Enterprise software maker CubeTree grows with $8M
CubeTree, a company that makes free collaboration and social networking software for enterprises, has brought in $8 million in a second round of funding. Based in Redwood City, Calif., the company is backed by InterWest Partners — the firm that led the round — and Trinity Ventures. Lotus Corporation founder Mitch Kapor has also contributed to the $12 million CubeTree has raised to date.
Founded just last year, the company helps other small businesses set up… Continue Reading
BillShrink’s new recommendation engine tells you where to stash your savings
BillShrink, a startup that advises its users on how to reduce their monthly bill payments, today launched a new savings tool that recommends the best savings and CD accounts for conserving cash. Calling itself a decision engine, the Menlo Park, Calif. company says it analyzes interest rates offered by more than 60 banks to help users choose the most lucrative combination of accounts.
BillShrink has evolved a lot since its launch last spring. It started out… 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
Skyfire raises $5M more for better mobile browsing
Skyfire, make web browsing on your mobile phone as fast and easy as it is on your desktop computer, has raised $5 million in new funding.
The Mountain View, Calif. company said it had more than 1 million users when it lest beta testing a few months ago. The browser’s main strength is its ability to load and help you navigate complex or media-heavy websites — like, say, social network Facebook. Skyfire recently announced a new… Continue Reading
As VCs struggle to survive, Trinity closes new $300M fund
It’s been a brutal year for venture capital firms — a non-existent IPO market, a credit crunch among limited partners, and new financial regulations are just a few of the issues making it hard for them to show results. The ones looking to raise new funds are discovering that their limited partners are far less willing to give them money than in the last few years. But Trinity Ventures has closed a new $300 million… Continue Reading
Ripple TV raises $4M more for in-store television
Ripple TV, which places digital television displays inside stores to deliver targeted advertising, has raised $4 million in new funding.
El Segundo, Calif.-based Ripple is one of a host of companies behind the televisions you see in coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants, and elsewhere. Ripple says it plays a mix of national news, sports, and local weather, combined with (of course) targeted ads in locations such as like Borders, Noah’s Bagels, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf,… Continue Reading
Exalt musters $15M for wireless backhauling
Exalt Communications, a company that transmits wireless data through microwave radio systems to relieve congestion on regular networks, announced today that it brought in $15 million in third-round funding to expand its “backhauling” systems globally. The Campbell, Calif. company claims that demand for its products is on the rise as mobile users increasingly swap high-bandwidth data, including text messages, photos and video.
Its licensed and license-exempt microwave radios cover from 2 to 40 GHz, allowing for… Continue Reading
Getting a pulse on the telecom/media venture capital markets
Every few months I like to take the pulse of the venture capital market. It chages so fast that you don’t really know what’s going on until you catch up with the people in the thick of things.
I had a chance to do that this week while moderating a panel of three venture capitalists for the Telecommunications Industry Association. Before a small crowd at Cisco’s headquarters in San Jose, Calif., the VCs — Ajay Chopra… Continue Reading
New Relic raises $6M more to manage Ruby on Rails apps
Before the recent financial crash, we wrote about growing investment around the programming framework Ruby on Rails. It looks those investments haven’t stopped yet – New Relic, a company that helps you manage Rails applications, has raised $6 million in a second round of funding.
Dan Scholnick of Trinity Ventures, which led the round, says there are a bunch of reasons why New Relic seemed like a good investment, even as the economy crumbles. For one… Continue Reading
How the tough get going
[Editor's Note: One of the benefits of inviting guest columnists from the business community is the ability to present first-hand accounts of their experiences (good and bad) -- and the lessons they've learned. Below, venture capitalist and founder of user-generated media startup Pinnacle Systems, Ajay Chopra, digs into his personal history with economic downturns to offer a candid executive survival guide.]
Having raised initial rounds of financing, many startup CEOs are needing to find ways to… Continue Reading
Clearleap jumps $3.3M to bring online video to TV
Clearleap, a company that delivers video from a range of different sources to your living room television screen, announced today that it pulled in $3.3 million in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank. These funds follow hot on the heels of a $9 million first round kicked in by Trinity Ventures and Noro-Moseley Partners.
