Delving into Digital Marketing?: Funding Daily: 2 big venture funds and a whole lot of pants

Friday, July 4, 2014

Funding Daily: 2 big venture funds and a whole lot of pants

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You can’t expect many startups in the United States to make news about fresh funding on the eve of the July Fourth three-day weekend. But then again, sometimes startups are surprising. A few did just that. And believe it or not, a couple of big-name venture firms gave word of new funds ahead of the holiday, too. Read on to learn more.

Charles River Ventures raises a $393M fund

Charles River Ventures, an investor in consumer and enterprise-focused startups, has raised $393 million for its 16th fund. The firm disclosed the news in a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CRV, as it’s commonly known, focuses on Series A deals, with “occasional” investments in seed or Series B rounds, according to its website. That stance distinguishes it a bit from other firms that fund startups’ first few years of life. The new fund eclipses the previous one, which had $375 million.

Read more on VentureBeat: Charles River Ventures caps off new $393M fund

Russian VC firm Runa Capital has a new fund

While China and India have increasingly become hotspots for venture capital, Russia has also seen a lot of activity. Russian investor Yuri Milner’s DST Global closed its fourth fund earlier this week, and now Runa Capital, a Moscow-based venture capital firm, is announcing today the first close of its second fund. Runa is not disclosing the amount, although it said it is within the common industry practice of initially closing 10 to 20 percent of the targeted total. The fund’s target total size is $200 million, and Runa will invest in tech companies worldwide, with a special focus on Europe.

Men’s e-commerce company Bonobos raises $55M

Bonobos, a company that sells slim-fitting pants and other clothing for men online, has taken on $55 million in new funding. Coppel Capital led the round. Accel Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nordstrom, Mousse Partners, Glynn Capital Management, Forerunner Ventures, and Felicis Ventures also participated, according to a statement the company issued today. Bonobos has opened physical stores that encourage people to order products online. The new funding will help the company open 30 more stores in the next two years on top of the 10 in existence today, the company said.

Traity scores $4.7M

How much is your reputation worth? For online reputation startup Traity, the idea of helping your maintain your reputation — or check out others’ — is worth a first institutional funding round of $4.7 million. The company, with staff in Mountain View, the UK, and Madrid, wants its platform to be used to create “an Internet where you can trust everyone.” Or, to be more precise, where you can find out who might be trustworthy. The new funding round, led by Active Venture Partners, will be used “to build a larger team who will help us deliver a great product faster,” chief executive and founder Juan Cartagena told VentureBeat. Currently, the team numbers 10: Cartagena and nine technical staff.

Adtile raises $4.5M

Adtile Technologies, a mobile ad tech company, announced that it has raised $4.5 million in its Series A round of funding from undisclosed investors. It also said it will launch a Member Center this fall — an “app store” for ad developers and designers. Adtile believes that interactive ads do not always deliver emotion to the user. With Adtile Motion Ads, mobile device users can shake or tilt or draw a shape with their phone to execute a task. The company will use the $4.5 million raised from investors to expand operations and continue its growth. Adtile currently works with multiple clients in North America, South America, and Europe. It intends to expand its operations into Asia over time.

Read more on VentureBeat: Adtile raises $4.5 million in Series A round of funding

Student housing startup Comfy raises $600K

Finding a new place to live is often pretty stressful, especially if you’re a college student on a limited budget who needs to live somewhat close to campus. Student housing startup Comfy wants to simplify this process by turning it on its head. The service, which is available at all major universities in the country, lets students create a profile listing exactly what they’re looking for — whether that be a set price range, location, number of rooms, etc. Apartment complex managers then contact students within a 24-hour window to try to get new business. And today, the startup announced that it has raised $600,000 in seed funding.