VC watch: Novarra gets $20 million

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Thursday's deals

• Novarra has received a $20 million third round of funding, which was led by JK&B Capital and Kettle Partners. Other investors include Colorado PERA and Fort Washington Private Equity Investors. Arlington Heights, Ill.-based Novarra develops software designed to adapt enterprise applications to handheld devices. The company has raised a total of $29 million.

• Season Ticket Solutions expects to close a $5 million second round of funding in the next five months. The Chicago-based company has received an undisclosed portion of the round from InvestLinc Financial Services. Season Ticket will have raised a total of $8 million once this latest round closes. The company provides software to distribute and exchange tickets.

• TeraLogic said it had raised $17.5 million for its fifth round of funding, led by previous investor Citicorp. TopSpin Partners, along with previous investors Sony, Samsung Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric, The Mayfield Fund, Levensohn Capital, New York Life and Vertex, contributed to this latest round. Mountain View, Calif.-based TeraLogic develops integrated circuits and software for the digital TV industry. The company's products are designed to reduce the cost of enabling devices to receive high definition television. The company has raised a total of $90 million.

• Storm Telecommunications said it received a $35 million second round of funding, led by Soros Private Equity Partners. Other investors include Merrill Lynch Ventures. London-based Storm has raised a total of $400 million for its voice, bandwidth and Internet Protocol services.

Wednesday's deals

• Axolotl said it has raised $17.7 million toward its fourth round of funding, led by Tudor Private Equity Fund. The company expects to cap its round at $22 million in the next four months. Other investors include Vanguard Atlantic, Richland Ventures and Gilat Satellite Networks. Tampa, Fla.-based Axolotl has raised a total of $70 million for its software company. Axolotl's technology allows doctors to connect to hospitals, labs, pharmacies and insurance companies via the Internet, in order to transmit and receive patient information and billing.

• Lok Technology said it has received $600,000 in a seed round of financing from private investors. Coral Gables, Fla.-based Lok Technology develops security software for e-mail and online storage applications.

Tuesday's deals

• Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile said it has raised $7 million in a fifth round of funding from its previous investors. Bessemer Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Integral Capital Partners and Vulcan Ventures participated in this latest round. Seattle-based Blue Nile has raised a total of $57 million and expects to reach profitability in the fourth quarter.

• InvisibleHand Networks received a $2.5 million investment toward its first round of funding. The Burlington, Mass.-based company plans to close the $8 million round with this investment, which came from Polaris Venture Partners and individual investors. InvisibleHand develops software that enables telecommunications carriers and their customers to buy and sell excess bandwidth in real time.

• RxCentric said it has raised $5 million in a third round of funding from previous investors Insight Capital Partners, CHL Medical Partners, Exeter Capital Partners and Ventiv Health. New York-based RxCentric, which has raised a total of $21 million, develops software designed to enable pharmaceutical companies to customize and target their online marketing efforts.

• Tacit Knowledge Systems said Tuesday it raised a $10 million third round of funding, led by Alta Partners. Previous investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson and RVC Greenhouse Fund contributed to this round. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tacit has raised a total of $21 million. Tacit develops software designed to automatically identify experts within a company's work force on various topics from vendors to databases. The software searches through such information as employees' outgoing e-mail to transferred files, using key words to identify workers with the most knowledge in a particular field.

• KaVaDo said it raised a $3.7 million second round of funding, led by 3i Technology Partners. New York-based KaVaDo has raised a total of $4.7 million and received an increase in valuation with this latest round. The company develops security software for such applications as e-mail and accounting programs.

