by George White
[Posted on January 28, 2008 - 5:24 PM]
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Mainstream Holdings
Internet technology and digital media company Mainstream Holdings Inc. has raised $29.6 million from private investors for the international expansion of its subsidiary, Moli. The investors include unnamed business executives, three of whom--HomeDepot Inc. co-founders Bernard Marcus and Kenneth Langone, and Steven Holzman, managing member of Vantis Capital Management LLC--will join Mainstream's board of directors. The founders provided $20 million of early-stage capital, and a group of private investors provided an additional $6 million in equity. The West Palm Beach, Fla., company focuses on four industry segments: e-commerce, behavioral marketing, high-definition video production, and software and infrastructure development. Moli is a social media community that allows members to manage multiple profiles from one account. -- G.W.
Standout Jobs
Montreal online job recruiting startup Standout Jobs Inc. has received a $2 million investment from iNovia Capital, also of Montreal. The company was founded in February 2007 to focus on helping companies with online recruiting. Its lead product, Reception, is an interactive career Web site that uses social media tools including video, blogs and widgets, to showcase a company's culture and team. -- G.W.
Media
Aladdin Media Holdings
Hong Kong's Aladdin Media Holdings Inc., a China-focused outdoor media investment company, has raised $30 million in a funding led by Credit Suisse Private Equity Asia. AIF Capital of Hong Kong and return backers OSK Ventures International of Malaysia also participated in the round, with Dubai-based Alcazar Capital and management rounding out the investor group. AMH is an owner, developer, consolidator and operator of Chinese outdoor media assets. The company is establishing a nationwide street furniture platform, with the goal of covering more than 30 cities throughout China. The group expects to cover at least 15 cities during 2008. -- G.W.
Semiconductors
Intrinsity
Semiconductor design startup Intrinsity Inc. raised $31.5 million in a fifth venture capital round that comes as a strong endorsement of the Austin, Texas, company's transition into a "chipless" company devoted solely to licensing its intellectual property. Late-stage investors Goldman Sachs, Altitude Capital Partners and Northwater Capital Management, all of New York, joined the round, which also include previous investors Adams Capital Management of Austin and Hillman Co. of Pittsburgh. The deal brings total investment in the 11-year-old company to more than $80 million. The transaction will help the company expand its licensing programs and continue developing design tools and proprietary code for creating ultra-fast programmable chips, primarily for the wireless telecommunications infrastructure industry. -- Clifford Carlsen
Fresco Microchip
Markham, Ontario, television signal processing chip developer Fresco Microchip Inc. raised $14.3 million in Series B funding from previous investors Ventures West and Celtic House, both of Toronto, to support volume production of integrated circuits for PCs and consumer electronics products and move to profitability in 2009. The company recently announced completion of its second product for mixed signal and digital processing for personal computer cards and consumer electronics for the European market, and has announced design wins with consumer electronics manufacturers including Japan's Panasonic Corp. and AzureWave Technologies Inc. of Taiwan. Fresco will use the new capital to ramp up chip production with contract manufacturing partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. and for development of additional products to the digital and analog television receiver market. -- C.C.
Networking
Pivot3
Pivot3 Inc, a Spring, Texas, maker of high-definition storage technology based on distributed RAID, received $24 million in Series C venture funding. Mesirow Financial Capital Partners IX of Chicago led the round, with participation from new investor Silver Creek Ventures of Dallas, and the returning Lightspeed Venture Partners and InterWest Partners, both of Menlo Park, Calif. Pivot3's clustered storage technology provides networked storage for the video surveillance market. The company will use the funds to move into its virtualization technology into new markets. -- G.W.
Software
CiRBA
Toronto virtualization software developer CiRBA Inc. raised $12 million in a second round led by Sigma Partners of Boston, joined by existing investor Edgestone Capital Partners of Toronto. John Mandile, a managing director of Sigma, has joined the CiRBA board. The funding enables CiRBA to invest in sales, marketing and product development for its international growth. A provider of data center intelligence technology, CiRBA sells enterprise software for Global 5000 organizations. -- G.W.
Clear2Pay
Clear2Pay NV/SA, a Brussels vendor of payment technology for financial institutions, raised ¤10 million in an insider round. Iris Capital of Paris led the round, joined by unnamed existing investors. Other stakeholders in the company include AGF Private Equity of Paris, Intel Capital of Santa Clara, Calif., and Belgium-based investors GIMV NV, Quest for Growth SA, TrustCapital Partners NV and Big Bang Ventures. The company licenses its software to banks and financial institutions. -- G.W.
Wireless
MocoSpace
Mobile community startup MocoSpace of Boston has secured a $4 million Series B financing. General Catalyst Partners of Cambridge, Mass., led the round, joined by original investors, which include Bob Pittman and former eBay Inc. executive Michael Dearing. The new funding will be used to support new product initiatives and scaling infrastructure. An operator of a social network that is accessed primarily through mobile devices, MocoSpace said it has more than 2 million members and generates 1 billion online page views a month. Members can share photos, instant message, e-mail, customize profiles and play games. -- G.W.
Brilliant
Campbell, Calif.-based Brilliant Telecommunications Inc., a developer of network synchronization and time technology, secured $6.1 million in Series B funding. The round brings the company's total raised capital to $13.2 million. Onset Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., led the round, with participation from Asset Management of Palo Alto, Calif., Draper Associates of Menlo Park, Draper Richards of San Francisco and several strategic investors. The company will use the funds to expand sales and to support ongoing field trial and deployment activities. Founded in 2004, Brilliant makes timing and synchronization technology required for applications such as streaming video, interactive gaming, IPTV and VoIP. -- G.W.
