Funding roundup - week ending 02/18/11

Ronny Kerr · February 18, 2011 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/173e

$246.9 million for 16 startups; nearly half goes to Wonga.com, online issuer of short-term loans

Seed

Social games developer Ayeah Games raised $530,000 in seed funding, according to an SEC filing. Investors have not yet been disclosed by the company, but reports say CommonAngels and LaunchCapital contributed to the round.

Early-stage

1000Memories raised $2.5 milllion from Greylock Partners and a long list of prominent angel investors, including Ron Conway, Mike Maples and Paul Buchheit.

 

Paperless billing platform Doxo raised a $10 million Series B round led by Sigma Partners, with participation from previous investors Mohr Davidow and Bezos Expeditions.

 

ecoATM, creator of automated eCycling Stations that offer people money for their old phone or other devices, raised a $14.4 million Series A round led by Coinstar and Claremont Creek Ventures.

 

Music Mastermind, a company that wants to lower the barriers to music creation, secured $3.1 million in equity funding, according to an SEC filing.

Personera, a platform that creates personalized digital/print products for Facebook users, closed a $1.4 million Series A round from Hasso Plattner Ventures Africa.

Solvate, a platform that matches freelancers with employers, raised $4 million in Series B financing from company CEO Michael Paolucci, RRE Ventures and DFJ Gotham.

 

Songkick, a website for tracking tour dates for your favorite musicians, raised $1.9 million in its fourth round of funding, according to an SEC filing.

Late-stage

Online media company Cooliris raised $9.6 million in Series C funding from existing investors, which include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Deutsche Telekom's T-Venture, DAG Ventures, and The Westly Group. 

GetJar, the largest open app store, raised $25 million in Series C funding from Tiger Global Management with participation from previos investor Accel Partners.

Content recommendation engine Outbrain secured $11 million in a Series C round in which previous investors Carmel Ventures, Gemini Israel Funds, GlenRock Israel, Rhodium and Lightspeed Venture Partners all participated.

Soladigm secured an additional $10 million from The Westly Group and Navitas Capital for a Series C round totaling $40 million.

 

TuneUp Media, publisher of a powerful iTunes plug-in called TuneUp, announced that previous investor IDG Ventures has tacked on $2 million to the startup’s Series C funding from September 2010, bringing the total for the round to $6.3 million. To date, TuneUp has raised $8.5 million.

Just one week after UberMedia snapped up Tweetdeck for a reported $30 million, the company, started by Internet pioneer Bill Gross, armed itself with $17.5 million in a round led by Accel Partners.

Social media marketing company Vitrue closed a $17 million Series C financing round led by Scale Venture Partners and Advent Venture Partners with participation from existing investors General Catalyst Partners, Comcast Interactive, and Dace Ventures. 

 

Wonga.com, a UK-based service that issues small, short-term loans online, raised £73 million ($117 million) in an equity round led by Oak Investment Partners, with participation from Meritech Capital Partners and Wellcome Trust.

 

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