Vizu Corporation, a Real Time Online Brand Ad Effectiveness Metrics Platform, Raises $6.75M

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
  
FUND RAISING 
Database Reference:  
 F231109-259
Business:  
Web:  Vizu Corporation
Location:  http://www.vizo.com
Region:  USA, San Francisco, CA
Business description:  North America
Category: Real time online brand ad effectiveness metrics platform
Contact 1:  Market Research
Contact 2:  Dan Beltramo, Chief Executive Officer
   
Investors:  co-lead by iNovia Capital and Greycroft Partners with participation from existing investors including Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Esther Dyson
 
Amount raised:  $6,750,000
Participants:   4

Details:  Vizu Corporation, a real time online brand ad effectiveness metrics platform, has completed a $6.75M round of financing co-lead by iNovia Capital and Greycroft Partners with participation from existing investors including Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Esther Dyson.

Link: Press Release

Thomson Reuters Completes Acquisition of Breakingviews

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

ACQUISITION

Thomson Reuters has completed its acquisition of London based financial commentary service Breakingviews.

Groupon has raised a Series B financing round of $30 million

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
FUND RAISING 
Database Reference:  F231109-258
 
Business:  Groupon
Web:  http://www.groupon.com
Location:  Chicago, IL
Region:  North America
Business description:  Offer online users deep discounts on local deals – spas, sky diving lessons, hotels, restaurants, golf, whtaever. Discounts range from 40%-90% of the normal price. If enough people buy into the offer, everyone gets the deal. If there aren’t enough people, no one gets the deal.
Category: Ecommerce
Contact 1:  Andrew Mason Founder/CEO
Contact 2:  Ken Pelletier CTO
 
Investors:  New investor Accel Partners and existing investor New Enterprise Associates
 
Round:  Round B
Amount raised:  $30,000,000
Participants:  2
 
Details:  Groupon has raised a Series B financing round of $30 million – from new investor Accel Partners and existing investor New Enterprise Associates. Accel’s Kevin Efrusy joins Groupon’s board of directors.

Link:  TechCrunch

StocTwits raises $3M

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website 
 
FUND RAISING 
Database Reference:  F231109-257
 
Business:  StockTwits
Web:  http://www.stocktwits.com
Location:  USA, Phoenix, AZ
Region:  North America
Business description:  An open, community-powered idea and information service for investments.It takes financial related data – using Twitter as the content production platform – and structures it by stock, user, reputation, etc.
Category: Financial information
Contact 1:  Howard Lindzon, co-Founder and CEO
Contact 2:  Soren Macbeth, co-Founder and CTO
 
Investors:  Led by Foundry Group and returning investor True Ventures as well as Brad Feld.

Round:  Round B
Amount raised:  $3,000,000
Participants:  3
 
Details:  StockTwits has closed a $3m Series B financing round led by Foundry Group and returning investor True Ventures as well as Brad Feld.

Link:  StockTwits Blog (see December 2nd, 2009 entry)

Business, SimpleTuition Acquires TuitionCoach

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-257
 
Acquirer:  SimpleTuition
ACQ Web:  http://www.simpletuition.com
Location:  USA, Newton, MA
Region:  North America
Description:  Personalized student loan research and comparison
Category:  Financial information
Contact:  Kevin Walker, co-founder and CEO
 
Vendor:  Tuition Coach
Vendor Web:  http://www.tuitioncoach.com
Location:  USA, San Matwo, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  Personalized college financial guidance
Category: Financial information
Contact 1:  Monisha Perkash, co-founder and CEO

Aprox. Value:  Undisclosed
 
Details:  SimpleTuition, Inc., online student loan research and comparison, has acquired TuitionCoach, a website for personalized college financial guidance. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
Link: Press Release

Financial information and analysis community Seeking Alpha has raised $7 million

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

FUND RAISING 
Database Reference:  F231109-256
 
Business:  Seeking Alpha
Web:  http://seekingalpha.com
Location:  USA, New York, NY
Region:  North America
Business description:  Stock market opinion and analysis, and  finance discussion.
Category: Media owner
Contact 1:  David Jackson, Founder
Contact 2:  Mick Weinstein, Editor-in-chief
 
Investors:  Led by first-time investor DAG Ventures with participation from existing investors Benchmark Capital and Accel Partners.
 
