The Money Trail 6-27-2008

San Francisco, Seesmic Says ‘Why Not?’ To $6M More
Just four months after closing its Series A funding, video chat company Seesmic Inc. has raised $6 million in Series B financing from E-Bay Co Founders “Omidyar Network” and Wellington Partners.
http://www.seesmic.com

Orange County, Austin Ventures get behind digital media with $50 Million for Atcor Holdings
Austin Ventures is committing $50 million and partnering with former Intermix Media executive Sherman Atkinson to form Atcor Holdings, a company focused on acquiring and operating digital media, advertising and marketing businesses.

Atkinson will serve as Atcor’s chief executive. Atkinson previously was chief operating officer of Intermix, which owned MySpace.com before its acquisition by News Corp. Before Intermix, he was COO of Buy.com.
http://www.austinventures.com

Santa Clara, “WhiteHat” Security Puts On $7M Series D Hat
Web site security company WhiteHat Security Inc. has raised a $7 million Series D round for product development and sales and marketing.

http://www.whitehatsec.com

Chicago, Firm58 Raises $8.5M For Post-Trade Platform
Targeting the back end of trading transactions, Firm58 Inc. raised an $8.5 million Series B round for its software-as-a-service management platform.
http://www.firm58.com

Boston, OwnerIQ Rises To $6M Series B
Owner IQ wants to help connect consumers with information about electronics they own, The company based in Boston has raised a $6 million Series B round of funding.
http://owneriq.net

Garza Garcia, Mexico, Ignia Fund Adds $25M In Debt Financing
After announcing its initial close on $20.6 million in equity commitments last week, Ignia Fund, Latin America’s first social venture capital fund, said the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is contributing $25 million in debt financing to the fund
http://www.ignia.com.mx

Menlo Park, VOIP Start Up Jaxtr raises another $10 Million
Voice over Internet protocol company Jaxtr has raised a $10 million Series B round and announced a paid service that the fast-growing company said would allow it to reach break-even next year. The company has been taking business from Vonage, and other VOIP players.The company still has money in the bank from its $8 million Series A led by August Capital and announced in August 2007
http://www.jaxtr.com

Lakewood, BlogTalkRadio Raises $4.6M Series A
BlogTalkRadio Inc., a social radio network that allows users to create their own stations on the Web, has secured a $4.6 million Series A round of funding.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com

Cupertino, Parascale Grabs $11M To Pool Disk Storage
The company prepares to launch its enterprise storage software, Parascale Inc. has scored $11.4 million Series A financing
http://www.parascale.com

San Mateo, Blueroads Paves Way With $6M Series E
BlueRoads Corp., a maker of software-as-a-service for managing channel sales,the company has closed a $6 million in Series E financing.
http://www.blueroads.com

New York, XShares Group Adds $15M For ETFs
XShares Group LLC, a designer and sponsor of exchange-traded funds, has raised more than $15 million in a new round of funding
http://www.xsharesadvisors.com

France, Miyowa announced completion of a Series B financing round totaling $8 million
Mobile IM and presence applications provider Miyowa announced completion of a Series B financing round totaling $8 million, bringing the firm’s financing to date to $12.7 million. Techfund (which funded Miyowa’s Series A financing push in September 2006) and Credit Agricole Private Equity led the round. According to Miyowa, the venture infusion will combine with revenue derived from recent mobile operator contract wins to fund commercial acceleration of its existing product suite, bring to market an enriched mobile IM solution and expand operations in the U.S. and Asia.
http://www.miyowa.fr/

Vienna, Mobile Game Co. Xendex Nabs $1.5M
Mobile game developer Xendex, a division of Austria’s Xendex holding GmbH, has raised $1.5 million first financing round to fund international expansion.
http://xendex.com

Boston, Investors “Believe in Change” Optaros $12M Series C
Optaros Inc., a company that designs, automates and implements open-source applications for enterprises, raised a $12 million Series C round from employees, and strategic inside investors.
http://www.optaros.com

California, Soda Head has raised $8.4 million in Series B funding for its online opinion site
The funding was led by Mission Ventures with participation from existing investor Mohr Davidow Ventures. Soda Head raised a $4.3 million Series A led by Mohr Davidow with participation from Tech Coast Angels and Ron Conway in October 2006.
http://www.sodahead.com

Paris, Drimki Seeded For Paris Real Estate Site
Drimki, a Paris-based online real estate platform, has received seed funding from Ambient Sound Investments.
http://www.paris.drimki.fr

Austin, Texas Semi Co. Integration Associates Sold For $80M
Fabless semiconductor company backed by about $16 million in venture capital, has been acquired for $80 million by Silicon Laboratories Inc.
http://www.silabs.com
http://www.integration.com

Redmond, Microsoft announces acquisition of software services firm MobiComp
Microsoft announced its pending acquisition of software services firm MobiComp, which provides mobile data backup, restoration and sharing services. Financial terms were not disclosed. According to Microsoft, the deal promises to extend the capabilities of its Windows Mobile and Windows Live platforms by integrating MobiComp services including MobileKeeper Backup & Restore, Upon completion of the acquisition, MobiComp will still continue to serve its existing partners and customers, among them 11 mobile operators worldwide.
http://www.mobicomp.com
http://www.microsoft.com

Naples, Rubber Recycler Lehigh Captures VCs minds with $34.5M In Backing
Lehigh Technologies Inc., a rubber recycling company, has raised $34.5 million from several venture capital firms, including a first pure-play clean technology investment by Index Ventures. These VCs believe recycling is good for the planet, and can be a very profitable business, what more could you want, capitalism with a conscious!
http://www.lehightechnologies.com

Virgin Mobile USA will acquire embattled MVNO Helio
Virgin Mobile USA will acquire embattled MVNO Helio, according to a report in The Financial Times. Citing sources with inside knowledge of the negotiations, The FT says Virgin Mobile and Helio majority owner SK Telecom have agreed in principle to a deal that will see Helio’s operations and subscribers absorbed into the Virgin Mobile USA brand–in exchange, Virgin will issue new shares giving SK Telecom roughly 20 percent equity in the combined business. SK will also invest a nominal sum in Virgin Mobile USA.

The Financial Times notes that the post-merger Virgin Mobile USA will now be able to expand into the monthly contracts markets and renegotiate its network capacity agreement with Sprint Nextel. Last month, the MVNO reported first quarter net income of $4.8 million, down 75 percent year-over-year–in addition, the company announced anticipated Q2 subscriber losses between 130,000 and 160,000. Helio reported in January subscriber totals approaching the 200,000 mark.

Earlier this week, Gizmodo reported that SK Telecom and Virgin Mobile USA’s merger negotiations were stalled, with Virgin’s continued interest in Helio hinging on either a bankruptcy declaration or massive liquidation. The article also said Helio was poised to begin closing its retail locations and kiosks.
http://www.helio.com
http://www.virginmobile.com