Highlights from recent IT venture capital investment activity.

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June 28th, 2012 – Redwood City, CA

Rocket Fuel Aims to Blast Off with $50M Series C-1 For Real-Time Ad Tech

Rocket Fuel Inc. has raised $50 million in new funding to help advertisers optimize their results using machine learning, as it attempts to differentiate itself in a sector with big opportunities but serious technology hurdles.

Longtime investor Northgate Capital led the Series C-1 round, with participation from new investors Summit Partners and Cross Creek Capital. The company’s existing investors-Mohr Davidow Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners and Comerica Bank-also invested.

http://pevc.dowjones.com/article?an=DJFVW00020120628e86sqi230&from=alert&pid=32&ReturnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fpevc.dowjones.com%3a80%2farticle%3fan%3dDJFVW00020120628e86sqi230%26from%3dalert%26pid%3d32

 

June 25th, 2012 – Los Angeles, CA

FastPay Secures $25M in Funding

FastPay, Los Angeles-based tech-enabled finance platform servicing digital media businesses, has secured an additional $25m in funding. The funding is comprised of a senior credit facility from Wells Fargo Capital Finance, part of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), and a subordinated debt and equity investment from SF Capital Group.

http://www.finsmes.com/2012/06/fastpay-secures-25m-funding.html

 

June 27th, 2012 – Bainbridge Island, WA

Avalara Raises $20M in Growth Financing

Avalara, a Bainbridge Island, WA-based provider of sales tax automation services in the cloud, has raised $20m in growth financing. The round was led by Battery Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Chelsea Stoner, Battery Ventures Partner, will join the company’s Board of Directors.

http://www.finsmes.com/2012/06/avalara-raises-20m-growth-financing.html

 

June 25th, 2012 – Needham, MA

Visual IQ Receives $12 Million in Financing from Volition Capital and Fog City Capital

Cross-channel marketing intelligence software provider Visual IQ today announced that it has received $12 million in funding from Boston-based Volition Capital and existing investor San Francisco-based Fog City Capital. The new funds will be used to fuel the company’s product innovation and sales growth.

http://www.visualiq.com/press-and-events/press-release-visual-iq-receives-$12-million-in-financing-from-volition-capital-and-fog-city-capital

 

June 27th, 2012 – Los Angeles, CA

Chill Heats up with $8 Million in Funding and a TMZ Content Partnership

Social video platform Chill has added an additional $8 million in Series A financing to its war chest amid its quest to replace cable TV and YouTube as the default location for discovering and consuming video content.

The latest round was led by existing Chill investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers with additional participation from Hollywood talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME), Atlas Ventures, and Chris Sacca’s Lowercase Capital.

http://pandodaily.com/2012/06/27/rich-and-popular-video-network-chill-gets-8-million-and-content-partnership-with-tmz/

 

Europe

June 26th, 2012 – Mannheim, Germany

Power Plus Communications Closes €12m Series B Funding

Power Plus Communications AG, a Mannheim, Germany-based Smart Grid company, has closed a €12m Series B funding round with strategic investors. The round was led by Climate Change Capital, with participation from British Gas and Siemens Financial Services. The company intends to use the funding to accelerate its market growth in Germany, Europe and in the Middle East.

http://www.finsmes.com/2012/06/power-communications-closes-e12m-series-funding.html

 

June 27th, 2012 – Netanya, ISR

Repository management solutions co JFrog raises $3.5m

JFrog has raised $3.5 million in a series A round of funding from Gemini Israel Funds. The Netanya based start up, which has previously received a $1 million grant from the Chief Scientist, develops repository management solutions for the software market. Founded in 2008, the company raised $1 million in seed money when it was set up.

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000760904

 

June 27th, 2012 – Montreuil, France

Sykio Raises €1M from Newfund

Sykio, a Montreuil, France-based software developer, recently raised €1m in funding from Newfund. Co-founded in 2006 by Henri Salle, Didier Humbert and Karim Abichat, Sykio provides SMEs with Ogust www.ogust.com, a SaaS-based suite dedicated to Personal Services management which allows businesses to manage many aspects of their activity, including client lists, plannings, quotes, invoices and contracts.

http://www.finsmes.com/2012/06/sykio-raises-e1m-newfund.html

 

Jun, 27th, 2012 – London, UK

Mindwork Labs Secures Investment

Mindwork Labs has landed a £500,000 investment from leading UK entrepreneur Mark Pearson to develop a global deals website and marketing platform. The company has also acquired the domain MyDeals.com for an undisclosed amount from Marchex inc.

http://blog.mindworklabs.com/

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