Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Worldview Technology Partners

Zoove Raises $15 Million In Series D

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:47:29 +0000

Zoove has raised $15 million in Series D funding led by Panorama Capital. Existing investors that participated in this round include Cardinal Venture Capital, Highland Capital Partners, and Worldview Technology Partners. Zoove is the company that created StarStar Numbers, a registry of branded phone numbers such as **WEATHER and **SUZUKI.

Zoove provides StarStar Numbers for the largest wireless operators in the country. StarStar Numbers allows consumers to call the name of the brand being promoted such as **ESPN to get to its mobile app, website, coupon, etc. without the need for QR code scanning.

Zoove powers the National StarStar Registry with cooperation from the four major mobile operators in the U.S. Companies can lease branded vanity StarStar Numbers from Zoove. For consumers, there is no extra charge to call vanity StarStar Numbers. After the initial phone call, users receive a text message or voicemail to prompt them to engage further by visiting websites, download apps, etc. For an annual fee, brands pay an annual fee, which varies based on length and scarcity.

[TechCrunch]

ChoozOn Raises $3.2 Million From Angel Investors

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:41:23 +0000

ChoozOn is a Bellevue, Washington based company that has raised $3.2 million in Series A from angel investors. Michael Orsak (Worldview Technology Partners) and James Brown (AVG Ventures) led the Series A round of funding.

ChoozOn launched three months ago by three former Yahoo! executives. ChoozOn plans on using the funds to ramp up the development of their service. ChoozOn aims to use personalization algorithms to match deals and offers to it’s users. ChoozOn has signed up over 1,000 brands thus far that include Gap, Walgreens, Macy’s, Marriott, Best Buy, etc.

“What sets ChoozOn apart is our focus on helping consumers to make sense of the bewildering deals marketplace. ChoozOn is a highly personalized deal-discovery service that matches consumers to the most relevant offers while improving the value exchange between consumers and the brands they love,” stated ChoozOn CEO and co-founder Nick Weir. “Brands have embraced our model, and early investors have seized the opportunity to advance one of the most innovative deal services today.”

[TechFlash]

Dell Paying $700 Million In Cash To Acquire Force10 Networks

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:18:30 +0000

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) is acquiring Force10 Networks Inc. for $700 million in cash. Force10 is a high-speed Ethernet networking equipment company that was planning to go the IPO route.

Force10 is best known for developing 10 gigabit Ethernet networking switching and routing products. Force10 was founded in 1999 and merged with Turin Networks Inc.

Between Turin and Force10, they raised over $630 million in venture capital. The company’s most recent round of funding was $30 million, which gave the company a valuation that is greater than $200 million.

Some of the previous investors in the company include Advanced Equities, Crosslink Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, DCM, Morgenthaler Ventures, New Enteprise Associates, Pacesetter Capital Group, RWI Ventures, Tudo Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, and Worldview Technology Partners.

Delivery Agent Raises $25 Million In Fourth Round

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:35:53 +0000

Delivery Agent is an advertising platform company that designs applications for publishers to sell entertainment products. The company recently raised $25 million as they help build “click-to-buy” applications for selling products centered around 125 major entertainment properties. The company now has a total of $60 million in funding.

“We launched the market for shopping-enabled entertainment when we made it possible for television viewers to go online and buy things related to their favorite shows. Today, as so much entertainment content becomes and is available on other platforms, our expanded commerce and marketing technology will make it possible for our entertainment partners to reach, influence and transact with audiences wherever and whenever they happen to be watching premium content, whether through their television, mobile phone, online video player or whatever else is next,” stated Delivery Agent Mike Fitzsimmons in a press release.

This round of funding was led by Focus Ventures. Other investors include T-Venture, Coral Group, Ironwood Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Worldview Technology Partners, and Cardinal Venture Capital.

Zoove Raising $13 Million Series C

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:42:14 +0000

Zoove is a mobile marketing company that is planning to raise a $13 million Series C round of funding. Out of that $13 million planned round, the company has raised $5.2 million thus far according to an SEC filing. Zoove did not disclose who the investors involved are for the Series C, but the company previously raised $21.4 million over two rounds of funding from Worldview Technology Partners, Cardinal Venture Capital, and Highland Capital.

Zoove brokers ads for SMS, MMS, and WAP. Zoove also has a technology called StarStar where users press the “star” sign on the phone to respond to the ads on digital billboards and on TV.