VentureBeat

Today, Hong Kong-based EditGrid is launching a plug-in that syncs data from actual Excel spreadsheets, so multiple users can work on a single spreadsheet at the same time without losing access to Excel’s industry-standard feature set.

With a single click, users can publish data from Excel spreadsheets to web pages through EditGrid. They can also select and lock down specific portions of a spreadsheet so two people can edit different parts of a page at the same time (see demo video, below).

Lots of companies want to bring Excel spreadsheets to the web so number-crunchers can collaborate more easily. Google has a rapidly-improving online spreadsheet, albeit lacking many Excel features. Prolific application builder Zoho has both a basic online spreadsheet and a slightly more complex online database. EXpresso, which we covered last week, has taken abandoned Microsoft web development tools and built its own online offering.

The casual spreadsheet user, such as a soccer mom planning her kid’s teams’ practice schedule, will most likely prefer Google’s simple spreadsheet that integrates with other Google apps.

Editgrid is targeting Excel users in the financial industry: People who comprise the majority of its 45,000 active users, and don’t care about the latest gee-whiz web 2.0 company, but just want to get more out of the tools they already use for work.

Reuters Interactive, which runs an online data site for the carbon-trading market, has been using EditGrid and helped finance the development of the plugin.

EditGrid only works with Excel 2003 but is compatible with web browsers as far back as Internet Explorer 6.

You can register for the private beta here.

EditGrid is a product of a company called Team and Concepts. The spreadsheet software integrates with Salesforce and other business productivity software; companies that want this software behind their corporate firewalls can purchase local licenses.

The company has raised funding from WI Harper.

Cnano Technology, a developer of carbon nanotubes, raised $6 million. CMEA Ventures and Pangaea Ventures led the round, joined by WI Harper.

Cnano, which maintains offices in Menlo Park, Calif., and a manufacturing facility in China, aims to improve the quality and efficiency of nanotube manufacture. Nanotubes are tiny tubes, often only a few atoms wide, that are formed out of a single-atom-thick carbon mesh-like structure. The tubes exhibit tremendous tensile strength and have other unusual properties, such as conducting heat and electricity in a controllable fashion.

From the company’s release:

Cnano has pioneered a novel hybrid technology that results in significantly reduced manufacturing costs compared to any other carbon nanotube production methods to date. “Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes, the applications have been limited due to high costs. With our patented, mass production technology, Cnano is strategically positioned to provide high quality nanotube products at good prices for our customers,” noted Xindi Wu, Cnano president and CEO.

Nanotubes, which can also be manufactured in a “nested” form known as multiple-walled nanotubes, may have important applications in biotechnology and sensitive diagnostics. The tubes may also be useful in developing super-strong fibers and other materials, and might be important as a way of helping chipmakers keep up with Moore’s Law.

The mobile TV market is expected to have more than 130 million customers by 2011, according to Screen Digest.

So DiBcom, a France-based semiconductor-for-mobile-tv company has received another $27 million in funding from its many investors, this time adding French bank NATIXIS. The company says it will use the money to continue improving its TV-streaming technology, and to spread faster internationally to phones, laptops, cars and other devices around the world.

We’re speculating that the company timed this round with the recent news that the European Union’s regulatory agency, the European Commission, has decided to favor the DVB-H (Digitial Video Broadcasting - Handheld) system, which rivals Qualcomm’s MediaFlo and South Korea’s DMB (Digital Media Broadcasting) systems. The three offer rival ways to stream remote data onto devices, which is especially important for telecoms trying to expand their mobile offerings. In contrast with the US and other countries, the EU agency favors a single-standard approach to decide how best to deliver mobile TV.

DiBcom has had a string of semiconductor innovations based around DVB-H, beginning in 2005. It has landed deals with mobile carriers in Europe, and with a broad range of consumer electronics firms. The company also says it has over 300 mobile TV trials underway across the world.

There will be stiffer competition in the US. DVB-H is prominently supported here through the Mobile DTV Alliance, which includes Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft, Intel and Texas Instruments. AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon, however, are using Qualcomm MediaFLO standard. The third rival, DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), which was born out of a South Korean national IT project, is not as big in the US, but is also spreading around the world.

And mobile TV itself is still a risk. While it is fine for analysts to make their projections, the mobile TV market has yet to take off significantly. It’s unclear how many people are really wanting to watch full programming on their phones. Many may prefer user-generated content, like friends’ video clips. Indeed, as the parent company of DVH-H based Modeo said in a recent filing:

Modeo’s business has certain risk factors different from our core tower business, including an unproven business model, and may fail to operate successfully and produce results that are less than anticipated. In addition, Modeo’s business may require additional financing which may not be available.

Besides NATIXIS, investors include: 3i, Cipio Partners, Convergent Capital, Credit Agricole Private Equity, Intel Capital, Partech International, SGAM Alternative Investments, UMC Capital, and WI Harper.