Data Robotics takes $10M for data storage
Data Robotics, maker of data storage equipment for small businesses, has brought in $10 million in a fifth round of funding. The Santa Clara, Calif. company is backed by Focus Ventures, Greylock Partners, New Enterprise Associates, RRE Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures.
Solvate raises $2.3M to help you hire remote office assistants
A lot of us are in a constant battle with busy work, where random administrative tasks end up consuming as much time as the stuff you care about. But not everyone can afford to hire an assistant. Now a startup called Solvate wants to connect people with outsourced assistants who can do this work.
We first wrote about New York-based Solvate in March, but co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Julie Ruvolo said she sees today as… Continue Reading
Tendril grows consumer-facing smart grid with new $30M
Tendril, one of few companies that serves household energy consumption data to both utilities and consumers, has landed a fresh $30 million third round of capital led by VantagePoint Venture Partners. It plans to further expand its hardware and software systems and forge more partnerships with appliance makers and utilities. It will round out its staff with 25 new employees.
Most smart meter and smart grid companies only beam data back to the utilities they work… Continue Reading
Ember lands $8M for a hefty slice of the smart grid
The Ember Corporation, a major vendor of ZigBee wireless networking technology, just brought in $8 million in capital to connect household devices and appliances to the smart grid. Like most other companies in the space, the bulk of its business comes from equipping smart meters with radio chips and software that allow utilities and homeowners to easily share energy-consumption data.
As the leading provider of ZigBee services, Ember is in prize position to take advantage of… Continue Reading
Sylantro and BroadSoft merge to form VoIP powerhouse
The voice-over-internet-protocol space just got less crowded. Big name BroadSoft has just acquired long-time competitor Sylantro Systems for an undisclosed sum. The merger may portend many to come for VoIP companies in 2009 as the recession encourages further consolidation, industry insiders predict.
BroadSoft and Sylantro are unique in that both enjoyed generous venture backing going into the deal — raising $72 million and $113 million respectively to date. Even though it brought in less, Broadsoft was… Continue Reading
Rave Wireless snags $7M to up campus safety
Rave Wireless, developer of mobile applications tailored to university campuses, raked in $7 million in a fourth round of funding to continue work on software to heighten student security. Bain Capital Ventures, Sigma Partners and RRE Ventures contributed to the round.
The Framingham, Mass.-based company already has a portfolio of apps for use by students. The Rave Guardian allows them to transmit their location and safety status to campus police at any time from anywhere. On… Continue Reading
Flipswap takes on $14M to buy your junky old cell phone
If you’re anything like the average Silicon Valley entrepreneur, right now you’ve got an iPhone in your pocket and a pile of old Blackberries in a drawer somewhere. But hopefully, with the help of recycling and resale companies like Flipswap, we’ll no longer keep old phones hanging around or worse, throw them in the trash.
Flipswap just raised $14 million for its business plan of letting you trade in or recycle your old phone as you’re… Continue Reading
Kashless scores $5M for cleantech website
Kashless, a company founded by Martin Tobias, the former CEO of large biodiesel company Imperium Renewables, isn’t ready to come out of stealth mode yet. But a few details have emerged on the company, including a $5 million investment found out by peHUB.
The idea behind the company seems to be a website on which users can get rid of old possessions in cash-free transactions with other users, thus helping keep waste down. However, Tobias has… Continue Reading
AdaptiveBlue takes a fresh tack with Glue, a semantic social network
AdaptiveBlue’s latest version of its browser plug-in is a complete revamp of its BlueOrganizer product. Now called Glue, it aims to synthesize semantic technology that connects information about books, music, movies and similar subjects with the browsing habits and commentary of your friends.
Take a book listing on Amazon.com, for example. AdaptiveBlue’s plug-in directly injects links and information into the web pages you’re browsing without having to move to another site. So you’ll be able to… Continue Reading
AdmitOne Security uses keystroke identification to screen users
Identity thieves are everywhere. A teenager snatched the login of his real-estate agent father and threw wild parties at homes that were up for sale. Students get someone else to take a test for them. Loan officers get hacked and the profiles of 7,000 of their customers are stolen.
This is the problem that AdmitOne Security is trying to solve. It uses the novel technology of keystroke identification. That is, it uses software to detect the… Continue Reading
Data Robotics raises $15 million for Drobo backup storage business
Data Robotics has raised $15 million in a fourth round of funding for its consumer-focused Drobo backup storage business.
