ZestCash is a payday loan company that was founded by former Google CIO and VP of Engineering Douglas Merrill. ZestCash aims to legitimize the payday loan industry. ZestCash has raised $73 million in a new round of funding. Matrix Partners provided $23 million in the form of an equity round. Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, GRP Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners, and Lighthouse Capital Partners also participated in this round. The company also raised a separate $50 million line of debt financing from Victory Park Capital.

SavingStar is a service where you can receive grocery discounts by entering your loyalty cards into the system. I just registered an account with them and I noticed that they are able to get me an additional $2.00 off from 2 boxes of Pepsi, $1.00 off a bag of Tostitos, 50 cents off Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, etc. from Kroger. Other stores that work with the service include Rite Aid, CVS, Piggly Wiggly, Albertsons, County Market, Food City, Lowes Foods, Jack’s SuperValu, Ralphs, and the list goes on. SavingStar launched in beta this past August and raised $2.3 million in funding from Flybridge Capital Partners, First Round Capital, Founder Collective, and several angel investors.

Loan service ZestCash has raised $19 million in funding to expand its short-term loans and debt financing. The funding comes from Lightspeed Venture Partners, GRP Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners and Lighthouse Capital Partners. GigaOM reports that Lighthouse’s contribution of $8 million is specifically for debt financing. ZestCash’s loans are data-driven; they offer loans to those whose online data says they’re credit worthy.

33across is a company that develops technology that is valuable to retailers. If you buy something on eBay, 33across is able to identify which of your contacts are connected to you. “We identify the anonymous connections of consumers that are buying and shopping a certain brand,” stated 33across co-founder Eric Wheeler. 33across has raised $9 million in funding with Flybridge Capital Partners being the lead investor. First Round Capital and QED Investors also participated in this round. [PEHub]

GroupMe is a service that lets you text a group of people using just one phone number. GroupMe is currently in the middle of raising venture capital, but there is supposedly a bidding war taking place. This round of funding would put GroupMe at a value that is close to $30 million.

T2 Biosystems Inc. has raised $15 million from 9 different investors. The company plans to use the funding to accelerate development and commercialization for its diagnostic platform. The investment round was led by Physic Ventures. Other investors include Arcus Ventures, RA Capital Management LLC, Camros Capital LLC, WS Investments Company, Flagship Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners, and Partners Healthcare of Boston. T2 Biosystems raised $10.8 million in Series B financing two years ago. [Bizjournals]

DataXu has raised $11 million in Series B funding.  Investors include Menlo Ventures, Atlas Venture, and Flybridge Capital Partners.  Atlas and Flybridge were involved in DataXu’s first round in April 2009.  The new round of funding will be used for product development, sales, marketing, and expansion.  DataXu has offices in Boston and N.Y.  DataXu is an online ad exchange service. [paidContent]

Blackwave is an Acton, Mass. based company that hosts and streams videos on the Internet. The company has recently raised $7 million in Series C from Globespan Capital Partners, Sigma Partners, and Flybridge Capital Partners. Thus far Blackwave has raised a total of $29 million in total funding.

“This renewed investment, combined with the ongoing acquisition of a range of new customers and partners, signals the market’s great confidence in our technology and our value proposition,” stated Blackwave CEO Bob Rizika.