Ooyala gets $10M more for online video
Ooyala, a video startup founded by a group of former Googlers, has raised $10 million in a third round of venture funding.
The Mountain View, Calif., company sells its technology to companies that want to include video as part of their web content. For example, VentureBeat writer Dean Takahashi used Ooyala to publish the videos he recorded during the recent DEMO conference. The company also launched a livestreaming video service last week, making it more of… Continue Reading
Expresso Fitness boosted by $6M
Expresso Fitness, maker of cardio gym equipment with interactive, virtual reality screens, has brought in $6 million in a fourth round of funding from Sierra Ventures, Physic Ventures, and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, reports PE Hub. The Sunnyvale, Calif. company says it will use the new financing to add new features to its current products and to beef up its sales operations.
Expresso currently sells two types of stationary bikes — upright (which also comes in… Continue Reading
Element Labs snags $2M for large video displays
Element Labs, maker of massive light-emitting diode video displays used for concerts and other major events, has brought in $2 million of an expected $2.8 million round of equity, debt and rights, according to VentureWire. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., the company previous raised $12.75 in a first round of funding in 2007 from Expansion Capital Partners, Gold Hill Capital and Sierra Ventures.
Zoom takes in $20M for high-end vending machines
Zoom Systems, the San Francisco-based provider of luxury-good vending machines, just brought in $20 million in fifth-round funding to increase its market presence in the U.S. and Japan. You may have already spotted its machines (termed “automated retail stores”) in airports and shopping malls. By and large, they sell major electronics from companies like Apple and Sony, and other swanky tech goods like Rosetta Stone language-learning software.
The concept started as a vehicle for marketing Motorola… Continue Reading
Expresso pulls in $14M for interactive cardio equipment
Is it just me or is one of the best things to hit the gym the mini TV screens now built into treadmills and ellipticals? For all those who now depend on a good episode of CSI to get them through their workout, there’s good news today out of Expresso Fitness, a company that markets exercise bikes to gyms with a media twist. It just raised $14 million in a round of venture debt and… Continue Reading
Sierra Ventures puts $7M in Indian car site CarWale
One of the benefits of funding startups in a developing country is being able to invest in businesses that are already well established in your home territory. That’s what Sierra Ventures has done with $7 million in CarWale.com, an Indian car portal.
The site includes tools to research, buy or sell cars, as well as receive loans. CarWale also has community features and forums, although it stops somewhat short of a full social network.
The funding was… Continue Reading
$40M rains on Novariant to grow agricultural GPS systems
Novariant, developer of GPS and other location-based systems used to drive agricultural equipment hands-free, took in $40 million in a fourth round of funding led by Investor Growth Capital. The Fremont, Calif.-based company will use the new money to scale operations.
Its flagship AutoFarm line of products is intended to cut down on personnel demands and up crop yields — something most farmers pinched by the downturn are looking to do. Equipment driven by GPS is… Continue Reading
Oracle acquires application management startup ClearApp
Oracle Corp. announced in September that it has acquired ClearApp, a Redwood Shores, Calif.-based maker of application performance management software for an undisclosed amount. ClearApp previously raised more than $20 million in venture backing from 3i Group, Partech International and Sierra Ventures, according to VentureWire.
Miox raises $19M for water treatment
Miox, a water purification company based in Albuquerque, N.M., has picked up a $19 million third round of funding to help market its industrial water treatment technology.
Instead of filtering water, Miox zaps it with a combination of electricity and chemicals, as we previously detailed. The company got its start with the military, moved on to the outdoor industry, and is now also serving businesses like hotels.
The funding was led by new investor DCM, with participation… Continue Reading
Roundup: IPhone glitches may be fixed in Sept., Netflix suffers outage and more
Here’s the latest action:
IPhone glitches may be fixed in September — A chip in the iPhone is being blamed for dropped calls and choppy web reception, according to BusinessWeek. The problems will hopefully be fixed next month with a software upgrade.
Netflix suffers shipping and distribution outage — The outage affects one-third of the movie rental service’s 8.4 million customers. Executives say they’re trying to figure out an appropriate refund or credit.
Open source movement scores court victory —… Continue Reading
Flypaper raises $3.5M for Flash presentations
Flypaper Studio, the creator of an easy-to-use Flash presentation editor, has raised $3.5 million in additional venture funding.
