Etsy Raises $40M To Fuel International Expansion

Etsy, the popular online marketplace for all things handmade, just announced that it has raised $40 million in a new funding round led by Index Ventures with participation by Burda, Union Square Ventures, Accel Partners. All of the . . . → Read More: IT Venture Capital Investment News Round Up – 15 May 2012]]> Highlights from recent IT venture capital investment activity.

May 9th, 2012 – Brooklyn, NY

Etsy Raises $40M To Fuel International Expansion

Etsy, the popular online marketplace for all things handmade, just announced that it has raised $40 million in a new funding round led by Index Ventures with participation by Burda, Union Square Ventures, Accel Partners. All of the investors in this round also participated in the company’s $20 million Series E round in August 2010. Including today’s round, Etsy has now raised about $92 million.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/09/etsy-raises-40m-to-fuel-international-expansion/

May 11th, 2012 – Venice, CA

Viddy gets $30 million funding

Viddy Inc.–a Los Angeles start-up that helps video makers of every skill level create and share 15-second clips throughout their social networks–has raised $30 million in a Series B investment the company confirmed Friday. New Enterprise Ventures led the round, joined by Khosla Ventures, Goldman Sachs and Viddy’s earliest institutional investors, Battery Ventures. All Things Digital earlier reported the financing.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/11/us-viddy-funding-idUKBRE84A0NV20120511

May 5th, 2012 – New York, NY

Ensequence Raises $26M Round To Tap Mobile, Connected TVs

Ensequence, a developer of interactive TV software and applications, announced that it has secured commitments for $25.99 million in funding — led by a venture fund affiliated with a family that made a fortune in pet food — to expand into mobile and connected TV markets. The funding round was led by Myrian Capital, a venture and capital management firm chaired by Mike Mathile and affiliated with the Mathile family, which owned The Iams Co., a pet-food company purchased by Proctor & Gamble in 1999 for $2.3 billion.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/484372 Ensequence_Raises_26M_Round_To_Tap_Mobile_Connected_TVs.php

May 7th, 2012 – San Francisco, CA

RichRelevance raises $20M for Continued Market Expansion

RichRelevance®, the leading provider of dynamic personalization for the world’s largest retailers and brands, today announced that it has received $20 million in venture capital financing from Crosslink Capital, Greylock Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Tugboat Ventures. New investor, Crosslink Capital, led the round and Partner, David Silverman, will join RichRelevance’s Board of Directors.  The round will be used to accelerate growth with expansion into new markets, introduction of new product innovations and research and development.

http://www.richrelevance.com/blog/2012/05/richrelevance-raises-20-million-for-continued-market-expansion/

May 8th, 2012 – Portland, OR

Elemental Secures $13M to Ignite Business Expansion

Elemental Technologies, the leading supplier of video solutions for multiscreen content delivery, today announced that it raised $13 million in Series C financing led by Norwest Venture Partners (NVP). NVP joins existing investors General Catalyst, Voyager Capital and Steamboat Ventures, who also participated in the round. The new funding comes as Elemental invests aggressively to extend its leadership in the multiscreen content delivery market.

http://www.elementaltechnologies.com/newsroom/press-releases/elemental-secures-series-c-to-ignite-business-expansion

May 9th, 2012 – San Francisco, CA

Leap Motion Raises $12.75 Million

Leap Motion, a San Francisco-based motion-control software company changing the future of human/computer interaction, today announced a $12.75 million Series A funding round led by Highland Capital Partners with participation from existing investors. Leap Motion has been operating in stealth mode as OcuSpec since 2010.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/leap-motion-announces-1275-million-series-a-funding-round-led-by-highland-capital-partners-2012-05-09

May 9th, 2012 – New York, NY

Social Ad Startup Adaptly Raises $10.5M From Valhalla And Time Warner

Adaptly, a startup that manages ad campaigns across multiple social networks, just announced that it has raised $10.5 million in a Series B round of funding. At the same time, it’s launching a new product called Evergreen to help advertisers promote their social network content. The round was led by Valhalla Partners, with participation from Time Warner Investments and Vivi Nevo — all three are investing in Adaptly for the first time. The company previously raised a $2.7 million round from First Round Capital, Charles River Ventures, Lerer Ventures, and others. Adaptly says all of its previous backers invested in the new round.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/09/adaptly-series-b/

