by George White
[Posted on January 3, 2008 - 5:24 PM]
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Boston Power
Lithium-ion batteries maker Boston-Power Inc. has closed a $45 million Series C round led by Oak Investment Partners that will enable it to nearly quadruple its production capacity of laptop battery packs. Westborough, Mass.-based Boston-Power's existing backers, Venrock Associates and Granite Global Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., as well as Gabriel Venture Partners of Redwood Shores, Calif., joined Westport, Conn.-based Oak in the financing. The round brings the company's total backing to more than $68 million since its 2005 inception. The latest round of capital will go primarily toward funding the manufacturing of the company's Sonata battery technology, which targets notebooks but could be used for hybrid electric vehicles and other consumer electronic devices down the road. -- Carolyn Murphy
Networking
Chelsio Communications
Networking equipment company Chelsio Communications Inc. has raised $25 million in Series E funding. The company develops network interface cards that enable 10-gigabit Ethernet speeds for computer servers. Newcomer Investor Growth Capital of Menlo Park, Calif., led the fifth round. Also participating were existing investors New Enterprise Associates of Menlo Park, Calif., Invesco Private Capital of Palo Alto, Calif., LSI Logic Corporation of Milpitas, Calif., Hotung Capital Management of Taiwan, Singapore-based Abacus Capital Group, Pacesetter Capital Group of Richardson, Texas, and Horizon Ventures of Los Altos, Calif. The Series E gives Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Chelsio roughly $92 million in venture money since it was founded in July 2001. Chelsio plans to use the capital infusion for product development, and to increase the engineering, sales, and marketing staff. -- G.W.
Technology
HiWired
Needham, Mass., tech support startup HiWired Inc. raised $9 million in a second round of venture capital to take advantage of fast growth of white label software and services that allow service providers and retailers to offer customers off-site, on-demand help in connecting and deploying digital equipment and services. The 3-year-old company landed North Hill Ventures of Boston as lead investor in the round, joining Kodiak Venture Partners of Waltham, Mass. and Sigma Partners of Boston, which backed the company's $5 million Series A round of April 2006. The new round will allow the company to expand sales and marketing to broaden its partnership relationships, and develop features for its proprietary screen-sharing technology, which allows it to offer sophisticated technology support services remotely. -- Clifford Carlsen
Internet
5min
Online instructional video site 5min has received $5 million in Series A financing from Spark Capital of Boston. The New York operator of a "how-to" video Web site allows users to share their expertise in various categories as well as find short video solutions for practical questions. -- G.W.
Pharmaceuticals
Tempo
Cambridge, Mass., combination drug developer Tempo Pharmaceuticals Inc. raised $8.1 million in a Series B round of venture capital, bringing total funding raised in a little more than a year to $22 million. The funds will support development of proprietary nanoparticle techniques to improve the safety and efficacy of existing drugs. Bessemer Venture Partners of Wellesley Hills, Mass. joined the round as a new investor along with previous backers Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, Mass., Venrock of New York and Luc Capital of New York. Tempo's landlord, Alexandria Real Estate Equities of Pasadena, Calif., also took equity in the deal, which will fund pre-clinical development of formulations of existing drugs to target cancerous cells and foster regeneration of healthy cells. -- C.C.
Healthcare
Gelesis
Gelesis Inc., a Boston-based developer of treatments for obesity, has closed a $16 million financing led by OrbiMed Advisors of Boston. The company was founded in 2006 by PureTech Ventures of Boston and ExoTech Bio Solutions of Australia, who also contributed to the round, along with the participation of a group of obesity experts and scientists. Gelesis is also the recipient of a $1 million grant from the Bird Foundation. The company did not specify what types of treatments for obesity it is developing. -- G.W.
