Luisa Beltran

SparkCognition said June 26 that it closed an initial $32.5 million Series B funding round led by Verizon Ventures. The Boeing Company, through its Boeing HorizonX unit, also participated. SparkCognition, of Austin, provides cognitive computing analytics.

Blockchain has raised $40 million in its second round of institutional funding led by Lakestar and GV, Google’s venture capital arm, Business Insider is reporting. Nokota Management and Digital Currency Group also took part in the investment, as did Blockchain's existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mosaic Venture Partners, Prudence Holdings, Virgin, and Sir Richard Branson, the story said. Blockchain makes tools for people to use bitcoin and blockchain, Business Insider said.

Silvernest said June 22 that it raised $1.3 million in seed funding. Investors include venture capital and angel investors, such as Halogen Ventures, 1843 Capital, Rockies Venture Club, Investor’s Circle and 500 Startups. Silvernest, of Denver, provides an online roommate-matching service that pairs boomers, retirees, empty nesters and other aging adults with compatible long-term housemates.

Cosmo Tech said June 20 that it raised $3 million in follow-on funding led by Sofimac Partners. Also participating was new investor BNP Paribas and existing investor Aster Capital. Cosmo Tech, of Lyon, France and San Francisco, California, provides decision management solutions.

Highspot said June 15 that it closed a $15 million Series B round led by Shasta Ventures. Also participating were Salesforce Ventures and existing investor Madrona Venture Group. Highspot, of Seattle, is a sales enablement platform.

Thoma Bravo LLC said June 14 that it has acquired Continuum. Financial terms weren’t announced. Summit Partners was the seller. Continuum, of Boston, is a global IT management platform for managed IT service providers. Goldman Sachs and Carlyle Group provided the debt financing. Lazard acted as financial advisor and Goodwin as legal counsel to Continuum. Kirkland & Ellis served as counsel for Thoma Bravo.

AEye Inc said June 13 that it raised $16 million in a Series A round from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Airbus Ventures, Intel Capital, Tyche Partners and others. AEye, of Pleasanton, California, is developing advanced vision hardware, software and algorithms that aim to act as the eyes and visual cortex of autonomous vehicles.

SalesRabbit said June 7 that it raised a $2.4 million round led by Peak Ventures. SalesRabbit, of Lehi, Utah, is a mobile field sales enablement platform.

Arx Defence has raised a Series A round from Dreamlab Finance. Financial terms weren’t announced. Arx, of Edinburgh, Scotland, is a maritime security firm. Invenio Corporate Finance advised Arx.

Plynk said June 7 that it raised 25 million euros ($28 million) in Series A funding led by Swiss Privée Ltd. Plynk, of Dublin, is a money messaging app.