May 10th, 2012 – San Francisco, CA

Mixpanel raises $10m in bid to dominate data geekery

Riding a new wave of growth, analytics startup Mixpanel today announced that it had raised $10 million in new funding. Led by Andreesen Horowitz (a new investor), the round also included PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff and Yammer Chairman and CEO David O. Sacks. The company said it will use the new funding to accelerate growth in a bid to overtake incumbents in the mobile and Web analytics market.

http://gigaom.com/2012/05/10/mixpanel-raises-10m-in-bid-to-dominate-data-geekery/

Europe

Secondary Venture Round

May 11th, 2012 – London, UK

MedicAnimal.com inks £10m Series C funding from Balderton

UK venture firm Balderton Capital has led a £10m Series C financing round for MedicAnimal.com, Britain’s largest online pet health retailer. The fundraising also included an investment from Iris Capital, which led a previous round in October 2010, as well as existing angel investors from Europe, the US and Asia.

http://www.altassets.net/private-equity-news/by-news-type/deal-news/medicanimal-com-inks-10m-series-c-funding-from-balderton.html

Eleven Biotherapeutics Secures $20 Million and Expands Series A Financing

Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company designing and engineering novel and differentiated protein-based biotherapeutics, announced today that it has secured $20 million dollars in Series A equity financing, expanding the total Series A investment to . . . → Read More: Life Science Venture Capital Investment News Round Up – 14 May 2012]]> Highlights from recent Life Science venture capital news.

May 8th, 2012 – Cambridge, MA

Eleven Biotherapeutics Secures $20 Million and Expands Series A Financing

Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company designing and engineering novel and differentiated protein-based biotherapeutics, announced today that it has secured $20 million dollars in Series A equity financing, expanding the total Series A investment to $45M.   New investor, JAFCO Co., Ltd. joined the Series A financing with a $10 million investment and $10 million was received from commitments from existing investors, Third Rock Ventures and Flagship Ventures.

http://www.elevenbio.com/pdf/JAFCOEleven_Financing_Release.pdf

May 8th, 2012 – San Francisco, CA

Sutro Closes $16.5 Million Second Tranche of Series C Financing

Sutro Biopharma today announced the closing of the $16.5 million second tranche of its Series C financing. This financing was led by Skyline Ventures and included participation of Lilly Ventures, Amgen Ventures, SV Life Sciences and Alta Partners. With the Series C funding, Sutro has raised almost $60 million since its founding in 2003.

http://www.sutrobio.com/news/120508pr.html

May 8th, 2012 – Kalamazoo, MI

Vestaron Raises $10.2 Million From Series B Preferred Stock Financing

Vestaron Corporation is pleased to announce that it has completed a Series B Preferred Stock financing, totaling approximately $10.2 million, with participation by major new investors and existing investors. New investors in the Series B financing include Pangaea Ventures, Michigan Accelerator Fund, and two private investment organizations. Existing investors include Open Prairie Ventures and Southwest Michigan First, in addition to private investors.

http://www.vestaron.com/press-releases.html

May 7th, 2012 – San Diego, CA

Celladon Corporation Completes Second Close of Recent Venture Financing

Celladon Corp., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative treatments for cardiovascular diseases, announced the receipt of additional capital proceeds from a second close of its recent venture financing to advance the Company’s lead investigational product candidate MYDICAR® for the treatment of advanced heart failure. This financing was executed as an extension of its recent venture financing, which closed on February, 2012 and included new investors MPM Capital and LSP Life Sciences Partners. With this second close, total capital proceeds from the recent investment round is now $53 million. MPM Capital and LSP Life Sciences Partners join existing Celladon investors Pfizer Venture Investors, Lundbeckfond Ventures, Novartis Venture Funds, Hambrecht and Quist Capital Management, GBS Venture Partners, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., and Venrock.

http://www.celladon.net/media-center/96-press-release-may07-2012.html

May 7th, 2012 – Kalamazoo, MI

Monteris Medical, Inc. Secures $9 Million Financing

Monteris Medical Inc., a privately held medical device company dedicated to the development of innovative MRI guided, laser-based cancer treatments announced today it has secured $9 million in financing to support the continued commercialization of the company’s NeuroBlate™ System (formerly AutoLITT®) within the North American neurosurgery market. Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) led the round. Other investors included the SWMF Life Science Fund, a group assembled by Richardson GMP and a number of independent parties.

