechCrunch, and Technorati has confirmed the news. The company just launched the revamped blog rankings that we wrote about earlier this month.
Visage Mobile returns from the dead to focus on corporate phone management
Visage Mobile, former maker of software for mobile virtual network operators, unraveled a while ago, selling off most of its assets despite raising upwards of $90 million in venture capital. But now it’s reemerged with a new $2 million and a new business plan — software to help IT directors manage their employees’ mobile phones, reports VentureWire.
By recapitalizing, the San Francisco company was able to buy out its past investors that objected to its... Continue Reading
Trilliant buys SkyPilot to extend its smart grid reach
Trilliant, provider of devices and networks that allow smart meters to beam energy data directly to utilities, has extended its reach with the acquisition of SkyPilot Networks, provider of mesh broadband coverage. No financial terms have been disclosed. Both companies had previously raised a substantial amount of capital.
Based in Santa Clara, Calif., SkyPilot specialized in broadband networks for surveillance data and other municipal applications. It served more than 500 customers in 50 countries. The... Continue Reading
Return Path seals $6M for email management
Return Path, a company that manages marketing emails, announced that it brought in $6 million in a fifth round of financing, reports peHUB. Its investors include Union Square Ventures, Mobius Venture Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures and Western Technology Investments.
Based in New York, the company offers an array of services, including whitelisting of secure or trusted email transfers (much like Goodmail’s blue-ribbon service ). Actually, Return Path seems to be profiting from a candle burning... Continue Reading
Newsgator’s focus on RSS for business is paying off
RSS services provider Newsgator has focused much of its effort over the past year on developing products for businesses, and that effort seems to be paying off. The last two quarters were the company’s most profitable ever, partly because it has landed major clients across industries like finance, manufacturing and aerospace. It has also closed a $10 million sixth round of funding from Masthead Venture Partners, Mobius Venture Capital and Vista Ventures, and existing investors.... Continue Reading
Dogster still has its bite despite the downturn
Dogster, the social network for dogs and their owners, just converted $425,000 in bridge funds into additional first-round financing, reports VentureWire. After a profitable 2008, raising a second round isn’t as pressing, the company says — citing a broader trend of success for sites catering to pet enthusiasts.
The San Francisco company, which also operates Catster.com, has enjoyed high advertising CPMs for a while now — with a $2 floor, CPMs on its homepage range... Continue Reading
Reactrix shutters — but interactive ads are still coming to a floor near you
Reactrix Systems, a company specializing in interactive projected advertisements in malls and movie theaters, has folded despite $75 million in venture backing. Last month, the Redwood City, Calif. company spent what remained of a $45 million fourth-round of funding received in 2006, and has so far been unable to sell off its technology and other assets, reports VentureWire.
This is a shame, considering how downright cool its premise seemed to be. Ads served by... Continue Reading
Quova lets websites know where you are
Geolocation software developer Quova launched its new On-Demand service today, providing websites with the ability to pinpoint their users’ locations, and use this data to customize their content and applications.
The Mountain View, Calif. company gives businesses the tools they need to help their users find local information (weather and nearby stores, for example) on their websites. Quova says the technology could also come in handy in checking out potential fraud by giving e-commerce sites... Continue Reading
Technorati raising $10M to keep tracking blogs
Formerly a media darling, but now mostly overlooked, San Francisco-based Technorati has plugged on nonetheless. The blog search engine has raised $7.5 million of a fresh $10 million round, according to documents unearthed by peHUB.
Technorati has spent a couple years casting about for a business model, but appears to finally be finding its way, with the help of raw data. As we recently reported, Truviso used the company to... Continue Reading
Location-based software provider deCarta raises $10.5M
Mapping platform maker deCarta has raised $10.5 million of a planned $21 million in a new third round of funding, according to Private Equity HUB. Backers include Norwest Venture Partners, Mobius Venture Capital and Cardinal Venture Capital.
