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VC Dealflow: Jan. 15, 2008

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Nanotech

NanoGram
Milpitas, Calif.-based NanoGram Corp. bulked up its long list of veteran alternative energy venture capital investors with a roster of key global strategic investors, while adding $32 million in a third round to expand applications of its proprietary thin film nanotechnology processes. The 4-year-old company will use the money to further a licensing-based strategy for proprietary nanotechnology in crystalline silicon deposition to create thin films for optical electronics, flat panel displays, batteries, and solid state lighting, but will also invest a sizeable chunk in development of a pilot plant to develop solar power modules using its proprietary materials. The new round was backed by new strategic investors Global Cleantech Capital of Amsterdam; Masdar Clean Tech Fund of Abu Dhabi; Nanostart AG of Germany; and Mitsui Ventures, Nagase & Co., TEL Venture Capital Tokyo, and Yasuda Enterprise Development, all of Japan.  They were joined by previous backers ATA Ventures of Redwood City, Calif., Nth Power Technologies of San Francisco, Bay Partners of Cupertino, Calif., Harris & Harris Group of New York, Institutional Venture Partners of Menlo Park, Calif., SBV Venture Partners of Palo Alto, Calif. and Rockport Capital Partners of Menlo Park. -- Clifford Carlsen

Energy


Knight & Carver
National City, Calif.-based Knight & Carver Wind Group, Inc. has secured a $12 million investment from Global Environment Fund of Chevy Chase, Md. Knight & Carver provides its services to wind farm operators throughout the U.S., Latin America, Canada and Europe. The company will use the capital to expand its position in the wind turbine blade inspection, repair and maintenance services market in the U.S. -- G.W.

Biotech

Pervasis
Cardiovascular biotechnology company Pervasis Therapeutics Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., has secured $9.75 million in financing. Investors in the round included Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, Mass., and Flagship Ventures of Cambridge, Highland Capital Partners Inc. of Lexington, Mass. and Musket Research Associates of Cambridge. Founded in 2003, Pervasis is developing medical therapies that integrate biomaterials with cells and drugs; its first product is a combination device for patients with vascular disease. The money will go towards finishing  two Phase II clinical trials for Pervasis' Vascugel blood vessel repair therapeutic. -- G.W.

Networking

Data Connection
London-based Data Connection Limited has received an undisclosed amount of capital from Francisco Partners of San Francisco and Sequoia Capital of Menlo Park, Calif., to back the company's MetaSwitch division. The company said that the two venture firms provided the financial resources "to help take Data Connection and MetaSwitch to the next level of growth." Data Connection also said it recently passed $100 million in annual revenue. Data Connection is a developer and supplier of networking equipment that is sold to telecoms. Customers include Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft. MetaSwitch, a division of Data Connection, is a vendor of switching and applications technology for both packet and circuit-switched networks used by telecoms. -- G.W.

Software

Centric
Centric Software inc. has closed a $14.3 million Series B venture capital financing.  The developer of product life cycle management software, Centric will use the capital to ramp up its growth and to increase market awareness of its technology. The second round was led by Oak Investment Partners of Westport, Conn., and included the returning Masthead Venture Partners of Cambridge, Mass., and Boston-based BancBoston Ventures, an investment arm of Bank of America. Centric now has roughly $47 million in venture funding since it was recapitalized with $33 million from Oak and Masthead, as well as Boston Capital Ventures and BancBoston Ventures, the only carry-overs from the group of prior investors. -- G.W.

Evolve IP
Wayne, Pa.-based Evolve IP LLC has raised a $15.6 million equity financing. The funding will be used for the expansion and buildout of the company's service delivery platforms allow businesses to buy, manage, and secure the technologies they use to communicate and process information including telephony, network services, security and compliance. Investors included Herb Lotman, Chairman and Founder of Keystone Foods; Ira M. Lubert, Chairman of Independence Capital Partners; Peter G. Peterson, Senior Chairman and Co-Founder of The Blackstone Group; and Michael C. Forman, Managing General Partner of FB Capital Partners. -- G.W.

Internet
 
Livemocha
Language learning company Livemocha has secured a $6 million funding led by Seattle-based Maveron LLC. Livemocha, also based in Seattle, will use the capital to build new functionality into its Web site and for growth. The company provides instructional content for English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French and German. The site uses native language speakers within its community to teach the languages and allow users to build writing proficiency. -- G.W.

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