StrictlyVC: April 23, 2015

Hi, everyone, happy Thursday! We’ve run out of time for a column this morning, but more tomorrow! (Psst, web visitors, here’s an easier-to-read version of this morning’s email.)

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Top News in the A.M.

When Amazon reports its quarterly earnings today, it will, for the first time, provide financial information on an important division: Amazon Web Services.

The Apple Watch arrives in stores tomorrow. (Just not Apple stores.)

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New Fundings

3D Robotics, the six-year-old, San Diego-based personal drone manufacturer co-founded by former Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson, has added $14 million to its Series C round led by WestSummit Capital, with participation from SanDisk Ventures and Atlantic Bridge Ventures. At February’s end, the company had announced $50 million in Series C funding led by Qualcomm. The company has now raised roughly $100 million in funding, including from Ooga Labs, True Ventures, Foundry Group, SK Ventures, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, and Mayfield Fund.BurstIQ, a Colorado Springs, Co.-based technology advisory services company, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the Colorado Springs-based firm PV Ventures.

Chef, a 6.5-year-old, Seattle-based company that allows its users to automate how they build, deploy, and manage their infrastructure, has raised $32 million as part of a larger Series E round that’s expected to close later this year. The company has now raised $63 million altogether, including from Scale Venture Partners, Citi Ventures, Battery Ventures, DFJ and Ignition. Total funding now stands at $63 million. GeekWire has more here.

Craftsvilla, a four-year-old, Mumbai, India-based, Etsy-like e-commerce site for ethnic products, has raised $18 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Global Founders Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Deep Information Sciences, a five-year-old Waltham, Ma-based database science startup, has raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Sigma Prime Ventures and Stage 1 Ventures, with participation from AlphaPrime Ventures. The company has now raised $18 million altogether.DNAnexus, a six-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based company that says it accelerates the development of genomic medicine through a global network for sharing and managing genomic data and tools, has raised $15 million in Series D funding from WuXi PharmaTech, a laboratory and manufacturing services company. Genomeweb has more on the deal here.

Folsom Labs, a nearly four-year-old, San Francisco-based developer of a PV design tool that simplifies the process of engineering and selling solar projects, has raised $1 million in funding from individual investors, includng REC Solar founder Tim Ball. More here.

Funding Circle, a six-year-old, London-based online marketplace that lets individuals and organizations to loan money to small businesses online, has raised a whopping $150 million in funding led by DST Global, BlackRock, and Temasek Holdings. The company has now raised $300 million altogether, including from Accel PartnersUnion Square VenturesRibbit Capital, and Index Ventures.

Jounce Therapeutics, a two-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based company that’s developing cancer immunotherapies that harness individuals’ immune systems, has raised $56 million in Series B funding from Wellington Management Company, Redmile Group, Nextech Invest, Pharmstandard International, Cormorant Asset Management, Omega Funds,Casdin Capital, Foresite Capital Management and an undisclosed investment fund. The company had launched out of Third Rock Ventures in early 2013 with $47 million in Series A funding.

Knotch, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based still-in-beta company that’s building what it hopes will become a  standard digital means of tracking the impact of advertising content, has raised $4 million from Greylock Partners, Allen & Co. and Stanford University, as well as individual investors, including entrepreneur Michael Birch. The WSJ has more here.

LiveStories, a two-year-old, Seattle-based company whose software makes it easier for governments and nonprofits to analyze and visualize data, has received $1 million in seed funding from Founder’s Co-op and Social Leverage among others. More here.

Minube, an eight-year-old  Madrid, Spain-based travel startup whose site and mobile app help travelers decide where to go, then plan their trips and share photos and reviews afterward, has raised $1.6 million in funding led by FIDES, with participation from earlier investors Kibo Ventures and Bonsai Venture Capital. The company has now raised $2.9 million altogether, shows Crunchbase.

Mpirica Health, a year-old, Bellevue, Was.-based  healthcare startup that scores surgeries at more than 4,800 U.S. hospitals based on a methodology developed by Harvard-trained cardiologist Michael Pine (the scores reveal relationships between procedure cost and quality), has raised $1.6 million in Series A funding from McQuinn Trust. Geekwire has more here.

New Signature, a 12-year-old, Washington, D.C.-based systems integrator that works closely with Microsoft, has raised $35 million in funding from Columbia Capital. More here.

OpenFin, a 4.5-year-old, New York-based company that provides runtime technology for financial desktops, has raised $3 million in funding from Bain Capital Ventures, Pivot Investment Partners, Nyca Partners, Cris Conde and Tom Glocer. Crunchbase shows the company has now raised $9.6 million altogether. More here.

Peloton Technology, a four-year-old, Mountain View, CA-based company that sells radar and dedicated short-range communication-based safety systems to trucking fleets (it keeps them in close formation on the highway, reducing collisions), has raised $16 million in Series A funding led by Denso International America and Intel Capital. Other participants in the round include Magna International, Castrol innoVentures, Volvo Group Venture Capital, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Sand Hill Angels, Band of Angels, and Birchmere Ventures.

Perseus, a six-year-old, New York-based high-frequency trading technology firm, has raised  $20.5 million in funding from Goldman Sachs. The International Business Times has more here.

PingThings, a year-old, San Juan Capistrano, Ca.-based company that’s building its predictive intelligence software for the electric utility industry, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from earlier backers GE Capital and Frost Data Capital.

Raise Labs, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based company that enables students to earn micro “scholarships” throughout high school, has raised $4.5 million in Series A funding led by Owl Ventures, with participation from First Round Capital, SJF Ventures and individual angel investors. The company had previously raised $1 million in seed funding, as well as $200,000 in cash awards from education tech and business plan competitions. The WSJ has its story here.