The Santa Clara, Calif., company makes “data robots,” or external backup storage units that make it easy to back up data on a computer or a network of computers. The lead investor is Greylock Partners. Other participants include new investor New Enterprise Associates, as well as existing investors RRE Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures. To date, the… Continue Reading
SkyGrid raises $11M to gather news for investors
SkyGrid, a news aggregator for investors, has raised $11 million in a second round of funding.
On its surface, the concept sounds a bit silly — can’t investors do Google News searches on their own? Or use a free news index like Bloomberg’s? Do they really need to pay another company to do it? In fact, a startup with a similar idea called Monitor 110 closed its doors recently — and, like SkyGrid, it was backed… Continue Reading
Tendril, an energy efficiency startup, grabs $12M
Want to keep tabs on how much electricity your home is using? Tendril is one of a newer breed of energy-management startups that gives consumers a personal view of their consumption, but is still capable of tying in with and providing information to the utilities providing the power.
The company’s Energy Management System includes both hardware and software, and makes use of the open-source Zigbee and OpenHAN communication protocols to ensure that it’s interoperable with other… Continue Reading
On Deck Capital looks to hire CFO, other staff
On Deck Capital, a New York City-based firm that provides financing to companies making $2 million or less in annual revenue, is looking to expand its team by hiring a chief financial officer, a vice president of sales and five other staffers.
According to its website, On Deck offers “business success loans” of up to $100,000. Chief executive Mitch Jacobs says On Deck Capital serves companies who just miss the cut off for normal bank loans…. Continue Reading
Roundup: File-sharing Pando gets funding, FCC may go after Comcast, Disney expects $1B from online
Here’s the latest action:
File-sharing company Pando Networks raising $20.9M — Pando Networks, a New York file-sharing company that uses P2P software to allow users to download, stream and share large media files quickly, has raised $8.1 million of a targeted $20.9 million round of capital, VentureBeat has learned. The company has gotten positive press coverage for its ability to send very large files, such as high-def video. The round is includes backers Wheatley Partners and… Continue Reading
Drop.io raises $2.7M for private file exchanges
Drop.io is an online “exchange platform”, providing users with a place to upload files that they can then invite others to download.
The simple upload / download function doesn’t do much to distinguish the site from a service like YouSendIt, which does essentially the same thing in a less attractive interface. However, Drop.io has also added in some social features, including invitation-only work-groups and meeting spaces centered around the uploaded files.
The $2.7 millon funding was the… Continue Reading
Skyhook nabs $8.5 million for WiFi-GPS network
Skyhook Wireless, a Boston company seeking to become the first company to link GPS locations to Wifi hotspots nationwide to make it easier for advertisers to target mobile users, has gotten another $8.5 million in capital.
The four-year-old company has now raised $16.8 million. The financing, first reported by VentureWire (sub required), was led by RRE Ventures and included existing investors Bain Capital, Intel Capital and CommonAngels.
According to VentureWire:
Skyhook is creating a map to link GPS… Continue Reading
RecycleBank raises $13.1M to give people incentives to recycle
RecycleBank, a Philadelphia company that rewards people for recycling at home, said it has raised $13.1 million in a first round of funding.
RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners were the investors in the three-year old company.
Here’s the press release, and a snippet:
RecycleBank presents a business solution to an enduring environmental problem. The company provides municipalities the ability to dramatically increase recycling rates and gives its national and local marketing partners a unique and powerful set of… Continue Reading
Sun buys mobile phone Java operating system co., SavaJe
Sun Microsystems has acquired Chelmsford, Mass.’ SavaJe, an open standards Java mobile phone operating system, for an undisclosed amount.
See story here.
The amount was undisclosed.
The company raised more than $80 million across several rounds of financing since 1999, when it started as a spin-out from Lucent and got backing from that company, and later getting several rounds of backing from Vodafone Ventures, Ridgewood Capital Management and RRE Ventures.
Other backers over the years were T-Mobile, France… Continue Reading
Teja, multiprocessor co., acquired by ARC for loss
ARC International, a chip company in Elstree, England, said it has acquried the assets of Teja Technologies, a private San Jose, Ca. multiprocessor company, to help improve ARC’s products.
The acquisition price was $5 million, with $3.4 million paid upfront, and the rest distributed once certain milestones are reached. That’s a lot less than what investors pumped into the company over the past eight years: Teja was founded in 1999, and raised about $24 million from… Continue Reading