Monday's deals

• Communications equipment maker Vertical Networks announced it closed its sixth round of funding with a $15 million investment that brings the total for the round to $64 million and the company's total funding to $119 million. New investors for the round include financial services firm Household International, which is also one of Vertical's major customers, as well as former investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Accel Partners, Integral Capital Partners and others. Vertical announced an initial sixth-round investment of $49 million in May 2000 led by Levensohn Capital Management, and the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based firm also closed its $30 million fifth round in May of 1999, which was headed by Technology Crossover Ventures. The company makes communications equipment for branch offices of larger companies or small businesses numbering up to 180 people. The box can handle the communication tasks of an office including voice, Internet and data connections. For example, it receives incoming voice and data traffic from high-speed phone lines and routes it to the appropriate destination within the business. Vertical regards Cisco Systems, Avaya and Nortel Networks as competitors.

• Trebia Networks said it received more than $30 million for its second round of funding. Atlas Venture led the round and was joined by Kodiak Venture Partners, Raza Foundries, BancBoston Ventures, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Allianz of America and Deutsche Banc Alex Brown. Acton, Mass.-based Trebia has raised a total of $40 million for its semiconductor business. The company develops chips for the storage network industry.

• Vuepoint said it received more than $11 million for its first round of funding. Wheatley Partners led the round and was joined by Hudson Venture Partners, Dalewood Associates, Dalewood 2 Private Technology and Wafr Holdings. Wheatley and Hudson both received seats on the board. Vuepoint, based on New York's Long Island, develops software designed to allow companies to create their own courses.

• Sports.com has raised $13 million in its third round of funding from previous investors SportsLine.com, Soros Private Equity Partners and IMG. The London-based company has raised a total of $75 million for its sports site. The company publishes sports information and offers wagering on games.

• PowerMarket said it received an additional $3.6 million toward its second round of funding from RSA Ventures and other investors. The latest investment brings its second round to $16.1 million and closes the round. Belmont, Calif.-based PowerMarket has raised a total of $26.2 million. PowerMarket's supply-chain software is designed to analyze information from a company and its suppliers and customers when they transact business.

• MyFamily.com said Monday it has received $15 million in a fourth round of funding and has appointed a new chairman and interim CEO. Dave Moon of EsNet, a lead investor, will serve as chairman and interim CEO. Other investors included vSpring, Sorenson Media, Canopy Group, and previous investors CMGI @Ventures and Wasatch Venture. San Francisco-based MyFamily.com operates several genealogy-related sites and has raised a total of $90.5 million.

• Sanctum said it has raised $30 million in a fourth round of funding and named a new chairman, John Dillon, CEO of Salesforce.com. Dell Computer, Fidelity Ventures, Gemini Israel Funds, First Union eVentures Group, Hitachi, and previous investors Sprout Group, Mofet Israel Technology Fund, and Walden Israel contributed to the round. Representatives from Fidelity and Gemini will both join Sanctum's board of directors. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based security-software company has raised a total of $54 million.

• Chipmaker Velio Communications said it has raised a $45 million third round of funding, which was led by Redpoint Ventures. Previous investors Sequoia Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, Global Catalyst Partners, Capital Research Group and HarbourVest Partners also participated in this round. Milpitas, Calif.-based Velio has raised a total of $95 million and received a slight increase in valuation with this latest round. The company makes chips for the broadband optical equipment market. Velio?s chips are designed to allow customers? equipment to handle increases in data traffic over their networks.

Friday's deals

• Formation Systems has raised a $16 million fifth round of funding. Investors included Bain Capital Ventures, and previous investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and ABS Ventures. Southborough, Mass.-based Formation Systems has raised a total of $37 million and received a 5 percent decrease in valuation with its latest round, a representative said. The company's software allows companies to have a central repository of information, providing faster access to data.

• Actuality Systems is expected to announce on Monday that it has received a $1 million bridge round of funding from private investors. Reading, Mass.-based Actuality has received a total of $2.3 million between its seed funding and this latest round. Actuality's bridge funding is designed to give the company an infusion of cash while it waits to launch its first round of venture funding, expected this fall. The company develops 3D devices that attach to computers, enabling people to see images floating before them. Actuality expects to target the biotechnology and medical industries as well as design companies.