Round:  Round B
Amount raised:  $7,000,000
Participants:  3
 
Details:  Financial information and analysis community Seeking Alpha has recently closed a Series B round of financing of around $7 million.
Link:  TechCrunch

HipLogic Secures $7 Million in Series B Funding to Deliver Smartphone Experience to Mass Market Phones

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

FUND RAISING 
Database Reference:  F231109-255
 
Business:  HipLogic
Web:  http://www.hiplogic.com
Location:  Fremont, CA
Region:  North America
Business description:  The HipLogic platform improves content and application discoverability, provides a consistent user experience across all handset models, and optimizes data traffic on cellular networks.
Category: Mobile
Contact:  Mark Anderson, President and CEO
 
 
Investors:  Existing investors Benchmark Capital and Stage 1 Ventures as well as new investors Bay Partners, who led the round, and Accrue Sports and Entertainment Ventures.
 
Round:  Round B
Amount raised:  $7,000,000
Participants:  5
 
Details:  HipLogic, Inc. has raised $7 million in Series B funding to further develop and deploy its mobile application platform.
Link:  Press Release

Zorap, a video conference and media sharing business, has raised $1.35M

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
 
FUND RAISING 
Database Reference:  F231109-254
Business:  Zorap
Web:  http://www.zorap.com
Location:  USA, Maine,
Region:  North America
Business description: Private video chat rooms  
Category:  Communication

Contact:  Barry Spencer, President

Investor:   Undisclosed, private investors

Amount raised:  $1,350,000
Participants:   2

Details:  Zorap, a video conference and media sharing business, has raised $1.35 million from private investors, according to an SEC filing.

Link: Regulatory Filing

Genieo, which develops personalized home pages, has raised $3 million

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
FUND RAISING 
Database Reference:  F231109-253

Business:  Genieco
Web:  http://www.genieo.com/
Location:  Israel, Herzliyia
Region:  Europe/ Middle East & Africa
Business description:  Finds, filters and organizes relevant information into a personal homepage”
Category: User Content Host
Contact 1:  Jacob Tenenboem, co-founder and Chairman
Contact 2:  Sol Tzvi, Founder and CEO
Contact 3: Dr. Yuval Elovici, CTO

Investor:  Undisclosed
  
Round:  Seed round
Amount raised:  $3,000,000
 
Details:  Genieo, which develops personalized home pages, has raised $3 million in seed funding from undisclosed investors.

Link:  TechCrunch

Mail.ru Merges with Astrum Online Entertainment

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-256
 
Acquirer:  Mail.ru
ACQ Web:  http://www.mail.ru
Location:  Russia
Region:  Europe
Description:  Online portal
Category:  Media Owner
Contact:  Dmitri Grishin, President and CEO
 
Vendor:  Astrum Online
Vendor Web:  http://www.astrumonline.ru/
Location:  Russia
Region:  Europe
Description:  Online games
Category: Games
Contact 1:  Igor Matsanyuk, to become 1st Vice President of Mail.ru
Contact 2:  Vladimir Nikolskiy to become Vice President of Mail.ru
 
Details:  Digital Sky Technologies is merging two of its largest portfolio companies.The deal is structured as an acquisition by online portal Mail.ru of online games group Astrum Online Entertainment in a combination of cash and stock. The merged company, which have revenues of over $100 million per year and will be the second largest Internet company in Russia in terms of revenues after Yandex.  Naspers/ MIH Group owns 43% of Mail.ru and was recently granted anti-trust permission to buy between 38% and  Naspers/ MIH Group, although the South-African conglomerate owns 43% of Mail.ru and was recently granted anti-trust permission to buy between 38% 100% of Astrum Online from DST. See previous DigiNet story.
 
Links: