Funding Roundup - week ending in 12/27/08

Provigent and Jazd Markets are among startups that close the year 2008 by raising funds

Here are a few companies in the consumer Internet, digital media, advertising, and mobile sectors that raised money this past holiday week.

Provigent Inc.raised $10 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners, according to a press release. The Santa Clara, Cali-based company is a maker of system-on-a-chip technology for the wireless broadband industry. The company contains four segments which are cellular backhaul infrastructure, fixed wireless transmission, broadband wireless access, and private wirelss networks.

Jazd Markets Inc. raised $8 million from Commonwealth Capital Ventures and Pilot House Ventures, according to Mass High Tech.
The Andover-based company is an online B2B marketing firm that uses Web 2.0 technology to provide directory publishers with branded directory products, and labels its technology as "MaaS" or Marketing as a Service.


Smart Destinations Inc. rasied $7 million from NewSpring Capital, according to a press release.The Boston, Massachusettes-based company is known to be leading provider of technology-based packaged travel products and services to the tourism industry. The company is also the number one leader in the attraction tourism industry.

Motion Computing raised $6 million from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), and G-51 Capital, according to a press release. The Austin-Texas based company is a leader in mobile computing and wireless communications.

Similarpages raised an undisclosed amount of funds from 360 Capital Partners, according to Dow Jones Financial Information Services. The Italy-based company which is known as a search engine that promises to provide more relevant results.

Scribd, Inc. raised $9 million from Charles River Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Kinsey Hills Group, according to Marketwire. The San Francisco, Cali-based startup is the largest social publishing company in the world with more than 50 million readers each month and more than 50,000 new writings and documents uploaded daily..