Series A
Thrive Capital has led an $8 million Series A investment in Stockholm-based TicTail, which helps people create their own online stores.The company has built up a “community” of more than 35,000 stores, according to its website. Money will reportedly be put to establishing an office in New York City.
Cloud app and services security company Elastica has emerged from stealth mode and announced a $6.3 million Series A round from the Mayfield Fund. The San Jose-based company also introduced its CloudSOC solution.
Chinese online travel platform 17u.cn has raised RMB500 million ($82 million) in funding. Boyu Capital led the round which saw contributions from Oriza and Tencent. In 2012, the company said it would IPO in China.
Series B
According to TechNode, Chinese decoration services portal To8to has received about 100 million yuan (nearly $16.5 million) in a Series B investment. Sequoia Capital led the round and Series A backer Matrix Partners participated. Almost 60,000 decoration companies and 700,000 designers are reportedly on To8to.
Cloud financial manager and accounting software company Intacct has gained $45 million in venture funding and debt. Battery Ventures led Intacct’s $30 million funding round, in which Bessemer Venture Partners, Costanoa Venture Capital, Split Rock Partners, Morgan Creek Capital Management, Sigma Partners and Emergence Capital contributed. Silicon Valley Bank provided a $15 million debt package. The San Jose-based company ramped up bookings by almost 40 percent year-over-year in its second fiscal quarter. Intacct is a Red Herring Top 100 North America and Red Herring Top 100 Global company.
Geneva-based biotech NovImmune SA has raised a CHF 60 million ($67.5 million) Series B investment led by Rosetta Capital Limited. “New private investors as well as existing investors” contributed to the funding, according to a company press release.
TechNode is reporting Fosun Venture Capital Investment of the Fosun Group has injected about 100 million yuan ($16.5 million) into Beijing education company Uniquedu. The company resembles Coursera, and leverages a massive online open course (MOOC) platform called Kaikeba.
Series C
Czech social analytics company Socialbakers has raised $26 million in a Series C round it calls the largest for a company of its kind outside North America. The investment brings total funding to $34.5 million. Socialbakers has about 2,000 clients.
Language-learning app company Duolingo has secured $20 million in a Series C round. Kleiner Perkins led the investment. Previous investors, who reportedly participated in the round, include Union Square Ventures, NEA, Ashton Kutcher and Tim Ferriss. The Pittsburgh-based company counts roughly 25 million registered users on its platform, CEO Luis Von Ahn told TechCrunch.
Series E
Biopharmaceutical company Versartis has realized a $55 million Series E round from five life science investment firms and previous backers Aisling Capital, Sofinnova Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners and Advent Life Science. Total capital behind the Redwood City-based company comes to $132 million. The investment will mostly go towards getting ready for an international Phase 3 pediatric GHD trial of VRS-317, a recombinant human growth hormone leveraged to treat growth hormone deficiencies, according to a Versartis press release.
Funding
Malaysian “cakes and café chain” Secret Recipe will receive a roughly 200 million yuan ($33 million) from Fosun Group. The company, founded in 1997, has more than 300 café outlets and operates in cities like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Shanghai, Brunei and Manila, according to its website. Secret Recipe is reportedly headed for China, whose dining industry came to 2.3 trillion yuan ($375.8 billion) in 2012, according to the Wall Street Journal.
M&A
Google has picked up Tel Aviv login and authentication solutions company SlickLogin. According to the company’s LinkedIn page, SlickLogin’s “product allows you to authenticate yourself just by placing your smartphone near your PC, no typing necessary.”