Aloqa raises $1.5M for location-based mobile content
Aloqa, a mobile search company that sends you information about events, friends and other data based on your location, launched its first product today at MobileBeat: an app for Android-based devices.
The company also announced $1.5 million in first-round funding from Wellington Partners and angel investors, and the appointment of a new CEO, Sanjeev Agrawal, an ex-head of product marketing from Google and more recently vice president of products at TellMe Networks (now part of Microsoft).
Given… Continue Reading
Data management software maker Q-layer sells out to Sun
Q-layer, a young provider of software to manage virtual data centers, has sold out to Sun Microsystems, collecting a healthy return for its investors Wellington Partners, Partech International and Big Bang Ventures. Last year was the first its products were on the market, and they did well, company representatives told VentureWire.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Q-layer is a smart acquisition for Sun, which already relied on its technology to quickly build cloud computing systems for its clients…. Continue Reading
Adconion acquires KTV Digital to form video syndication branch
Ad network Adconion Media Group has bought production studio and video syndicator KTV Digital Media for an undisclosed amount to form its own video distribution branch, RedLever. The new entity will create branded videos for advertisers and agencies that will run across Adconion’s constellation of web sites.
RedLever, based in Santa Monica, Calif., is a rebranding of KTV’s operation, and will be used to generate content for 75 of the most popular 100 entertainment and media… Continue Reading
Amiando makes event pages viral and modular
It might not seem like there’s much room for cool ideas when it comes to selling tickets, but the executives of a startup called Amiando disagree. They’re rolling out some smart new features that should make it easier to promote events.
Like competitors Eventbrite and RegOnline, Amiando (which is a sponsor for our MobileBeat 2008 event on July 24) allows you to create a page where users can register and buy tickets for your events. Amiando… Continue Reading
Germany’s GameDuell raises round for skill-based games
German skill-games site GameDuell has raised $17 million in a second round of funding from Wellington Partners.
The Berlin-based company has more than 10 million registered members and claims to be the No. 1 game community in Germany. It plans to use the money for an international expansion, including a move into the U.S. which is already under way.
Kai Bolik, chief executive, said in a statement that results in France and Spain show that the company’s… Continue Reading
LinkedIn co-founder Eric Ly joins Wellington Partners
Eric Ly, a co-founder of professional networking site LinkedIn, has signed on to be a venture partner at Wellington Partners. Ly says he’ll be helping the London- and Munich-based firm with its plans to expand into the United States, and into Silicon Valley in particular.
That’s a natural expansion for Wellington, given its interest in technology and the current Euro-dollar exchange rate. But it’s a surprising move for Ly — after all, you’d think he’d have… Continue Reading
Seesmic raises another $6M for video comments
Updated
Seesmic, a startup that lets users post short video comments and snippets, has raised $6 million in a second round of funding. The new round was led by Omidyar Network, the firm created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, and Wellington Partners.
The San Francisco company has been dubbed the “Twitter of video” — through its platform, users can easily record and post short video segments to their blogs, social networks or to the Seesmic site itself…. Continue Reading
Event ticketing companies Amiando and Eventbrite get European backing
The online event-planning market is mature. Various event web sites have gotten bought, gone out of business, or gone nowhere in the last several years.
However, two companies, Amiando and EventBrite, allow you to sell tickets to events online, and they’ve emerged with a business model: They take a cut of the ticket sale. This differs them from the slew of other sites that helped you organize events, but never made money.
Notably, the two companies have just… Continue Reading
OreCon, another wave-power startup, dives in
Vast amounts of power are locked away in the movements of the ocean, but because of technical challenges, the number of startups that have attempted to harness wave power thus far is relatively small when compared to wind or solar.
OreCon is the latest, with plans for a sort of giant, self-contained buoy that floats atop the water, each unit generating a megawatt and a half of energy. The company has raised $24 million, which it… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Oct. 29, 2007
Featured companies: Azaya Therapeutics, Global Care Solutions, Oxford Immunotec, RealSelf.com, Sequoia Pharmaceuticals, Tactile Systems Technology, WellGen, Zeltiq Aesthetics
UPDATED: Expanded items on Oxford Immunotec, Zeltiq, Tactile Systems, RealSelf.com and Global Care.
Oxford Immunotec pulls in $40M for TB tests — Oxford Immunotec, a U.K. biotech focused on new diagnostic tests for infectious disease, raised $40 million in a third financing round. The company’s release is here (PDF). Investors included Clarus Ventures, Wellington Partners, Kuwait-based National Technology Enterprises Company, the… Continue Reading
Zopa raises $12.9M more to expand online lending marketplace
Zopa, an online marketplace where people meet to lend and borrow money for a fee, said it has raised $12.9 million to help it expand in the U.S, where if faces competition from Prosper.
The company said it appointed a new chief executive, Douglas H. Dolton, formerly CEO of Chela Education Financing.
The financing was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, an existing investor. Benchmark Capital and Wellington Partners also invested in the latest round. Benchmark has also… Continue Reading
Q-Layer, a datacenter company, raises $9M
Q-Layer, a Belgium-based seller of corporate datacenters as a service — where you pay for usage as you go — said it has raised a €7 million ($9 million) second round of capital from Wellington Partners, Partech International and Big Bang Ventures.
This follows a € 1.4 million first round in May 2006.
Q-layer says it combines server, networking, and storage infrastructure virtualization software on commodity hardware for commercial datacenters.
Q-layer said it plans to use the… Continue Reading
Game search engine Wazap raises $7.9M, to launch in U.S.
updated
Wazap is a search engine company focused exclusively on games, and is growing quickly — as you may expect, given the popularity of games.
It’s another of those ideas that seems so obvious in hindsight, you’re left wondering why it hasn’t been done before. It boasts 11 million unique users a month, with 200 million page views. It logged $1 million in revenue last year, it says.
It has just raised $7.9 million in a second… Continue Reading
Industrial Origami, sheet materials manufacturer, raises $4.14M
Industrial Origami, a San Francisco developer of a new method for designing and manufacturing with sheet materials, has raised $4.14 million of a possible $6.06 million second round of funding, according to a regulatory filing cited by PE Week. Backers include Wellington Partners and AdInvest AG.