Internet
Silverpop
Silverpop Systems Inc., a provider of on-demand marketing technology, has closed a $15 million round that it plans to use for future acquisitions. The capital is also earmarked for international expansion and research and development. New investor D.E. Shaw Group of New York led the round along with existing investor Draper Fisher Jurvetson of Menlo Park, Calif., and others. The Atlanta-based company has been profitable since 2004. Silverpop is an e-mail service provider offering an array of on-demand, Web-based software for the online relationship marketing needs of enterprise-level organizations.
Retail Convergence
Boston-based online retail startup Retail Convergence Inc. has raised $25 million to finance a management buyout of e-commerce closeout site SmartBargains.com, and launch the first of several new brand marketing sites. The Boston-based company landed the backing from founding investors New England Development, Breakaway Ventures, Mugar Enterprises Inc. and General Catalyst Partners, all of Boston, and paid an undisclosed amount of cash to acquire SmartBargains. The company will continue to operate SmartBargains as an off-price retailer of name-brand apparel and other goods, and will use its established e-commerce platform to build new e-commerce sites, beginning with RueLaLa.com, an invitation-only private sale site launched April 9.
Software
RightScale
Cloud computing startup RightScale Inc., a developer of tools for creating server clusters for Amazon Web Services, has raised a $4.5 million first round in venture capital from San Francisco-based Benchmark Capital. RightScale will use the funds for customer growth and to develop more tools for developers to use for the creation and automation of Web applications.
Networking
Altor
Virtual network security startup Altor Networks Inc. of Redwood City, Calif., has secured a $6 million second round. The financing was led by Accel Partners of Palo Alto, Calif., and Foundation Capital of Menlo Park, Calif. The proceeds will be used for product development, as well as for marketing and sales. The company's lead products are its Virtual Network Security Analyzer and Virtual Network Firewall, which are used in virtualization deployments to protect the network. -- George White
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