Pharmaceuticals

Cogentus
Cogentus Pharmaceuticals Inc. has completed a $62.5 million private placement that will allow it to advance its novel antiplatelet therapy for cardiovascular disease. Keffi Group of New York led the Series C financing, with participation from Prospect Venture Partners and Pinnacle Ventures, both of Palo Alto, Calif., Ridgeback Capital of New York, and Apothecary Capital of Chicago. Cogentus received its Series A funding in May 2006 from Prospect Venture Partners. A Series B from Prospect and Ridgeback followed in February, and a June debt round supplemented it. The Menlo Park, Calif., company's lead drug candidate, CGT-2168, is currenty slated to begin Phase 3 clinical trials in 2008. CGT-2168, is a combination medicine pairing clopidogrel--which Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Sanofi-Aventis are marketing as Plavix--with a gastroprotectant (omeprazole) in a single pill. The compound is designed to significantly reduce the gastrointestinal side effects commonly associated with dual antiplatelet therapy. -- G.W.

Internet
 
Decentral.tv
Mobile social networking startup Decentral.tv., the operator of Kyte.tv has closed a $15 million second round that will enable it to expand the development and distribution of its social communications platform. The San Francisco companyoperates an enabling communications platform that allows partners, through a Kyte-powered service, to offer users an easy way to share pictures and video from their mobile phone or the Web that are instantly broadcast to multiple destinations, including Web sites, blogs, social networks and other mobile phones. The new round was led by Madrid telecommunications firm Telefónica SA, joined by Menlo Park, Calif.-based Nokia Growth Partners, DoCoMo Capital Inc. of San Jose, Calif., Swisscom SA of Switzerland, Holtzbrinck Ventures of Munich and Draper Fisher Jurveston of Menlo Park. The investment will be used for further development and distribution of Kyte's platform. Founded in 2006, Kyte received $2.25 million in July of that year from Atomico, the investment vehicle of Niklas Zennstrom; Draper Fisher and individual investor Ron Conway. That was followed in May 2007, by more capital from Swisscom and Holtzbrinck Ventures, as well as European angel investors Klaus Hommels, Oliver Jung, and Peter Schupbach. -- G.W.

Wireless equipment
 
Holochip
Holochip Corp. of Albuquerque, N.M., has secured a $2.7 million Series A round, led by ITU Ventures of Los Angeles. Also particiapting was Itochu Corp. of Japan.  The company develops technology for zoom lenses used in cell phone cameras and mobile devices, called adaptive polymer lenses. The company plans to use the money for expansion, including beginning to manufacture and sell its products in Japan. -- G.W.

Manufacturing

Purfresh
Food and water purification technology developer Purfresh Inc. of Livermore, Calif., landed $25 million in a third round of funding led by Chilton Investment Co., the $6.5 billion Stamford, Conn., hedge fund, joined by a new unnamed strategic investor, along with previous investors Foundation Capital of Menlo Park, Calif., Grauer Brothers Capital of Atherton, Calif. and Chrysalix Energy Management of Vancouver, British Columbia. The deal brings total investment in the Livermore, Calif., company to $47 million, and closed at a post-money valuation of $105 million, up from $27 million at the close of company's Series B round in December 2006. The company will use the new capital to expand sales and marketing of a wide array of technologies for purifying and maintaining the integrity of food and water throughout the supply chain from pre-harvest to transport and consumption. -- Clifford Carlsen