http://www.financialpost.com/markets/news/Monteris+Medical+Secures+Million+Financing/6578274/story.html

Europe

Secondary Venture Round

May 7th, 2012 – Værløse , Denmark

Egalet Raises $14.3M in Series B Financing

Egalet Ltd., a Værløse , Denmark-based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing abuse-resistant medications, has raised $14.3m in a Series B financing. Backers included CLS Capital and existing investors Atlas Venture, Omega Funds, Sunstone Capital and Index Ventures.

http://www.finsmes.com/2012/05/egalet-raises-14-3m-series-financing.html

This Week In Venture Capital is brought to you by VM Index from Venture Market Intelligence – Venture Capital made easier

VM Index is an online Life Science, Med Tech & Biotech venture capital funding tool with expert data that enables companies to raise more money, faster and at a better valuation than they could otherwise.

Total No. Deals

NA

EU

Total Raised $

Total Raised €

North America

No. Deals

Total $

Total €

Average $

Average €

60

Europe

No. Deals

Total $

Total €

Average $

Average €

8.4

Breakdown By Sector

Life Sciences

No. Deals

NA

EU

Total $

Total €

13

11

Average Deal NA & EU

$

Largest Deals

Company Name

Region

Stage

$m

€m

SVR

Total Attorneys Secures $15 Million Growth Capital Investment Led by Bain Capital Ventures

Total Attorneys, the legal industry’s leading customer acquisition and practice management platform, today announced the closing of a $15 million growth capital investment. The investment was led by Bain Capital Ventures with . . . → Read More: IT Venture Capital Investment News Round Up – 8 May 2012]]> Highlights from recent IT venture capital investment activity.

May 02, 2012 – Chicago, IL

Total Attorneys Secures $15 Million Growth Capital Investment Led by Bain Capital Ventures

Total Attorneys, the legal industry’s leading customer acquisition and practice management platform, today announced the closing of a $15 million growth capital investment. The investment was led by Bain Capital Ventures with BIA Digital Partners participating.

http://www.vcaonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=2012050209

May 03, 2012 – Palo Alto, CA

WePay Closes $10M Financing

WePay, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of solutions to accept payments online, has closed a $10m financing. The round was led by Ignition Partners, with participation from existing investors Highland Capital Partners and August Capital. This investment brings the total amount raised by the company to date to $20m.

http://www.finsmes.com/2012/05/wepay-closes-10m-financing.html

April 30, 2012 – Santa Clara, CA

CrestaTech Secures $13M to Develop Smart Tuners for TV and Mobile Devices

CrestaTech today announced it has secured a $13 million round of funding. The investment will be used to accelerate development of Smart Tuner™ ICs for the fast-growing market of Smart TV devices. The investment was led by Bechtolsheim Ventures, Benhamou Global Ventures, Sofinnova Ventures and AVM Capital LP.

http://www.crestatech.com/news/pr/pr_2012_04_30.html

April 23, 2012 – Newark, CA

Tegile Systems Taps $10M For Hybrid Storage

Tegile Systems Inc., a maker of hybrid storage systems, has secured $10 million in its second round of funding. Existing investor August Capital led the round.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2012/04/23/the-funded-tegile-systems-raises-10m.html

May 02, 2012 – Littleton, CO

Infinite Power Solutions Raises $10M in Series D Financing

Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS) today announced that it has successfully completed a $10M Series D financing. The funds will be used to expand IPS’ manufacturing capacity in response to growing customer demand, to complete the build out of its global sales channels and to further support advanced research and development of its eco-friendly THINERGY® solid-state rechargeable Micro-Energy Cell (MEC) products. Existing financial investors Generation Investment Management, D. E. Shaw Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners and Core Capital Partners co-led the financing, which also included participation by Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., In-Q-Tel and two additional strategic investors.

http://www.infinitepowersolutions.com/press-room/177-ips-raises-10m-in-seriesd.html

May 03, 2012 – Palo Alto, CA

WePay Closes $10M Financing

WePay, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of solutions to accept payments online, has closed a $10m financing. The round was led by Ignition Partners, with participation from existing investors Highland Capital Partners and August Capital. This investment brings the total amount raised by the company to date to $20m.

http://www.finsmes.com/2012/05/wepay-closes-10m-financing.html

Castlight Health Secures $100 Million in Series D Funding

Castlight Health, the leading provider of health care transparency solutions, today announced it has secured $100 million in Series D funding. With this investment, the company will aggressively capitalize on growing customer demand for health . . . → Read More: Life Science Venture Capital Investment News Round Up – 7 May 2012]]> Highlights from recent Life Science venture capital news.

