SkyGrid is a news aggregation and filtering service that is based in Sunnyvale, Calif.  SkyGrid has announced that they have raised $11 million as part of their Series B round of funding.  The lead investor was RRE Ventures.  Previous investor, BlackRock also participated.  Other previous investors includes Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Esther Dyson, a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.

SkyGrid scans millions of news sources and then filters out the important information.  SkyGrid was started in 2005 and is run by Kevin Pomplun.  SkyGrid looks very similar to Bloomberg’s software, but positive news stories are color coded green, negative stories are color coded red, and neutral are white.  Below is a screen shot from GigaOM.

SkyGrid has applied for several patents on their “sentiment algorithm” and seven other components of their search technology.  I haven’t seen any other search engine provide color-coded company stories and blog posts so I am definetely impressed.

SkyGrid’s services are about $500 per month.  The last round of funding added up to about $2.25 million.

Related Links:
1. SkyGrid
2. paidContent

iCrossing is a digital marketing company founded in 1998. The company has raised $62 million in a fifth round of investment that brings their total round of funding to $110 million. The $62 million investment was received from Goldman-Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) and several other investors.

“iCrossing is at the forefront of developing search and social media strategies that engage – not alienate – users,” stated Richard Rosenblatt, the chairman of iCrossing. “The market is responding and iCrossing has seized a leadership position in the digital space. With CEO Jeff Herzog’s vision for the future, there are sure to be even bigger things to come^.”

What does iCrossing actually do? An example of their work includes developing a solution to make PR Newswire mobile. PR Newswire is a press release website. Essentially, this would benefit journalists all over the world. Other major clients include Coca-Cola, Colgate, GM, Office Depot, and Travelocity.

Investors in iCrossing include:
1.) Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS): Goldman Sachs is a global investment and securities firm based in New York. Goldman Sachs focuses on investment banking, asset management, and trading and principal investments. Some of Goldman Sachs’ case studies are available at: http://www2.goldmansachs.com/insight/case_studies/.
2.) Oak Investment Partners: is a venture capital firm with $8.4 billion in committed capital. Some of the consumer Internet investments that Oak participated in includes aQuantive (acquired by Microsoft for $6 billion), Connexus Corporation, Fastclick, Inc. (acquired by ValueClick), and Shop.com
3.) RRE Ventures: RRE is a venture capital firm that manages $850 million in assets. Some of the companies that RRE has invested in includes WeddingChannel.com, Stockback (acquired by Vesdia), SmarterKids.com, Pinnacor (acquired by MarketWatch), and eMachines.
4.) StarVest Partners L.P.: is a private equity company that has $150 million in assets. Companies that StarVest invested in include Tibersoft Corporation, Newgistics Inc., NetSuite Inc., Connected Corporation (acquired by Iron Mountain Inc.), and Insurance.com

References:
[1] iCrossing press release: Goldman Sachs and Oak Investment Partners Lead Investment in Digital Marketing Leader iCrossing

For further details, refer to iCrossing’s website: www.icrossing.com