Envia nabs $7.1M for automotive lithium-ion batteries
EnVia Systems, a supplier of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and fully electric cars has brought in $7.1 million of a targeted $7.7 million round of equity and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Hayward, Calif., the company did not list its… Continue Reading
TC50: Clicker is a TV guide for the Internet age
Clicker, a startup launching at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco today, says one of the problems with watching TV online is figuring out what’s on: Where’s our TV guide for the web? Clicker says it’s the first “structured, comprehensive and unbiased guide for online… Continue Reading
Gov’t shines on Solyndra with $535M loan guarantee
Vice president Joe Biden and Department of Energy Secretary Stephen Chu joined forces this morning to officially bestow the $535 million loan guarantee on Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra, one of the leading makers of cylindrical solar panels. The company plans to build a photovoltaic equipment plant… Continue Reading
EMC gobbles discovery software co. Kazeon
Kazeon Systems, maker of software used to scour and retrieve buried network information for law firms, has been bought by IT giant EMC to beef up its data-search capabilities, and not just in the legal space. Based in Mountain View, Calif., Kazeon had raised $10… Continue Reading
Fortinet buys assets from Ethernet co. Woven
Network security company Fortinet has acquired fabric Ethernet provider Woven Systems to boost the efficiency and speed of its offerings, reports PE Hub. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Woven’s claim to fame is that it makes some of the smallest and densest 10-gigabit network switches in the… Continue Reading
Schooner cruises to $20M for data center equipment
Schooner, maker of servers that incorporate both flash memory and multicore processors for high-speed performance, has brought in $20 million in a second round of financing from Menlo Ventures, CMEA Capital and Redpoint Ventures, reports VentureWire.
Based in Menlo Park, Calif., the company says its servers… Continue Reading
Fanfare Group takes in $7M for equipment-testing software
Fanfare Group, maker of software used to test companies’ networking equipment, has raised $7 million of an expected $9.6 million round of equity. Based in Mountain View, Calif., the company previously raised $12 million in a 2007 third round of funding from Focus Ventures, Matrix… Continue Reading
Scribd to sell 5,000 e-books from Simon & Schuster
Scribd, the site that lets users upload, share and embed documents, first launched its e-books store back in May as a potential competitor to Amazon. Now it has inched closer to its goal with a deal to sell 5,000 titles from major publishing house Simon… Continue Reading
Kazeon captures $10M for advanced search and discovery
Kazeon Systems, a company that specializes in software used for electronic investigations and discovery of buried network information, just brought in $10 million in sixth-round funding from JK&B Capital, Clearstone Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures and Redpoint Ventures, reports peHub. Based in Mountain View, Calif., the… Continue Reading
Schooner joins the flash memory battle
A startup called Schooner Information Technology emerged from stealth mode today with the announcement of two new products featuring smaller, cheaper, faster servers built using flash memory chips. The Menlo Park, Calif. startup has also raised $15 million in a first round of venture funding,… Continue Reading
Obopay scores $70M from Nokia for mobile payments
Obopay, provider of a mobile service that lets people transfer money to one another through text messages, just received an investment from Nokia, estimated at $70 million. [Update: It turns out that not all of this money came from Nokia, as most people reported. There… Continue Reading
Confirmed: Zimbra co-founder Dharmaraj to become a VC at Redpoint
Updated with Dharmaraj’s confirmation
Satish Dharmaraj, the co-founder of Yahoo-acquired email company Zimbra, will become a partner at Redpoint Ventures, according to Kara Swisher at BoomTown.
Dharmaraj joined Yahoo in 2007 after selling Zimbra to the ailing Internet giant for $350 million. He left in January of… Continue Reading
Auditude raises more money to match and monetize copyrighted online video
Back in November, Auditude signed a big deal with MTV Networks to monetize premium content uploaded to MySpace. It would appear that it’s working, as the company has just received a $10.5 million second round of funding to expand its reach.
Much like Google’s “Content ID”… Continue Reading
Networks in Motion acquires TrafficGauge for location-based traffic software
Networks in Motion, creator of location-based applications for mobile phones, announced that it’s purchased real-time traffic map provider TrafficGauge for an undisclosed sum. The Irvine, Calif. company plans to use TrafficGauge’s technology to develop better navigation tools for cell phones, including software that could make… Continue Reading
Roundup: Google improves mobile spreadsheets, pirates plunder the App Store and more
Here’s the latest action:
Google improves mobile access to spreadsheets — Now, instead of just viewing Google Docs spreadsheets on your phone, you can add, edit, sort, and filter.
Pirates run rampant in Apple’s App Store — This article profiles Imagenuity New Media, which released its iPhone app Rocky… Continue Reading
SocialVibe raises $8M to turn online profiles into charity money makers
SocialVibe is a Los Angeles-based company that lets social network users raise money for their favorite causes by posting badges that advertise certain brands to their online profiles. It just brought in $8 million in second-round funding to forge more partnerships with advertisers and nonprofits… Continue Reading
Intermolecular lands $20M to improve semiconductor manufacture
San Jose, Calif.-based Intermolecular, a company that streamlines the manufacture of semiconductor components, has raised $20 million of an expected $30 million fourth round of funding from CMEA Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Symyx Technologies and US Venture Partners.
The company recently announced a collaboration with chipmaker AMD… Continue Reading
Solar co. Solyndra shines with $220M
Solar installation maker Solyndra has every reason to celebrate the new year, raising $219.2 million in fifth-round funding from a flock of 23 investors. This is the second largest investment received by any U.S. cleantech company in the last year, coming in behind the $300… Continue Reading
Virtual world maker Gaia cuts staff by 13 percent
Gaia Interactive, a San Jose, Calif. creator of virtual world software, has laid off 13 percent of its employees (16 full-time and 20 contractors) due to unfavorable market conditions. The cuts follow an $11 million third round of funding the company announced in July.
It’s rumored… Continue Reading
Scribd raises $9 million, hires new president for social publishing
Social publishing firm Scribd is announcing today that it has raised $9 million in a second round of funding and has hired George Consagra, former chief operating officer of Bebo, as its president.
The San Francisco-based company lets people share and publish original writings on its… Continue Reading