AAA July 2012 – Page 5

O’Reilly plays around with LittleBits

O’Reilly Alpha Tech, the corporate venturing unit of US-based media company O’Reilly Media, has helped LittleBits, a  “Lego for electronics” business, raise $3.65m. O’Reilly Alpha Tech was joined by venture firms Khosla Ventures, Lerer Ventures as well as angels Jeffrey Walker, Joi Ito, Joanne Wilson, and Salah Chamma in the series A. The company gave… Continue reading O’Reilly plays around with LittleBits

IDC Frontier invests $6.2m in Basho

IDC Frontier, a Yahoo Japan data centre subsidiary, has invested $6.2m for a strategic equity stake in Basho, a cloud computing company. Kiichi Yamato, vice-division director of business development division at IDC Frontier, said: “Through this strategic relationship with Basho, IDC Frontier will greatly benefit from the addition of advanced storage capabilities within our cloud… Continue reading IDC Frontier invests $6.2m in Basho

BV Capital rebrands as e.Ventures

BV Capital, the former corporate venturing unit of Germany-based media company Bertelsmann, has rebranded as e.Ventures. The move is described by e.Ventures as an attempt to create firm with “five dedicated funds, in five regions, [and a] new global name”. The company’s European unit eVenture Capital Partners was corporate-backed by Germany-based retailer Otto Group. Mathias… Continue reading BV Capital rebrands as e.Ventures

Medimmune backs Coferon

MedImmune Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of AstraZeneca, has helped Coferon, a US-based healthcare company, raise $12m. The unit was joined in Coferon’s series B by venture firms Hatteras Venture Partners and Ascent Biomedical Ventures. Dr. Colin Goddard, who had been acting as a part-time executive chairman for Coferon and was formerly chief executive of… Continue reading Medimmune backs Coferon

Time Warner in Dynamic Signal

Time Warner Investments has helped Dynamic Signal, a provider of social CRM and content marketing , raise $13.3m. Time Warner’s corporate venturing unit was joined in the series B round by venture firms Venrock, which led the round, Trinity Ventures and Cox Enterprises. The deal takes Dynamic Signal’s total raised since founding to more than… Continue reading Time Warner in Dynamic Signal

Subitec raises $5.5m

High-Tech Gründerfonds, a corporate-backed government venture fund, has helped Subitec a Germany-based manufacturer of algae photo-bioreactors, raise €4.5m ($5.5m). High-Tech Gründerfonds was joined in the series B round by Fraunhofer Venture, the venture unit of the eponymous Germany-based research organisation, Germany-based bank KfWBankengruppe’s ERP-Startfonds., and the CleantechFonds of venture firm eCapital entrepreneurial Partners. eCapital was… Continue reading Subitec raises $5.5m

Rex wakes up for $500,000 Aerial deal

Rex Health  Ventures, which is managed by a community non-profit hospital, has invested $500,000 in Aerial Biopharma, a US-based narcolepsy treatment company. Aerial was formed in January 2011 by a team of biopharmaceutical entrepreneurs.  Aerial’s investigational narcolepsy treatment is  in Phase 2 clinical trials. Rex President David Strong said: “This is precisely why we created… Continue reading Rex wakes up for $500,000 Aerial deal