Funding Daily: Butterbeer

If I was a wizard, I would cast a spell whereby my computer could automatically round-up and type all these funding stories for me, while I lounge casually off to the side drinking Butterbeer and watching Quidditch matches. Alas I am not a wizard, and thus sitting here, typing up funding stories conspicuously Butterbeer and Quidditch-free.

Anaqua secures $25M to guard your trademarks, patents, and other valuable creations

Managing intellectual property can be a time-consuming process, especially for major enterprises with thousands of inventions, patents, and trademarks. That’s why companies like Microsoft, Ford, and Coca-Cola turn to Anaqua for help. Anaqua, which just announced a $25 million investment from Bessemer Venture Partners, makes software that helps global enterprises file, manage, and protect their intellectual property. Read more on VentureBeat.

Stitch Fix mixes taste and tech to ramp up your style game

Personal shopping platform Stitch Fix has raised $12 million to make professional styling more accessible and affordable. Women create a style profile on Stitch Fix and receive a box with five clothing items hand-picked by a stylist, along with styling tips. They can try on the clothes at home, keep what they like, and send back the rest in a prepaid envelope. Benchmark Venture Partners led this round. Read more on VentureBeat.

ParStream raises $8M to help businesses make the most of their data

ParStream has raised $8 million for its real-time database for big data analytics. It helps businesses gain immediate insights on their large amounts of data so they can make data-driven decisions. Khosla Ventures led this second round of funding.

UserMind raises $7.6M to take on the massive challenge of SaaS integration

UserMind aims to make businesses more agile and able to change direction faster. For this goal, the stealthy startup has raised $7.6 million fromAndreessen Horowitz led this $7.6 million round, with participation from Charles Rivers Ventures and SV Angel to bring its product to market. UserMind is developing software that makes it easier for business operations teams to integrate multiple software applications, creating stronger connections between the teams, applications, and data.  Read more on VentureBeat. 

AppLift raises another $7M for mobile-game marketing

AppLift, a fast-growing mobile-game marketing startup in Berlin, has raised $7 million as an extension to a $13 million funding round from this summer. The money came from Prime Ventures, as in the earlier round. The company is also announcing a new technology offering for optimizing customer lifetime value, or the amount of money that a game company can get from a user over the life of a game. Read more on VentureBeat.

Don’t want to eat rat? Online grocer Fields is delivering safer food in China

Shanghai-based Fields has raised $5 million for its grocery delivery service for fresh food. It sells a variety of fruit, vegetables, seafood, meats, dairies, beverages, bakery items, as well as ready-to-service dishes. The company pledges that all its food is tested for pesticides, traces of metals, and other toxins, and consumers can trust it to be safe, which is not always a guarantee in China. ClearVu Partners led this round, a private equity fund that invests in consumer companies in the Greater China region. Read more on VentureBeat.

MyBuys puts $4.5M into its cart

MyBuys has raised $4.5 million for its marketing solutions. The company helps brands conduct coordinated; personalized conversations with consumers across devices and channels. It uses data analytics to optimize digital marketing spend and works with 400 retails and brands.  NXT Capital supplied this venture loan.

Fireblade gets $4.5M

SaaS startup Fireblade has just taken $4.5 million from Blue Ant Investments, an early-stage fund. The hosting company helps website owners protect their properties and manage their traffic. The startups was founded in 2009 and is based in Tel Aviv.

Breathometer gets $2M to tell you that you’re drunk

Tiny smartphone-based breathalyzer called Breathometer received $2 million in seed money today. It works by plugging into your smartphone’s audio jack and connecting to an app that can read your blood alcohol concentration when you breath into the key-sized reader. In April 2013, the company collected $138,377 from an IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign. Shark Tank’s five judges, including Mark Cuban, contributed $1 million to the round, with the rest coming from Structure Capital VC and Dillon Hill Capital. Read more on VentureBeat.

Mygola could (at last) be the startup to make your travel planning dreams come true

Travel startup Mygola has raised $1.5 million for its platform that CEO Anshuman Bapna said is the “world’s best travel planner.” The startup claims to have created the world’s largest collection of curated itineraries. Travelers can choose plans that appeal to them and convert them into personal customizable itineraries. Helion Venture Partners this this round with participation from existing investor Blumberg Capital. It brings the total capital raised to $2.6 million. Read more on VentureBeat.

Depop closes $1M

Depop is a social shopping app for buying and selling in-demand items. This startup just announced it’s raised $1 million from Red Circle Investments and a Hugo Boss board member. The iOS app just launched at the beginning of this year and has, according to the company, one million items listed by sellers and small retailers.

Yammer mafia, indeed! Mode nabs $550K from David Sacks & other Yammer execs

A trio of former Yammer executives are launching a new company, dubbed Mode, with seed funding from their former chief executive and boss David Sacks. The first set of products are still under development, but the goal is to build tools to make analysts and data scientists more productive. Sacks led the seed round, with participation from Peter Fishman, director of analytics at Yammer, David Obrand, former Yammer chief customer officer and now CEO at FuzeBox, and Brennan O’Donnell, former Yammer vice president who now works in sales at SurveyMonkey. Read more on VentureBeat.

Droplr pulls in $478K to make a name for itself in file sharing

Investors are betting file transfer platform Droplr will be able to pick up enterprise business by doubling down on pleasant user experiences.The company has secured more than $475,000 in seed funding from Seven Peaks Ventures, a new venture fund that primarily invests in early-stage Oregon startups. Droplr’s seed round is still open and has a $1.25 million target, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read more on VentureBeat.