Series A
Play-i, which makes robots for kids to program, has received $8 million in a Series A investment from Charles River Partners and Madrona Venture Group. Through crowdfunding, the Mountain View company had previously gained more than $1.4 million in 30 days from almost 11,000 pre-orders. Play-i is also teaming with 100+ developers that signed up for first dibs on its API and intends to issue its API more widely when the robots get shipped, according to a press release.
Zumper, which helps users find home and apartment rentals, has finished a Series A investment round from Kleiner Perkins. NEA and Dawn Capital, both seed backers, contributed to the round. Other seed investors include KPCB, Andreessen Horowitz, CrunchFund, Greylock, The Experiment Fund, and the deWilde family trust. The San Francisco company’s platform plays host to more than 500,000 active listings.
Series B
Analytics company Reflektion, which serves retailers like Converse, Inc., has secured $8 million in a Series B funding round led by Intel Capital. Other investors like NIKE, Inc. contributed to the funding. San Mateo-based Reflektion leverages an analytics platform that identifies trends and forecasts consumers’ next probable purchases, according to a press release.
Beijing’s pet-focused e-commerce and social platform Boqii has realized a $25 million Series B investment, according to TechNode. Among its backers: prior investors led by Goldman Sachs and an undisclosed U.S. VC. The site leverages a place to buy pet necessities like food or to learn about animal care.
The WSJ is reporting Appian Corp. of Reston, VA, provider of Business Process Management software, has secured $37.5 million in Series B funding from New Enterprise Associates. The company had previously gained $10 million from Novak Biddle Ventures in 2008. According to the company’s LinkedIn, Appian serves more than 3.5 million global users.
Funding
Beacon Securities has led a $10.75 million funding in Slyce, which provides visual search solutions. Myriad private investors, PI Financial, Harrington Global, Salman Partners, and AlphaNorth Asset Management contributed as well. Total funding now exceeds $14.5 million. Toronto-based Slyce just acquired computer vision technology from York University and MaRS Innovation this past February.
Borro, which operates in the pawnbroking and auction industries, has completed a $112 million financing through Victory Park Capital, according to a press release. The “personal asset lender” makes loans that value $12,000 on average, but will dole out up to $2 million. U.K.-based Borro is a Red Herring 2012 Top 100 North America company and a 2012 Top 100 Global company.
According to reports, SoftBank Ventures Korea has funded Ini3 Digital, which delivers web game services, and snapped up a 23 percent stake in the company. Bangkok-based Ini3 is behind games like Pangya, Club MStar, Boomz and C9.
M&A
New York’s stock imagery and more company Shutterstock will acquire WebDAM, “a leading provider of web-based digital asset management software,” according to a press release. The San Mateo company serves customers like Symantec and New Balance.
Boston-based Flashnotes has said it will pick up Moolaguides. Both companies enable people to obtain study materials. Moolaguides was started by a senior at Florida State University, and has driven $250,000 in revenue, according to a press release. Flashnotes’ user base expanded by 175 percent this past year and gained $3.6 million in Series A funding this past February.
Canadian e-learning company Desire2Learn has bought the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), which “maps learning activities to education standards,” according to a press release.