RadPad, a two-year-old, L.A.-based mobile rental marketplace, has raised $9 million in Series A funding led by Altpoint Ventures, with participation from Goldcrest Investments. The company has now raised $12.8 million altogether. Business Insider has more here.

Simplilearn, a 5.5-year-old, Houston, Tx.-based company helping customers get certified in areas like Android development, has raised $15 million in Series C funding led by Mayfield Fund, with participation from earlier backers Kalaari Capital and Helion Venture Partners. Simplilearn has reportedly now raised a total of $27 million. TechCrunch has more here.

SiteZeus, a two-year-old, Tampa, Fla.-based company whose technology automates the process of choosing physical sites for the restaurant, retail and hospitality industries, has raised $2.2 million in funding from Baldwin Beach Capital and Outback Steakhouse cofounder Chris Sullivan. The Tampa Bay Business Journal has more here.

Smule, a seven-year-old, San Francisco-based company whose apps enable users to play or sing along with musical arrangements by professional artists, as well as to record music and invite others to layer in their voices or instruments, has quietly raised $26 million in funding led by Adams Street Partners. The round brings the company’s total funding to $68 million. It also has $12 million line of credit. Venture Capital Dispatch has the story here.

SnowShoe, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based company whose plastic “stamps” interact with the touch sensors on mobile phones, unlocking content from video game characters to gift cards, has raised $1 million in seed funding led by Lowercase Capital, with participation from Collaborative Fund and MESA+ Capital. SnowShoe had raised an earlier $2.5 million in seed funding from Foundry Group’s AngelList Syndicate, 500 Startups, TechStars, Ludlow Ventures, Queensbridge Capital, BAM.vc, Scott Banister, Hiten Shah, and other angels. TechCrunch has the story here.

SureCash, a five-year-old, Bangladesh, India-based mobile banking and payment platform that allows users to deposit cash, send money, make purchases, and pay bills, has raised $7 million in Series B funding from the Osiris Group. The company says it previously raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from a “group of Japanese investors.”

Swirl Networks, a four-year-old, Boston-based micro-location marketing startup, has raised $18 million in Series C funding at a $150 million valuation led by Twitter Ventures, with participation from two unnamed groups. Venture Capital Dispatch has more here.

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New Funds

Yesterday, the online storage company Box announced a $40 million fund for startups that are building their companies on top of its service. It’s partnering with Bessemer Venture Partners and Emergence Capital Partners in the endeavor. Business Insider has more here.

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Exits

Lifecake, a three-year-old, London-based company whose photo-sharing app lets parents privately share photos of their young children with friends and family, has been acquired for undisclosed terms by Canon Europe. According to Crunchbase, Lifecake had raised just $1.4 million from investors, including Saber Growth PartnersEC1 Capital, and Balderton Capital.

Milyoni, a six-year-old, Pleasanton, Ca.-based social video marketing platform for brands and artists, has been acquired for undisclosed terms by the photo-sharing site Photobucket, which itself recently raised $3.6 million in new funding. Milyoni had raised roughly $30 million from investors, including Oak Investment Partners, ATA Ventures, and Thomvest Ventures, shows CrunchBase. More here.

Ozon, the e-commerce portal commonly referred to as the Amazon of Russia, is selling Sapato.ru, a Zappos-like business that it acquired three years ago. The buyer, for undisclosed terms, is online fashion retailer KupiVIP. Citing the Russian finance publication Vedomosti, TechCrunch writes that the deal was likely for hundreds of thousands of dollars , a far cry from the reported $60 million Ozon had spent on the company. (StrictlyVC had lunch last year with Ozon CEO Maelle Gavet, who, understandably, tried downplaying the challenges she faces as the head of a Russia-based company.)

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People

Bloomberg takes a look at the “big business” of being Google cofounder Sergey Brin, saying that in addition to the ex-bankers and philanthropy experts working at Brin’s family office, Bayshore Global Management, Brin also has employed a former Navy SEAL for security, a yacht captain, a fitness coordinator, a photographer, and an archivist. More here.

Google’s robotics unit is now reporting to former SVP or products and longtime advisor to CEO Larry Page, Jonathan Rosenberg, reports The Information. Rosenberg succeeds James Kuffner, a professor turned Google engineering director who oversaw the robotics unit after Andy Rubin left last year to start a fund called Playground Global. The move doesn’t appear to be permanent, adds the report.

Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s executive vice chairman, along with other early Alibaba executives, is setting up a multibillion-dollar family office to invest the wealth created by the e-commerce giant’s highly successful IPO. Tsai reportedly controls a roughly $6.5 billion stake in Alibaba. More here.

Twitter has ended a program whereby top executives had been selling company stock at regular intervals and possibly depressing the stock’s price as a result, reports Fortune. Co-founder and director Ev Williams is reportedly the exception; according to Fortune, he has cashed out $45 million worth of Twitter stock since the broader moratorium went into effect.

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Essential Reads

The online marketplace Jet talks an awfully big game for a company that hasn’t yet launched.

In its first-quarter earnings call yesterday, Facebook said it now sees four billion video streams each day. It didn’t say much about its efforts to monetize video ads, though.

The Verge reviews Jawbone‘s new Up3, and it’s not a ringing endorsement.

More on the Pentagon‘s plans to open a Silicon Valley office, which is expected to be up and running at Moffett Field in a month.

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Detours

Every question you’ve ever had about flying, answered by a pilot.

Wanted: Style and design intern for up-and-coming instabrand.

Can your relationship handle a trip to IKEA?

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Retail Therapy

The Xiaomi Mi 4i. Says Business Insider: “On paper at least, it bests the iPhone 6 in most categories — for less than a third of the price.


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