Mark Boslet
Venture capital activity in China is at a low ebb, with deal making down, valuations soft and exits markets bottled up. So when will the good times roll in? The answer has a lot to do with whether you believe business cycles in China remain compressed or start to resemble the longer ones of the United States and Europe.
VenturEast said it appointment of Sateesh Andra to be managing partner of its seed-stage technology focused VenturEast Tenet Fund. Andra was previously a venture partner and one of the founding members of Draper Fisher Jurvetson India. In his new role, he will help create a Valley-like incubation ecosystem and help companies tap into global venture funding.
Zumper said it raised $1 million in seed funding earlier this year from investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, CrunchFund, New Enterprise Associates, Dawn Capital, the Experiment Fund and the DeWilde family trust. Zumper is using the money for expansion.
CorpU said it raised $4.5 million in a round of financing led by Global Silicon Valley Capital, Red Eagle Ventures and Penn Venture Partners. The company will use the capital to design new courses and add to its management. CorpU also said it appointed David Pottruck, former CEO of Charles Schwab and current Intel board member, to the board.
TrackVia said it raised $7.1 million in a fundraising round led by Longworth Venture Partners and Fairhaven Capital, and joined by Access Venture Partners, Flywheel Ventures, Draper Associates and Allen & Company. The funds will go to expand sales, marketing and engineering operations at the applications development services company.
Double Robotics said it raised $250,000 from Grishin Robotics. No other deal terms were available. Double Robotics is a recent Y Combinator graduate and says its $2,499 telepresence robot has $1.2 million in pre-orders, or 600 units, in the month since its launch.
Mediafed said it is acquiring Taptu, developer of a mobile news reader. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Space‐Time Insight said it raised $14 million in Series B funding from new investors EnerTech Capital, Novus Energy Partners and ClearSky Power & Technology Fund, and existing investors Opus Capital Ventures and Start Up Farms International. Novus Founding Partner Martin Aares and ClearSky Power & Technology Fund Managing Director, James Huff will join the board, according to a press release.
Twitch said it raised $15 million in a Series B deal led by Bessemer Venture Partners and joined by Alsop Louie Partners and Draper Associates. The company, formerly named TwitchTV, will expand its engineering department.
Ambient Sound Investments, the fund started by Skype co-founders, said it achieved its first portfolio company exist with the sale of Modesat Communications by Xilinx. Terms of the deal were not released.