Mark Boslet

Confidence among Silicon Valley VCs in business conditions ahead rose modestly in the final three months of 2012 for the second quarter in a row, suggesting rising optimism among investors.

SV Angel acknowledged two weeks ago that it raised a $30 million fund called SV Angel III-Growth P. It turns out the new fund is a special purpose vehicle for investing in secondary shares of Pinterest,

Puppet Labs said it raised $30 million from VMware, Inc. The two companies also agreed to a partnership for delivering IT management products.

SparkLabKC unveiled a business accelerator for the Kansas City region that will support early stage Internet companies. SparkLabKC will select 10 startups from the region each year for a 90-day accelerator program that provides seed capital of up to $18,000, more than 80 mentors, free workspace and other services.

Blue Box said it added to its Series A funding, bringing the round to a total of more than $4.3 million. The company in October announced a first closing on $3.5 million in a deal led by Voyager Capital. Founder Collective led the secondary closing.

Despite all the talk of a narrowing of the investment funnel as a flood of angel and seed deals compete for a limited number of Series A fundings, the funnel seems to be widening.

Kareo, Inc. said it raised $20.5 million from Stripes Group and from existing investor Western Technology Investments. The new funding brings Kareo’s total financing to more than $38 million

BuyBox said it raised $2.3 million from Iris Capital and Midi Capital. This money will go to product development and international expansion.

Atlas Powered, LLC. said it raised $700,000 in initial funding in a deal led by the Tech Coast Angels and joined by Maverick Angels, Pasadena Angels and others.