Through a graphical interface reminiscent of Microsoft Powerpoint, Flypaper users can create presentations that are more than simple slide shows, incorporating interactivity and a range of different media. Users can also share templates, images and other media with each other on the Flypaper site. The Phoenix, Ariz. company offers both a free application and a product called Flypaper… Continue Reading
SenSage raises $15M for data storage
Data warehousing startup SenSage has raised a $15 million round of funding led by new backer FTVentures.
The San Francisco company performs “log management”; In other words, it collects and stores data about a company’s online and IT activities, and that data can later be used for legal compliance, security and systems management. SenSage’s software is being used for a variety of purposes, including fraud detection by analyzing bank transactions, or sorting through call records for… Continue Reading
Expresso Fitness raises $12M for exercise technology
Expresso Fitness, which has created a more interactive experience for users looking to shed pounds on a stationary bike, has raised $12 million in the second part of its third round of funding. That comes on top of $9 million already raised for this round a year ago.
Among other things, Expresso Fitness allows you to race your bike on a virtual course while competing against an onscreen “ghost” who represents your best time. Expresso offers… Continue Reading
Multigig confirms $12.5 million financing round for silicon clocks
Would you give a clock maker $12.5 million in venture capital?
Certainly, if you’re talking about the tiny timing clocks inside silicon chips. Multigig, a maker of a new generation of clocks for silicon chips, confirmed a previously reported second round of financing.
Multigig’s clocks replace the quartz clocks in most chips today. Modern clocks made of crystal often account for as much of 50 percent of the power dissipated by a chip. Clocks thus hold up… Continue Reading
Parature raises $16M for customer service software
After years dominated by lumbering giants like Peregrine Systems and BMC Remedy, the customer service market is ripe for innovation, say executives at a startup called Parature. The company bootstrapped itself for several years, but chief executive Duke Chung sees a coming “land grab” as more companies enter the field and start targeting the smaller customers who have traditionally been ignored.
In order to keep up with the competition, Parature has been raising substantial amounts of… Continue Reading
InvenSense takes on $19M for phone motion sensing
While the first thing many people will think of when they hear “motion sensing” is home security systems, the technology that InvenSense is working on has more in common with a Nintendo Wii than ADT.
InvenSense makes gyroscopes and accelerometers that can sense the movements users make while holding mobile devices. The technology could lead to gesture-enabled phones and new gaming techniques.
The $19 million funding was led by Sierra Ventures. Also participating were Foxconn, Inventec Appliances,… Continue Reading
Miox reaps the benefits of a global focus on clean water
The convergence of several global trends — rising populations, increased food production and declining water stocks — has helped turn the once dull water sector into a cleantech darling. Startups that specialize in filtration, purification and treatment technologies have popped up in recent years, with more likely to come as worldwide demand for for clean water grows.
Miox, an Albuquerque, New Mexico, company that sells water purification equipment, has greatly benefited from these trends — having… Continue Reading
Predictify, for crowd-sourced predictions, raises $4.3M
One of several startups that asks users to do poll-style votes in order to predict the future, Predictify is most notable for its partnership with the New York Times blog Freakonomics.
These sites are popping up everywhere. Most recently, we covered Xpree, which lets companies tap into the collective wisdom of their employees, and the Industry Standard, a former magazine that now asks readers to predict events like whether Yahoo will accept Microsoft’s acquisition offer.
Predictify doesn’t… Continue Reading
ZillonTV raises $4M for next-gen television
ZillonTV is a stealth-mode company that reportedly has a combined hardware / software concept for television that will deliver direct video to consumers along with next-generation advertising.
The company is based in Santa Clara, Calif. It took $4.01 million, its first round of funding, from Sierra Ventures and Concept Ventures, according to peHUB.
Ooyala raises $8.5M for new way to advertise in video
updated to add video tour of the product
Ooyala, a company founded by a couple of former high-ranking Google employees that wants to revolutionize advertising within online video, has received $8.5 million in a second round of investment.
Ooyala’s initial investors also took part in the investment, but the round was led by Sierra Ventures.
Ooyala, of Mountain View, Calif., allows you to upload your video to the Internet via a service called Backlot. The service helps you… Continue Reading