May 01, 2012 – San Francisco, CA

Castlight Health Secures $100 Million in Series D Funding

Castlight Health, the leading provider of health care transparency solutions, today announced it has secured $100 million in Series D funding. With this investment, the company will aggressively capitalize on growing customer demand for health care transparency solutions that improve the quality of health care and deliver savings to customers and users. The round brings Castlight Health’s total funding to $181 million and includes participation from two major unnamed mutual funds, as well as T. Rowe Price, Redmile Group and previous investors.

http://www.castlighthealth.com/2012/castlight-health-secures-100-million-in-series-d-funding/

May 04, 2012 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

OrthoSensor Secures an Additional $15M in Series B Financing

OrthoSensor, Inc., the leader in intelligent orthopedics, announced that the company has closed on an additional $15 million in Series B Preferred Stock financing, bringing the total Series B investment to $36 million. The funds will be used to expand the commercialization of the company’s first product, the OrthoSensor™ Knee Balancer, and to support the launch of OrthoSensor’s line of additional intelligent orthopedic devices.

http://www.orthosensor.com/about-us/news/orthosensor-press-releases/orthosensor-intelligent-orthopedics-leader-secures-an-additional-15-mm-in-series-b-financing

April 30, 2012 – Houston, TX

OrthoAccel Announces $10 Million USD Equity Investment

OrthoAccel Technologies, Inc. (“OrthoAccel” or “the Company”) today announced an investment of $10 million in growth capital to fund the US launch of its AcceleDentTM system and ongoing working capital needs. The investment was led by HealthpointCapital Partners (“HealthpointCapital”), with existing investor S3 Ventures (“S3”) also participating. In conjunction with the financing, HealthpointCapital’s John McCormick will join the company’s board of directors.  Brian R. Smith from S3 Ventures will remain on the board.

http://www.acceledent.co.uk/news/10million_investment

Europe

Secondary Venture Round

May 3, 2012 – Oxford, UK

Oxford Nanopore announces £31.4 million ($50.8 million) fundraising

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd, a privately held company that is developing a disruptive technology for the real-time electronic analysis of single molecules, today announced that it has raised £31.4 million ($50.8 million) in new funding via a private placement of ordinary shares in the Company. This round of funding, nearly all of which comes from existing investors, will support a range of corporate development activities.

http://www.nanoporetech.com/news/press-releases/view/40

This Week In Venture Capital is brought to you by VM Index from Venture Market Intelligence – Venture Capital made easier

VM Index is an online Life Science, Med Tech & Biotech venture capital funding tool with expert data that enables companies to raise more money, faster and at a better valuation than they could otherwise.

Total No. Deals

NA

EU

Total Raised $

Total Raised €

54

45

9

346.5

262.6

North America

No. Deals

Total $

Total €

Average $

Average €

45

299.8

227.3

8.8

6.7

Europe

No. Deals

Total $

Total €

Average $

Average €

9

46.7

35.3

6.7

5.0

Breakdown By Sector

Life Sciences

No. Deals

NA

EU

Total $

Total €

16

13

3

109.0

82.5

Average Deal NA & EU

$

8.4

6.3

Largest Deals

Company Name

Region

Stage

$m

€m

Argos Therapeutics

NA

SVR

25.0

19.0

Innovacell

EU

SVR

11.0

8.3

TMT

No. Deals

NA

EU

Total $

Total €

38

32

6

237.5

180.1

Average Deal . . . → Read More: Venture Capital Investment – 3 May 2012]]> A round up of deal activity in IT, Life Science, Med Tech & Biotech Venture Capital Investment over the past week.

North America

Europe

Breakdown By Sector

Life Sciences

Largest Deals

TMT

Largest Deals

his Week In Venture Capital is brought to you by VM Index – Venture Capital made easier

VM Index is an online IT, Life Science, Biotech & Med Tech venture capital funding tool with expert data that enables companies to raise more money, faster and at a better valuation than they could otherwise.

