Reuters News
Israeli entrepreneur Benny Landa plans to raise $150-200 million to fund a new venture that will produce state-of-the-art industrial printers built on nanotechnology, writes Reuters. Landa will travel to London next week where he will choose the underwriting banks, writes Reuters.
Perfecto Mobile, a maker of enterprise-grade, cloud-based testing, automation, and monitoring solutions for mobile applications, has raised $15 million in a third round of financing. Globespan Capital Partners led the latest round of funding. Existing investors Carmel, Vertex and the Waisbein Fund also contributed to the round.
Switchfly Inc., a maker of travel, loyalty, online payment and social technology software, has completed a $17.8 million Series C round. The company first announced the funding in March, when it closed an initial $15 million investment. The company recently closed the final $2.8 million. Investors include Thayer Ventures, Azure Capital Partners, Canaan Partners and StarVest Partners.
Venture capital firm Panorama Capital and others have invested $10 million in video technology company Skyfire, which plans to expand into European and Asian markets on the back of surging usage of video on wireless devices, Reuters reported. Skyfire's technology compresses video, increasing the capacity of the base stations of telecommunication networks by more than a third. Skyfire's previous investors - the venture arm of Verizon Communications Inc., Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Trinity Ventures - put also additional money into the California-based Skyfire, which has now raised a total of $41 million.
Online-learning sites for the masses have become one of Silicon Valley's hottest start-up trends. Now, a company that focuses on online education for entrepreneurs is on the boil. CreativeLive, a site that focuses on Internet classes for entrepreneurs, said on Tuesday it won a $7.5 million investment from Greylock Partners, Reuters reported Tuesday. In addition, the company enlisted Mika Salmi, former president of global digital media at Viacom and co-founder of AtomFilms, as chief executive.
Pearl.com, an website that connects users with professionals including doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, electricians and technology specialists, has raised $25.7 million in fresh capital. New investor Crosslink Capital and return backer Glynn Capital were among the investors in the Series B round. Pearl.com, formerly known as JustAnswer, was formed in 2003.
D-Wave Systems, a Vancouver-based company that aims to develop quantum-computing applications, said on Thursday it had received $30 million in funding from investors including the firm that manages Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's venture investments and an investment arm of the Central Intelligence Agency. The investments, from Bezos Expeditions and In-Q-Tel, mark a vote of confidence in the potential for practical applications for the emerging technology underpinning quantum computing, Reuters wrote.
(Reuters) - A new study showing that immigrants founded one quarter of U.S. technology start-up companies could fuel calls to relax immigration rules ahead of next month's U.S. presidential elections, where the economy and immigration are key issues.
(Reuters) - Venture capitalists, long the lifeblood of medical technology firms, are growing cautious on the sector after seeing their returns squeezed in a time of growing cost pressures for healthcare, a report by Ernst & Young said.
Bank of America Corp is testing a technology that allows a customer to pay at a store register by simply scanning an image with a smartphone, writes Reuters. The pilot program is being tested in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the US bank is headquartered.