Fusion Corporate Partners

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Last Week’s Fund Raisings

1.  Foundry Group and industry angels invest $2.2 million in Trada

• Details : Trada launched to the public today the first online marketplace allowing small and medium businesses and agencies to leverage the skills of hundreds of paid search experts, who in turn earn money by generating low-cost clicks and conversions for advertisers. Trada entered private beta in January 2009 and has more than 70 advertisers and 280 experts to date.
• Investors:  Foundry Group, Seth Levine, Managing Partner of Foundry Group, Carlos Cashman, Jamie Crouthamel, Stuart Larkins, Dan Murr, Alan Warms and Robert Wolfe – Bios
• Contacts: CEO and founder of Trada,  Niel Robertson
• Location:  USA, Boulder, CO
• Category: Search, Advertising
• Links:
  • Press Release
  • Foundry Group Announcement
  • Managing director’s blog

2. GyPSii raises $11 million

• Details : GyPSii, developer of location-based social networking applications, has closed an $11 million private funding round. The funds will be used to support marketing and additional development of GyPSii applications including Twitter app Tweetsii, GyPSii. This latest infusion brings total fundraising to $40 million.
• Investors:  Led by U.K.-based Schroders
• Contacts: Dan Harple, Executive Chairman,
• Location:  The Netherlands, Amsterdam   
• Category: Social Network, Apps
• Link: The fund raising is announced in the Press Release that also announced thelaunch of new app Tweetsii

3. Hunch raises $12 million

• Details:  Customised recommendations site Hunch has raised $12 million. Gideon Yu of Khosla Ventures will join the board. Gideon has been CFO of both YouTube and Facebook.
• Investor: Series B funding led by Gideon Yu at Khosla Ventures
• Contact: Caterina Fake, CEO and founder
• Location: USA, New York, NY
• Category: reviews, Recommendations
• Link: Caterina Fake talks about the deal on her Blog

 4. Plastic Jungle raises $7.4 million

• Details: Plastic Jungle, a website that enables readers to buy, exchange, and donate gift cards in a trusted environment, has raised $7.4 million in Series B funding. Plastic Jungle previously secured $6 million in Series A funding, bringing its total equity funding to $13.4 million. The Series B financing was completed at an increased valuation over the prior round, which occurred in March 2009. Plastic Jungle will add Allen Beasley, Partner at Redpoint Ventures, to its board of directors.
• Investors: New investor Redpoint Ventures led the round and previous investors Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital and Bay Partners, as well as other existing investors also participated.
• Contact: Garry Briggs, CEO: Bruce Bower, President: Dave Worthington, Chief Financial Officer: Ashmit Bhattacharya, Chief Technology Officer
• Location: USA, Mountain View, CA
• Category: Consumer website
• Link: Press Release

5. PowerReviews raises $6.1 million.

• Details: PowerReviews, the company behind the review sections of many e-coomerce sites, including RadioShack, ToysRUs and Staples, has raised $6.1 million.
• Investor: Led by Menlo Ventures and Tenya Capital
• Contact: Pehr Luedtke – CEO, Andy Chen – Founder and VP, Strategic Partnerships, Robert Chea – Founder and COO
• Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
• Category: Reviews, Technology
• Link: Caterina Fake talks about the deal on her Blog

6. Second Porch closes a £1 million Series-A investment

• Details: Second Porch has closed a £1 million Series-A investment. The investment will be used to continue the company’s expansion into the vacation home rental and home exchange markets, which are among the fastest growing segments in online consumer travel. Second Porch enables owners and renters to tap into real world relationships in order to rent and trade vacation homes, where trust between owner and guest is of paramount concern on both sides of the transaction
• Investor: Led by the Oregon Angel Fund (OAF)
• Contact: Brent Hieggelke, CEO of Second Porch
• Location: USA, Portland, OR
• Category: Holiday, Rental
• Link: Press Release

7. World Golf Tour raises $10 million

• Details:  World Golf Tour has raised $10 million in a third round of funding.  The funds will be used to expand globally and to create a stripped-down version of its web site game for Facebook
• Investor: Led by JAFCO Ventures. Existing investors also participated. World Golf Tour was founded in 2006 with the backing of l venture capital firms Battery Ventures and Panorama Capital, as well as prominent individual investors.
• Contact: Yuchiang Cheng, chief executive
• Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
• Category: Games
• Link: Venturebeat