WeVideo Secures $19.2M in Funding

Crest Capital Ventures Sees Compelling Advantages in Cloud-Based Collaborative Video Editing

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 24, 2012– WeVideo (www.wevideo.com), creators of the world’s most powerful and easy-to-use online video editing platform, today announced that it has secured $19.2M in a Series A funding . . . → Read More: IT Venture Capital Investment News Round Up – 1 May 2012]]> Highlights from recent IT venture capital investment activity.

WeVideo Secures $19.2M in Funding

Crest Capital Ventures Sees Compelling Advantages in Cloud-Based Collaborative Video Editing

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 24, 2012– WeVideo (www.wevideo.com), creators of the world’s most powerful and easy-to-use online video editing platform, today announced that it has secured $19.2M in a Series A funding round, led by Crest Capital Ventures of Houston, TX. The additional funding will help WeVideo to position the company as a global leader in the online video creation space for both consumers and businesses.

The new funding comes on the heels of a number of recent product and partnership announcements involving WeVideo, including its integration with YouTube, its commercial product launch, its partnership with the Qatar Foundation International (www.qfi.org), its adoption by Startup Idol and the TechZulu news organization, the development and launch of a power video editing app for Android tablets, and “tag & bag” creation of broadcast promos.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wevideo-secures-19-2m-funding-115500527.html

SVR

Moat Raises $12M Series B led by Mayfield Fund

NEW YORK, NY, April 23, 2012– Moat Inc. (www.moat.com), a SaaS company focused on transforming brand advertising online, is announcing a $12 million Series B financing led by Silicon Valley’s Mayfield Fund, with continuing participation from existing investors. Mayfield’s Tim Chang will join the Board.

Moat’s products include:

•Moat Intelligence – Moat’s first intelligence product – the patent-pending Moat Ad Search – has become a very popular ad industry platform used by over 15,000 businesses including thousands of top brands, premium publishers, and ad agencies. The company will be rolling out a premium version of intelligence with enhanced data and insights.

•Moat Analytics – Moat has created a patent-pending analytics platform to enable brand advertisers and publishers to move beyond the “click” as the primary success metric for online ad campaigns. The platform provides actionable insights to advertisers and publishers and helps measure in real-time whether consumers are paying attention and engaging with ads. Moat Analytics has already measured billions of impressions for top advertisers and publishers.

Moat will use the funds to expand their team with a continued focus on building innovative products.

http://www.moat.com/pages/press_release_4_23_2012

Terascala Announces $14M Series B Funding Round Led by Strategic Partner Consortium

AVON, Mass., April 24, 2012– Terascala, Inc., the leader in accelerating big data applications through storage I/O optimization, today announced that it has closed a $14 million Series B funding round. Strategic partners close to the company invested approximately fifty percent of the round, with Ascent Venture Partners, an early backer of the company, contributing the remainder. Terascala will use the funding to significantly expand research and development, marketing, customer support, to develop strategic alliances, and to fuel international expansion.

“We’re thrilled to close our Series B round with a significant investment from industry leaders and continued support from Ascent,” said Steve Butler, CEO of Terascala. “Our pioneering work in developing a software stack that delivers optimized, scalable I/O on industry-standard storage appliances enables organizations to accelerate big data applications, and clearly, industry leaders are taking notice.”

http://www.terascala.com/pr-roundb.php

BrightTag Secures $15 Million in New Financing

New Funding Led by Baird Venture Partners to Fuel Triple-Digit Growth for the Tag Management and Real-Time Data Distribution Provider

CHICAGO, Ill., April 25, 2012– BrightTag, a technology platform provider for the digital marketing industry, announced today it has closed $15 million in new financing. Baird Venture Partners led the round with participation from existing investors New World Ventures, TomorrowVentures, EPIC Ventures, I2A and Silicon Valley Bank.

BrightTag achieved 12x year-over-year growth in 2011 and is on pace to reach triple-digit growth in 2012. The company lists 1-800-Flowers.com, JetBlue Airways, Grainger and Chegg among its many enterprise clients. This latest round of financing will be used to accelerate development of BrightTag’s innovative technology platform and expand the company’s sales efforts in the US and overseas.

http://www.brighttag.com/2012/04/25/brighttag-secures-15-million-in-new-financing/

ParAccel Closes Record Q1 Revenues and $20 Million Investment Round

500% YOY Growth Fueled by Market Demand for ParAccel Analytic Platform

CAMPBELL, Calif., April 25, 2012– ParAccel, Inc., a leading enterprise analytic platform provider, today announced record Q1 revenue and the close of $20 million in funding from its existing investors. The company will use the investment to expand and capture the growing demand for ParAccel’s analytic platform, which helps companies gain competitive advantage through unconstrained insights into their data.

