May 2013 – Page 16

Brightstar seeds YaSabe

YaSabe, a US-based Hispanic portal, has raised $2.7m in its seed round from a consortium including wireless services company Brightstar Corp.

Cooley seeds Divshot

The other investors were venture capital firms and angel investor Eric Hammond.

Spanning crosses over to $6m

News provider TechCrunch said search engine provider Google was not the strategic investor.

HubSpot snaps up two

HubSpot buys two companies: Chime, a Canada-based Google Chrome plug-in for consolidating web app notifications, and PrepWork, a local provider of software creates pre-meeting briefings.

Masabi clips investors’ tickets

Separately, Fontinalis, led by Bill Ford, has also backed Nano-C, a US-based developer of nanostructured carbon for use in energy and electronics applications.

Aerojet leads Unified Nexsys

Tom Baird, chief executive of Unified Nexsys, said: “Having a strategic partner such as Aerojet is unusual for a company of our size.”

Intel checks out BlueStacks

Founded in 2009, BlueStacks said it had in aggregate raised $15m from Intel and chip peer Qualcomm as well as venture capital firms.

Geofusion, a Brazil-based company providing three-dimension maps, has raised an undisclosed amount from a consortium including Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit of the eponymous chip maker. Reinvesting in the latest round for Geofusion was Criatec, a BR100m ($48m) investment fund backed by Brazil’s National Bank for Social and Economic Development (BNDES) and Banco do… Continue reading Geofusion maps out Intel

Aratana plans its flotation

In February, Aratana raised $12m in its series C round.

NFL throws Providence a fund

Providence is investing in the NFL partnership vehicle from its sixth fund VI, according to news provider peHUB.

Mascoma turns away from IPO

Mascoma, a US-based developer of a platform to convert renewable feedstocks into chemicals used in alternative fuels, has withdrawn plans to float on a stock exchange, citing “market conditions,” according to a regulatory filing. Bill Brady, chief executive of Mascoma, told news provider Fortune the company “will continue to fund its operations with proceeds from… Continue reading Mascoma turns away from IPO

Food52 reads up on BDMI

Food52, a US-based crowdsourced recipe website, has raised $2m in its series A round from a consortium led by Germany-based publisher Bertelsmann’s corporate venturing unit. Alongside Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) in the A round were venture capital firms Vocap Ventures, Zelkova Ventures and Lerer Ventures and angel networks and individuals, such as Gary Vaynerchuk,… Continue reading Food52 reads up on BDMI

ESolar shines on investment

In August 2011, the energy division of US-based industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE) followed on from its licensing agreement with ESolar by making a strategic investment of up to $40m.

Zühlke backs stealth company

Switzerland-based services provider Zühlke’s corporate venturing unit has invested in local company Leman Micro Devices. Leman Micro Devices said it was a “stealth-mode start-up based in the Lac Leman area of Switzerland, focused on creating exciting new technology for future smartphones”.