The young Atlanta-based company hopes to use set-top boxes and partnerships with TV service providers to bring online content to television sets…. Continue Reading
Concentrating solar outfit Soliant Energy gets General Electric investment
General Electric seems to be covering its bases when it comes to solar power. The company, which four months ago bought a controlling stake in thin-film solar panel maker PrimeStar Solar, has added concentrating solar to its portfolio with a $2.5 million bet on Soliant Energy, based in Monrovia, Calif.
The two startups are about as different as they come. Whereas thin-film solar, such as PrimeStar makes, is very low efficiency but dirt cheap, Soliant makes… Continue Reading
BillShrink gets $8M to help you save money
BillShrink, a startup that advises users on ways to reduce their bills, has raised $8 million in a second round of venture funding.
Menlo Park, Calif.-based BillShrink was founded in 2007. It launched in April this year with a tool to help people find the cheapest cell phone plan for their needs. A month ago, it added a feature for finding the best credit card, too. As the economy pinches more and more budgets, it’s easy… Continue Reading
GuardID raises $11M more to protect your identity
GuardID, whose products protect customers’ online financial information, has raised $11 million in a second round of venture funding. New investor PrismVentureWorks led the round with participation from Intersections Inc. and existing investor Trinity Ventures. The San Mateo, Calif. startup raised $5 million in 2006.
Avaak brings in $7M to prep wire-free camera
Avaak, a creator of video networking technology, received $7 million in its first round of private funding — money that will go toward putting the finishing touches on its new camera system, the Vue Personal Video Network. Even though it was initially developed for homeland security purposes, the company is now touting the Vue as a “lifestyle product” for regular consumers.
The company hasn’t revealed much about the camera, slated to launch in early 2009, except… Continue Reading
UpTake, the travel search engine that gets its traffic from Google, takes in $10M
UpTake , the travel search engine formerly known as Kango, has raised over $10 million in a second round of financing.
Unlike many content-focused travel sites, which seem to proliferate daily (see TripWolf, IgoUgo, TripSay), UpTake has no illusions about becoming the first place people turn for travel info. It has instead built a strategy almost entirely based around aggregating high-quality content from other sources and pulling in traffic from travel searches executed on major search… Continue Reading
Guest editorial: Consumer engagement that matters
An increasing number of entrepreneurs have been asking me what I think of the prospects for consumer Internet startups. Strategic purchases of companies seem to be slowing; advertising spending might be flat next year; and growth on the large social network platforms is getting harder. What’s a startup to do?
This heightened level of concern right now, I believe, is resulting from a fundamental shift in the value of consumer engagement. Several years ago, practically any… Continue Reading
Nokeena Networks raises $8.7M for faster streaming video
A stealthy content accelerator called Nokeena Networks has raised $8.7 million in a first round of funding, with an aim to sell a hardware appliance that will better process and transmit video across networks.
The company is specifically directing its efforts toward high-quality video, according to a story in The Deal, which first reported the funding in a story about its investors.
Clearstone Venture Partners and Trinity Ventures led the $8.7 million investment in Nokeena, which is… Continue Reading
Game startup Trion to disrupt industry with cross-platform online games, nabs deal with Sci Fi Channel
Game startup Trion World Network is today revealing how it is designing massively multiplayer online games with high graphics fidelity that will run across video game platforms — such as consoles, PC, mobile, and set-top boxes — a feat that no other video game company has yet pulled off.
The bold scheme will let the startup launch multiple games at once on what it calls the “Trion Platform,” which consists of software that runs on a… Continue Reading
Skyfire raises $13M to improve mobile web browsing
Skyfire has raised a $13 million second round of funding as it ramps up its campaign in the mobile browser wars.
The Mountain View, Calif. startup’s goal, says chief executive Nitin Bhandari, is to make a browser that makes the mobile web experience as close to the PC-browsing experience as possible, rather than settling for the simplified web presented on most mobile browsers like Opera Mini. Some of that comes down to the interface: Like the… Continue Reading