“We are off to a great start for 2012, as Q1 was the largest quarter in the history of the company,” said Chuck Berger, chairman and CEO for ParAccel. “The confidence demonstrated by our core investors doubling down on ParAccel underscores the momentum we’re experiencing with customers and the sharp uptick in market demand for ways to harness big data to develop new business insights.”

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/paraccel-closes-record-q1-revenues-and-20-million-investment-round-1648499.htm

IPO

Envivio, Inc. Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering of Common Stock

South San Francisco, California – April 24, 2012 – Envivio, Inc. today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 7,755,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $9.00 per share.  The shares are expected to begin trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market on April 25, 2012 under the symbol “ENVI.” Of the shares of common stock in the offering, Envivio is offering 6,500,000 shares and selling stockholders are offering 1,255,000 shares. In addition, certain selling stockholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,163,250 additional shares of common stock. Envivio will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.

http://www.envivio.com/en/newsandevents/press-releases/envivio-announces-pricing-ipo/menu-id-113.html

EUROPE

FVR

SoCloz Raises First Funding

SoCloz, a Asnières-sur-Seine, France-based pre-shopping platform, has raised its first funding round.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

Backers include Alven Capital, FaDièse, and business angels Oleg Tscheltzoff, Geoffrey Bragadir and Cèdric Manguard.

The company intends to use the funding to develop new partnerships and add new functionalities to its platform.

Founded in 2010 by Jérémie Herscovic, SoCloz is a shopping assistant that allows users looking for products to identify the physical stores that have them, providing additional info related to pricing, stock levels, distance to the shop and opening times.
The service, which will soon be available on mobile, has already monitored 755,000 products in 6,200 shops from retailers such as Darty, Conforama, Natura & Scoperte, TheKooples, The Lair di Bacco, etc.

http://www.finsmes.com/2012/04/socloz-raises-funding.html

This Week In Venture Capital is brought to you by VM Index from Venture Market Intelligence – Venture Capital made easier

VM Index is an online IT, Life Science, Biotech & Med Tech venture capital funding tool with expert data that enables companies to raise more money, faster and at a better valuation than they could otherwise.

Company prepares to file 510(k) for clearance to market AggreGuideTM A-100

HOUSTON, April 23, 2012– Aggredyne, Inc., a Houston-based biomedical diagnostics company that is defining a new standard for platelet function testing, sold out and closed a $3 million Series A convertible preferred stock . . . → Read More: Life Science Venture Capital Investment News Round Up – 30 April 2012]]> Highlights from recent Life Science venture capital news.

Aggredyne Closes $3 Million Series A Financing

Company prepares to file 510(k) for clearance to market AggreGuideTM A-100

HOUSTON, April 23, 2012– Aggredyne, Inc., a Houston-based biomedical diagnostics company that is defining a new standard for platelet function testing, sold out and closed a $3 million Series A convertible preferred stock financing.

The company will use the funds to complete its product line development, establish manufacturing processes, address the company’s regulatory and commercial goals, and begin international sales.

Aggredyne is also preparing to file with the Food and Drug Administration a 510(k) for clearance to market its initial product, the AggreGuideTM A-100, and related blood platelet testing. The AggreGuide is a patented, simple, inexpensive, laser-light-scattering platelet aggregometer that quickly analyzes a patient’s responsiveness to his anti-platelet medication.

http://www.vcaonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=2012042302

SVR

Liazon Closes $18.2M in Funding to Expand Private Benefits Exchange

Bessemer Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures and Fidelity Biosciences Lead Round

NEW YORK, NY, April 24, 2012– Liazon, which operates the market-leading Bright Choices® private health benefits exchange, has closed $18.2 million in new funding from investors to expand nationwide and develop new products. Bessemer Venture Partners and Fidelity Biosciences led the round with follow-on funding from existing investors Bain Capital Ventures and Rand Capital, SBIC.

