Mu Sigma is a company that helps businesses analyze data and make decisions. The company has raised $108 million from Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic LLC. This is the largest round of private-equity financing in the analytic services industry. Mu Sigma will be using the funding to add about 600 to 700 employees. General Atlantic CEO William Ford will be joining the Mu Sigma board of directors. Mu Sigma’s revenues will be increasing 35-40% in 2012. The money raised will also be used for buying out early investors. [BusinessWeek]

Groupalia, a European online group buying company, has raised $26 million in funding. The startup’s investors include Nauta Capital, Caixa Capital Risc, General Atlantic, Insight Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Lucas Carné and José Manuel Villanueva. The daily deals company is just two years old and has 10 million users. [TechCrunch]

Flipkart.com is known as the “Amazon.com of India.” The company is reportedly raising $150 million at a $1 billion valuation. If this is true, then Flipkart.com will be the first Internet startup in India to hit that milestone.

New York based discount flash sales website Gilt Groupe has raised $138 million in venture capital funding. Investors in this fifth round of funding include Softbank Group, General Atlantic, Matrix Partners, Goldman Sachs, NEA, DFJ Growth, Pinnacle Ventures, TriplePoint Capital, and Eastward Capital.

Groupalia is a Spain-based group buying website that has raised $15 million from their current shareholders and new investors. Investors in this round include General Atlantic, Insight Venture Partners, and Index Ventures. Like Groupon.com, Groupalia has a daily deal in the form of discount coupons and they are expecting to turn over about $150 million in 2011 revenues. The extra funding will be used for consolidating their position in the countries that they are already established in. Groupalia has about 6 million users, 400 employees, and is present in 8 countries. [TC Europe]

Gilt Groupe is an online private sales startup company that has raised $35 million. Gilt is partners with several companies for cross-deal promotions such as InStyle.com and Conde Nast. Gilt expects to hit about $400-$500 million in sales this year. The company may plan to have an IPO in 2011. This new round of funding is an extension to a previous round and increases the valuation of the company. The lead investors are General Atlantic and Matrix. [paidContent]

Gilt Groupe Inc. announced that the company has raised $43 million from General Atlantic and Matrix Partners.  General Atlantic led the round of funding.  Matrix Partners raised the Series A and B rounds.

Gilt Groupe launched the website Gilt.com in November 2007.  Gilt.com sells luxury and designer goods at members-only prices.  Since launching, the company quintupled membership in the last year.  There are about 1.3 million registered members in the U.S.  There are over 200,000 on their 5 month old Japanese website.

“We couldn’t be happier that General Atlantic has chosen to invest in Gilt Groupe, and look forward to working with Anton Levy and the GA team,” stated Gilt Groupe CEO Susan Lyne. “The company’s impressive track record and investment philosophy make them ideal partners and a valuable resource as we execute on our aggressive growth plan.”

The company plans to launch a service called Gilt Fuse, which focuses on fashion for younger members.  Gilt also plans to launch a travel website called jetsetter.com.

Amount Involved: Undisclosed
World Golf Tour is a social network for golfers who has raised funding from Battery Ventures.  The amount has not been disclosed.

The social network allows golf enthusiasts to enter tournaments, win prizes, and practice on virtual courses.

World Golf Tour is managed by J.F. Prata.  Prata was a previous VP of Product Development at EA.  Prata was also the COO at Maxis and Westwood Studios.

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Amount Involved: $25.79 Million
ChoiceStream Inc. is a leading provider of search engine personalization raised $25.79 million for its product, a search engine that personalizes online entertainment content.  This is ChoiceStream’s third round of funding.  The second round was $13.1 million.  ChoiceStream was founded by Michael Strickman and he is also the CTO.

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Amount Involved: $675,000
BioWizard Inc. is an online information portal that closed its first round of funding.  The amount was for $675,000 in Series A Preferred Stock.  The investor is MentorTech Ventures. ”MentorTech Ventures brings much more than the financial capital. The team’s substantial intellectual and social capital is a valuable asset that we plan to leverage as we continue to build the company,” stated Jeffrey Boily, the chairman of BioWizard. “MentorTech has industry extensive experience and strong relationships with the business and scientific communities to assist us in reaching our full growth potential. This new financing will support our ongoing efforts to add new functionality to our site and
increase our brand awareness in the scientific and medical markets.”What makes BioWizard Web 2.0ish is that the company has implemented a Digg-like voting feature for articles that are pulled.  It appears that a majority of the articles on the frontpage are pulled from the National Institute of Health website.

 

“There is a significant demand in the biomedical research community for an interactive web community like BioWizard,” mentioned Michael Aronson, the managing director of MentorTech Ventures.  Aronson is now a BioWizard board member.  “The site offers a unique combination of information and collaboration tools that are not otherwise available to scientists and physicians. Founded by a team of current University of Pennsylvania graduate students, BioWizard is a perfect fit for our portfolio. We look forward to taking an active role in making BioWizard the leading online portal for biomedical research scientists.”

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Amount Involved: Rumored at over $200 Million
Comcast Corporation mentioned last Wednesday that it may buy Fandango, a movie ticketing service website.  The amount is rumored at $200 mill according to Michael Arrington.  Fandango is supposedly also making $50 mill per year. Fandango has raised $60 mill from investors since 2000.  The deal is expected to close before the end of the quarter.  Previous investors of Fandango include Accretive Technology Partners, Cinemark, General Atlantic, Lowes Corporation, and Technology Crossover Ventures.

 

[Source: alarm:clock]