Eamon Murphy
Bain Capital Ventures led a $16 million Series B up-round in Bench, an online bookkeeping service for small businesses. The financing was joined by Altos Ventures and Contour Venture Partners, both series A investors in Bench, and will go toward product development.
LongWater Opportunities closed its second equity fund, LWO Fund II, LP, which will invest in lower middle market U.S. manufacturing companies. Fundraising was completed in just under nine months, and the fund was oversubscribed on its $50 million target.
Asset management firm Hamilton Lane announced a number of promotions, including nine new managing directors within its Americas offices in Bala Cynwyd, Penn. and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
To wrap up your Tuesday, Canadian VC funding hit a record, while U.S. deals stayed sluggish. Good news for Fiat Chrysler, whose vans will go driverless with Google, and bad news for Apple, barred from India's used phone market.
Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board, or PSP Investments, launched a new global road investment platform called ROADIS. This portfolio of roads on four continents was formerly known as Insolux Infrastructure Netherlands B.V., part of Grupo Isolux Corsan. PSP Investments is now the sole shareholder of ROADIS, and also acquired Grupo Isolux's indirect interest in Wind Energy Transmission Texas, LLC.
Lariat Partners has invested in Willowood USA, an Oregon-based provider of generic crop protection products seeking to expand its presence in U.S. agriculture. Based in Denver, Lariat is a lower-middle market PE firm that targets consolidations, consumables and recurring revenue businesses.
AlliedBarton Security Services, a portfolio company of Wendel SE, decided to merge with Universal Services of America, a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus and Partners Group. The combined company will operate under the AlliedUniversal brand. Warbug Pincus and Wendel will be lead investors with equal voting rights; Partners Group will also have ownership interests.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced that private equity lawyers Michael Weisser and Sarah Stasny have joined the firm's New York office as partners in the corporate practice group. Weisser and Stasny, who represent PE firms and their portfolio companies as well as pension plans and hedge funds, were previously partners at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
Octopus Ventures announced the appointment of mobile gaming entrepreneur Eyal Rabinovich, who co-founded the Israeli game publisher PlayScape at age 24. The London-based VC firm recently raised an additional £100 million, £75 million of which is earmarked for investment in early-stage European entrepreneurs.
Lemhi Ventures and Nasdaq led a $40 million Series D financing in Digital Reasoning, a cognitive computing technology company. Existing investors Goldman Sachs and HCA also participated.