The San Jose startup has created a platform and software that companies can use to integrate mapping, routing and spatial search into their application. DeCarta says its technology has been used by Google, Ask.com, Verizon and Sprint. Last... Continue Reading
SkyPilot Networks gets $3.4M for municipal WiFi
Municipal WiFi just won’t die. The scheme has failed in city after city, even stumbling in tech-heavy Silicon Valley, yet companies have continued, on and off, to get funding. The latest is SkyPilot Networks, with a comparatively small $3.4 million (compared to its $70+ million total).
SkyPilot makes broadcasting equipment like base stations, as well as tools for mesh networks like antennae. It’s mesh networks, in fact, which are driving... Continue Reading
CapitalStream sells to HCL Technologies for $40M
Founded before the dotcom boom, Seattle-based CapitalStream managed to pull in $75 million in funding during that era from a number of funds, most of whom subsequently abandoned the investment prior to a restructuring of the company.
The company makes a product called FinanceCenter that is used by financial institutions in the “front office,” where consumer and commercial lending operations take place. HCL, which is based in India, will help expand sales outside the US.... Continue Reading
NewsGator, finding success with business customer, raises financing
RSS services company NewsGator has gained a promising number of business clients even as its consumer-focused feed reader services face increasing competition from Google, Yahoo and others.
RSS, often called Really Simple Syndication, has proven to be a key web standard, and NewsGator is one of the many companies to benefit. RSS is a method of formatting data in a software service, such as the text or photo of a blog post, structured so that... Continue Reading
PurpleYogi, the 1999 personalization company, finally hits pay dirt
PurpleYogi, one of the earliest Silicon Valley companies to focus on “extreme personalization of the Internet,” has finally been sold for $158 million after a dramatic series of twists in business strategy.
The Mountain View, Calif., company launched in 1999.
It later abandoned its initial model of focusing on media and consumers, and offers some valuable lessons to today’s entrepreneurs focused on Web 2.0, who may also be panicking for lack of a business model:... Continue Reading
Judy’s Book follows BackFence, collapses
Judy’s Book, a site that let you search business listings for discounts and coupons, has hit the end of a $10.5 million runway and shut down, raising more questions about local business listing and community sites.
The collapse of the Seattle-based company follows the closure of BackFence this summer. BackFence said it had experienced unspecified “internal” problems, suggesting its failure was company specific. But the subsequent failure of Judy’s Book raises more questions about the... Continue Reading
From Mobius Venture Capital ashes, arises Foundry Group with $160M-plus fund
A new venture firm has emerged from ashes of Mobius Venture Capital, a well-known venture firm in Silicon Valley which struggled after it failed to perform after the Internet bubble burst.
A group led by Brad Feld, who was in the Colorado office of Mobius, and who has written a popular blog for the last several years, had formed a new firm called Foundry Group.
PE Wire reports it has raised $158.75 million from limited... Continue Reading
DeCarta, location-based software provider, raises $15M more
DeCarta, a San Jose, Calif. provider of software for the location-based services industry, has raised $15 million in a “Series C-1″ round of funding.
Norwest Venture Partners led the deal, and was joined by existing backers Mobius Venture Capital and Cardinal Venture Capital. DeCarta has raised over $32 million in funding since 2003.
DeCarta says its geospatial software has served Google, Ask.com, Verizon and Sprint. It says its software lets companies “build applications integrating... Continue Reading
Updated: Loyalty Lab raises $7M for online retail customer management
Updated with response from Canaan Partners:
Loyalty Lab, a San Francisco company that provides software to online retailers to help them manage customers and nurture loyalty, said it has raised $7 million in venture capital.
OpenView Venture Partners, of Boston, led the funding.
Its customers include New York & Co., Brookstone, 1-800-Flowers.com and Bally Total Fitness.
In one notable development, the company’s earlier investors, Canaan Partners, Mobius Venture Capital and Outlook Ventures, did not participate... Continue Reading