“The time has come for people, not companies, to choose their own benefits,” said Liazon CEO and co-founder Ashok Subramanian. “Our track record has shown that in these challenging economic times, our Bright Choices Exchange enables companies, employees, and carriers to finally win together. Liazon will utilize this new capital to expand our market presence to serve more companies and give more people a better way to buy benefits.”

Since its founding in 2007, Liazon has grown rapidly to serve tens of thousands of individuals from more than 2,000 companies nationwide. Liazon has also pioneered private exchanges with leading national and regional providers of health, wealth and protection services. Liazon serves businesses with 10 to 5,000 employees and also manages insurance programs for chambers of commerce, business associations, and other channel partners.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/liazon-closes-182m-in-funding-to-expand-private-benefits-exchange-2012-04-24

miRagen Therapeutics Secures $20 Million Series B Financing

• Proceeds to advance miRagen’s microRNA-based therapeutics pipeline
• New investor Remeditex Ventures leads the round joining all existing investors

BOULDER, Colo., April 24, 2012– MiRagen Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative microRNA (miRNA)-based therapeutics primarily for the treatment of patients who suffer from cardiovascular and muscle disease, announced today the completion of a $20 million Series B financing. The financing is being led by Remeditex Ventures, LLC, with participation from miRagen’s existing investor syndicate, which includes Atlas Venture, Boulder Ventures Ltd., Amgen Ventures, and Broadview Ventures. The funding enables miRagen to advance the development of its compelling microRNA-based therapeutics pipeline.

“The Series B financing provides further validation of miRagen and the promise of microRNA-based therapeutics,” said William S. Marshall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. “This funding strengthens our ability to advance novel microRNA-based therapeutics that may address areas of high unmet medical need and improve the lives of patients. We are thankful to have a committed syndicate of investors and excited to welcome Remeditex to the team.”

http://www.miragentherapeutics.com/116/April%2024,%202012/

Argos Therapeutics Secures $25 million Series D Financing to Commence Phase 3 ADAPT Study in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma (mRCC) in Mid-2012

-Arcelis™ Immunotherapy AGS-003 Granted U.S. FDA Fast Track Designation for Treatment of mRCC-

DURHAM, N.C., April 24, 2012– Argos Therapeutics Inc. today announced that it has secured a $25 million Series D financing to support the commencement of its Phase 3 ADAPT study in patients with newly diagnosed, metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) in mid-2012. The financing was led by Forbion Capital and included other existing investors, including TVM Capital, Lumira Capital, Intersouth Partners, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Morningside Group, and Aurora Funds. Argos’s Arcelis™ immunotherapy, AGS-003, has also been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with mRCC. The international Phase 3 ADAPT study is expected to commence in mid-2012 under a revised Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA. This pivotal study will evaluate the addition of AGS-003 to standard therapy versus standard therapy alone.

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-technology-1/Argos-Therapeutics-Secures–2425-million-Series-D-Financing-to-Commence-Phase-3-ADAPT-Study-in-Patients-with-Metastatic-Renal-Cell-Carcinoma–28mRCC-2-25061-1/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latest-medical-technology+%28medical+technology%29

RainTree Oncology Services Closes $11.1 Million in Second Round Financing

SAN DIEGO, April 24, 2012– RT Oncology Services Corporation (RainTree Oncology), a privately-held provider of oral oncology drug acquisition and management services, today announced the successful closure of $11.1 million in second round financing from a group of investors, including an investment partnership in which Robert M. Bass is the lead investor. RainTree Oncology’s management and Advisory Board members also participated in the financing.

The financing brings the Company’s total funding to $22.5 million to date. In exchange for the funds, investors have received traditional Series A Preferred Stock in the Company. The Company said that the new funds will be used for staff operations, data system development, working capital and general corporate purposes.

http://www.vcaonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=2012042408

EUROPE

SVR

Innovacell Raises €8.3M

Shareholders are investing 8.3 million Euro in the expanding business – Rainer Hepberger new CFO – Phase III study begins for ICES13

In order to continue on its agreed expansion course, the Austrian biotechnology company Innovacell is acquiring fresh capital: shareholders in the firm, which is developing cell-therapy for the treatment of stress-urinary incontinence (ICES13) and faecal incontinence, have agreed on a capital expansion of 8.3 million Euro. This will take effect in two tranches. The main shareholders are the financial investors Buschier, Fides, HYBAG und the private equity firm, uni venture.

http://www.innovacell.at/en/prID/1335425083_florian_ID4f98f83bdb4002,28107999/news.html

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Skybox Imaging Raises $70 Million in New Financing

April 17, 2012

Skybox Imaging, an early-stage provider of satellite imagery, video, and big data analytics, today announced that it has raised $70 million in Series C financing led by Canaan Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. They join existing . . . → Read More: IT Venture Capital Investment News Round Up – 24 April 2012]]> Highlights from recent IT venture capital investment activity.

