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Renaissance Learning raises $40 million from Google Capital at $1 billion valuation

February 19, 2014

Series A

Cloud-based payroll company ZenPayroll has received $20 million in a Series A round from Kleiner Perkins and General Catalyst. The venture had gained a $6.1 million seed investment in 2012 from Google Ventures, Salesforce, and the CEOs of Dropbox, Yammer, Yelp, Box and others. Its fresh funding brings total backing to $26.1 million. The San Francisco company handles more than $400 million in yearly payroll for small businesses.

San Mateo-based automated analytics company BeyondCore has gained $9 million in a Series A investment. The round was led by Menlo Ventures. According to a release from the investor, 17 Fortune 100 firms have implemented and appraised the company’s Automated Analytics software.

Blumberg Capital has led a $5.6 million Series A investment in San Francisco compliance company Strevus, which delivers solutions for financial service institutions. U.S. Venture Partners and previous investors joined the round.

Series B

New York City-based online investing platform Kapitall has secured $13 million in a Series B round led by Linden Venture Fund. Bendigo Partners, which Kapitall’s CEO Jarrett Lilien founded, contributed to the investment. Users beginning on Kapitall get a $100,000 practice portfolio to play with. The company’s 2010 Series A funding involved $7.3 million in cash and $5.5 million in converted promissory notes issued before.

Philadelphia rideshare company Sidecar has given its app a makeover and reportedly raised roughly $10 million in a Series B funding from Union Square Ventures. Sidecar faces tough competition from the likes of Uber, Hailo and Lyft, and with its new application looks to provide a customized ride experience where drivers pick prices and passengers pick their ride. The company previously received a $10 million Series A investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Google Capital.

Delivery startup Postmates has secured $16 million in a Series B funding led by Spark Capital “with follow-on from existing investors,” according to a company release. Previous rounds include a $1.75 million seed investment and a $5 million Series A from FoundersFund. Total backing behind Postmates now exceeds $22 million. The San Francisco-based company operates in Seattle, New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

Funding

VentureBeat is reporting that enterprise mobile security company Nativeflow has received $7.5 million in funding from OurCrowd and Jerusalem Venture Partners. The Israeli startup, founded 2011, differentiates from Mobile Device Management and Mobile Application Management solutions by delivering “protection for enterprise data on personal mobile devices, freeing IT professionals from…dealing with ‘containers,’ ‘dual personals’ or disabled functionality,” according to its website.

Renaissance Learning, which deploys K-12 learning analytics and assessment services, has raised $40 million from Google Capital at a $1 billion valuation, according to TechCrunch. Google is now a minority owner in the venture. The Wisconsin Rapids-based company reports “tens of thousands” of American schools utilize its technology.

M&A

U.S. and Israel headquartered ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd., which deploys “automated mobile workforce management and optimization solutions for the service industry,” will acquire Mountain View mobile workforce management company, Xora, Inc. by merger. A company press release puts the deal at about $14.7 million cash and working capital and cash adjustments.

Keywords Studios, an Ireland-based public company, has bought London’s Babel Media. Both companies operate in the video games services space. The transaction will cost £5.37 million ($8.98 million), with roughly £2.2 million coming from the issue of more than 1.5 million new shares in Keywords Studios. Shares are priced at nearly 146 pence apiece.

Frisco, TX multimedia and cloud communications company GENBAND will pick up communications tech venture uReach Technologies of Holmdel, NJ. Deal terms were not disclosed

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Filed Under: Features, Finance, Startups

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