Intel beams $11.5 million to mobile carrier VMAX
Taiwanese mobile carrier VMAX has nabbed $11.5 million investment from Intel Capital (the venture capital branch of Intel). The money has yet to change hands, but should give VMAX the push it needs to launch the country’s first mobile WiMAX network in early 2009. It also represents a 20 percent stake in the company for Intel.
Concurrently, Intel has struck a deal with the Taiwan Ministry of Economic affairs to build a laboratory facility for the… Continue Reading
Envis eyes another funding round for low-power chips
Design software firm Envis announced that it will seek another round of funding in the next year to roll out its first two applications, Chill and Kelvin. The programs will help computer chip makers create and test models that require less power to run.
The Santa Clara, Calif. company also brought new chief executive A.J. Sen on board. He hails from the same post at mSilica, a company that provides power-management chips for lighting systems.
Envis last… Continue Reading
Hungry Oracle gobbles up software maker Haley
Oracle is capitalizing on the economic downturn to make key acquisitions. The latest: Ruleburst Holdings Limited, parent company of rule-management software provider Haley, Oracle’s tenth buy this year. It won’t actually add new technology to the large company’s portfolio, but it should win it some clout with the public-sector and government organizations that make up most of Haley’s client base. Financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.
Based in Washington, D.C., Haley develops applications to help… Continue Reading
YouSendIt trims 20 percent of staff
Large file delivery service YouSendIt is the latest tech company to downsize, laying off 14 employees (20 percent of its staff). Unlike other companies cutting jobs, however, it didn’t cite the poor economy as the primary rationale. Rather, it hopes to rechannel its resources into the enterprise side of the business, reports VentureWire.
The Campbell, Calif.-based company, launched its enterprise services in 2007 for businesses looking to electronically send large files in high volumes. It has… Continue Reading
FTEN gets backing for direct market trading software
Financial software developer FTEN nabbed an undisclosed amount in second-round preferred stock funding from financial giants Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse. The New York-based company provides digital applications to help prime brokers, clearing firms and hedge funds make direct transactions, assess risk and compliance, and easily monitor market data. It plans to use the investment to grow its operations in Europe and Asia.
The round comes at a time when hedge funds… Continue Reading
Kashless scores $5M for cleantech website
Kashless, a company founded by Martin Tobias, the former CEO of large biodiesel company Imperium Renewables, isn’t ready to come out of stealth mode yet. But a few details have emerged on the company, including a $5 million investment found out by peHUB.
The idea behind the company seems to be a website on which users can get rid of old possessions in cash-free transactions with other users, thus helping keep waste down. However, Tobias has… Continue Reading
NxtGen Emission Controls gets $15M for cleaner diesel
Rather than building an improved diesel engine from scratch like EcoMotors or Achates Power, a Canadian company called NxtGen Emission Controls just wants to clean up the old ones.
The company makes an add-on for existing engines that converts diesel fuel to a cleaner-burning mix before it hits the combustion chamber. However, its products won’t be on sale until next year.
The $15.4 million investment was led by Altira. Japanese auto company Itochu also participated, along with… Continue Reading
CalCEF invests in three cleantech companies
The CalCEF Clean Energy Fund, a small San Francisco boutique investor that is working to raise $20 million for itself, has invested in three seed-stage companies: Allopartis Biotechnologies, HID Laboratories and one unnamed outfit.
Allopartis makes enzymes used to help break down biomass into fuel, a product it will likely market to the growing biofuel industry. HID, for its part, explains its business through its name — a lighting industry acronym that stands for High Intensity… Continue Reading