Skybox Imaging Raises $70 Million in New Financing

April 17, 2012

Skybox Imaging, an early-stage provider of satellite imagery, video, and big data analytics, today announced that it has raised $70 million in Series C financing led by Canaan Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. They join existing investors Khosla Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing the total amount raised to date to $91 million.

http://www.vcaonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=2012041703

Quantenna Communications Raises $79 Million Led by RUSNANO and Sequoia Capital

April 17, 2012

Quantenna Communications, Inc., the leader in ultra-reliable Wi-Fi video networking for whole-home entertainment, announced today that it has closed a $79 million funding round led by new lead investor RUSNANO, with participation by a second new investor Bright Capital. All existing major investors, Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, Grazia Equity, Sigma Partners, Southern Cross Venture Partners and Venrock Associates have also participated in the financing. RUSNANO will invest up to $40 million and Sequoia Capital Growth Fund will contribute $20 million.

http://www.vcaonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=2012041702

Tango Raises $40 Million in Series C Financing

April 19, 2012

Tango, the leader in mobile video communications, today announced it has closed a $40 million Series C round of funding with investment that included new investors Qualcomm Incorporated, acting through its venture arm, Qualcomm Ventures, and Access Industries, Inc., the industrial holding company founded by Len Blavatnik. The financing brings the company’s total funding close to $100 million. The capital will be used to execute on the company’s vision of keeping people close to those they care about by delivering new products and services that improve their lives

http://www.vcaonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=2012041905

BranchOut Raises $25 Million, Surpasses 25 Million Users

April 19, 2012

The continued adoption of BranchOut by global users spurred another round of funding, as BranchOut has closed $25 million in Series C financing led by Mayfield Fund. Previous investors Accel, Norwest Venture Partners and Redpoint Ventures also participated in the round. This financing brings BranchOut’s total funding to $49 million.

http://www.vcaonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=2012041904

Eucalytpus Announces $30 Million Series C Funding Round

April 18, 2012

Eucalyptus Systems, creator of the most widely deployed on-premise cloud computing platform, today announced an oversubscribed $30 million Series C round of funding led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP). Existing investors, including Benchmark Capital, BV Capital, and New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Inc., also joined the round, which will be used to drive product innovation, sales, and customer support. To date, Eucalyptus has raised a total of $55.5 million in capital. With this round, Eucalyptus has appointed Steve Harrick, General Partner at IVP, to its Board of Directors. IVP is one of the top performing venture capital firms in the industry, having made similar late-stage investments in companies like Aster Data Systems, DropBox, LegalZoom, MySQL, Netflix, Seagate, Twitter, and Zynga.

http://www.eucalyptus.com/news/eucalyptus-announces-30-million-series-c-funding-round

Splunk Prices Initial Public Offering

April 18, 2012

Splunk Inc. today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 13,500,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $17.00 per share. A total of 12,507,278 shares are being offered by Splunk, and a total of 992,722 shares are being offered by selling stockholders. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and BofA Merrill Lynch are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering, and UBS Securities LLC, Pacific Crest Securities LLC and Cowen and Company LLC are acting as co-managers. Splunk’s common stock will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol “SPLK.”

http://www.splunk.com/view/SP-CAAAGW7

EUROPE

SKYSQL Raises $4 Million In Series A Round

April 18, 2012

SkySQL, the first choice in affordable database solutions for the MySQL® and MariaDB® databases in the enterprise and the cloud, today announces that the company has raised $4 million in Series A funding from a number of investors, including OnCorps, an elite peer-based community of veteran technology investors and advisors committed to bringing better, cost-disruptive technologies into the mainstream. Also funding the round are European investors including Finnish Industry Investment Ltd., Spintop Ventures and Open Ocean Capital.

http://www.skysql.com/news-and-events/press-releases/skysql-raises-4-million-series-round

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