Funding roundup - week ending 05/03/13

Netchemia, MyNewFinancialAdvisor, nChannel, Skytree, Alpha Payments Cloud, Ruby Ribbon raised money

(Correction: Ruby Ribbon's fundraising)

Seed-stage

Learning marketplace Curious secured $7.5 million in funding, with Redpoint investing $7 million, with the other $500,000 coming from founder Justin Kitch.

SocialWire, a startup building Facebook ads for retailers, raised $1 million in “seed extension” funding. 

Real estate marketing platform Placester raised a $2.5 million seed financing round led by new Boston seed fund, Romulus Capital.

HybridCluster, an early stage software company, raised $1 million from investors including Jason Seats, Charles Grimsdale, Anil Hansjee, and Toivo Annus.

Bike sharing service Social Bicycles raised $1.1 million in a round led by David Rose, on behalf of New York Angels, as well as Esther Dyson, Amol Sarva, and Karl Ulrich.

Early-stage

Madison Color, a company that focuses on the home hair care market, closed a $4 million Series A funding round led by True Ventures, with Maveron LLC and angel investors also participating.

FeedHenry, a provider of cloud- based mobile enterprise app solutions, secured $9 million in a round led by Intel Capital. Kernel Capital, VMware, Enterprise Ireland, ACT Venture Capital, and private investors also participated.

Lex Machina, provider of IP litigation data closed a $4.8 million Series A funding round led by Boston-based Cue Ball Capital. Existing investors XSeed Capital, Costanoa Venture Capital, and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang also participated.

Business listings management startup Local Market Launch secured $1.5 million in Series A funding from Rincon Venture Partners.

M-Files, a provider of a metadata-powered content management solution, closed a $7.7 million round of Series A funding led by DFJ Esprit, with participation from Finnish Industry Investment.

Social search platform Leap2 received $1.6 million in funding from individual and institutional investors led by Dundee Venture Capital, with support from OpenAir Equity, LinseedCapital and Wichita Technology Corporation.

Brazilian home furnishings webstore Mobly received an initial investment of $10 million from The Cisneros Group of Companies, through its Cisneros Interactive Group (CIG). The total investment could top $20 million in a year.

MyNewFinancialAdvisor, which helps financial advisory firms grow their client base via online connections, closed a $1.1 million Series A round of financing from a group of investors led by Siemer Ventures. 

nChannel, creator of the cloud-based multi-channel management platform, closed a $2.4 million Series A funding round led by the Ohio TechAngels Funds.

Big data analyzer Skytree closed a $18 million Series A round led by U.S. Venture Partners, along with an investor syndicate that includes UPS and Scott McNealy. Javelin Venture Partners and Osage University Partners also participated.

Alpha Payments Cloud, a payments-focused cloud-based IT startup, raised $12 million from an unnamed angel investor.

Netchemia, provider of a cloud-based talent management software for K-12 school districts, received a $6.5 million equity investment from Mainsail Partners.

Late-stage

Poppin, an e-commerce company that  designs and sells its own office products raised $11.1 million in a Series B round led by TrilogyGrowth, with help from Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital, and Poppin founder J. Christopher Burch. Several angel investors also participated in the round, including David Tisch of TechStars.

Social lending network Lending Club announced that Google acquired a minority stake in the company via a $125 million secondary round that also saw participation from existing investor Foundation Capital.

On Deck, which helps small businesses get access capital, raised $17 million from Google Ventures, with help from Peter Thiel and Industry Ventures.

Online engagement platform MindMixer closed a $4 million investment round led by Nelnet, with Dundee Venture Capital and Optimas Group also participating.

Payment network Dwolla raised a $16.5 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation by Union Square Ventures, Village Ventures, and Thrive Capital.

In-page analytics company ClickTale raised $17 million in a Series B round led by Amadeus Capital Partnersand joined by Goldrock Capital and Viola Credit. 

Gift card aggregation service Tango Card raised $4.1 million series B round of funding led by Allegro Venture Partners, with participation from Floodgate, Swan, Legend Ventures, Western Technology Investments and Innovation Endeavors.

Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo received an investment of $586 million from Alibaba to buy preferred and ordinary shares in the company.

DocuTAP, a provider of electronic health records and practice management technology, raised $11.9 million in Series B financing. Bessemer Venture Partners provided the financing, along with return backer Bluff Point Associates.

Life sciences company RainDance Technologies closed a $20 million Series E financing round. All existing venture investors participated, including Mohr Davidow Ventures, Quaker BioVentures, Alloy Ventures, Acadia Woods Partners, and Sectoral Asset Management. Myriad Genetics also joined as a new strategic equity investor.

Ruby Ribbon, a fashion commerce company that leverages social technology and direct-sale tactics, raised $8.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Mohr Davidow Ventures and joined by the company’s original investor, Trinity Ventures.