Series A
ROLI, a London-based company which has created a musical keyboard that is covered by a soft layer of silicon, has raised $12.8 million in a Series A round led by Balderton Capital. FirstMark Capital, Index Ventures and Universal Music also participated in the round. The company will use the funds to accelerate its product roadmap and scale production capacity.
Storehouse, which offers a mobile platform to build stories using video, text and images, has raised $7 million in a Series A funding round. Sherpa Ventures led the round, while seed investors True Ventures, Lerer Ventures and Designer Fund also participated. The money will be used to ensure the product is offered for free for the time being, in order to ensure growth.
Series B
Nurix, which discovers and develops therapies that modulate the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), officially launched with a Series B funding round worth $25.1 million from Third Rock ventures and The Column Group. The two investors also led $6.2 million in seed financing in 2012. The Nurix system allows new insights into the way cells deconstruct proteins, which can be used to develop treatments for serious diseases.
Series D
Translation and localization tool Smartling has closed a $25 million Series D funding round, led by ICONIQ Capital. Previous investors including First Round Capital, Harmony Partners, IDG Ventures, Tenaya Capital, U.S. Venture Partners and Venrock all participated. Smartling’s platform allows companies to translate their web, mobile and business document content. The funds will be used to expand operations.
Funding
Home security company SimpliSafe has raised $57 million in funding from Sequoia Capital. The company creates wireless home security devices which can be controlled from users’ smartphones. Sequoia partner Scott Carter will join the SimpliSafe board as part of the deal. According to a company press release, the Cambridge-based startup currently serves more than 100,000 customers.
Austin, Texas-based carbon capture company Skyonic has raised $12.5 million in additional funding from existing investor ConocoPhillips and new investor Enbridge. The funding will be used to develop Skyonic’s Skycycle technology which lowers the cost of carbon capture. Skyonic is a 2014 Top 100 Red Herring North America winner.