VENTURE CAPITAL POST

San Francisco, US-based online real-time restaurant reservation service OpenTable launched a private beta of its dining payments service for 11 restaurants in San Francisco, with new restaurants to be added soon.

San Francisco, California-based startup Snippit pocketed $500,000 in an internal family seed round to launch an app that lets users add a music clip to photos.

San Francisco, US-based scientific research crowdfunding platform Experiment.com (formerly Microryza) opened its site to include independent scientists in the scientific communities that the firm supports.

San Francisco, California-based mobile video advertising startup Vungle snagged $17 million in a Series B funding round led by Thomvest Ventures to build monetization tools for developers of mobile apps.

San Francisco, US-based online real-time restaurant reservation platform OpenTable acquired Palo Alto, California-based personalized recommendations app maker Ness Computing in a deal valued at $17.3 million.

Oakland, California-based music streaming service Pandora is planning to push native advertising to connected vehicles in a bid to boost the company's total revenue, as announced during the company's Q4 earnings call.

San Francisco, US-based customer service software startup Zendesk is moving closer to an initial public offering (IPO) and has hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to handle the transaction, according to a report.

San Diego, US-based software investor JMI Equity led a $38-million Series D venture capital round for the expansion and development of Utah-based work flow management software company AtTask.

San Francisco, California-based mobile speaker company Boombotix pocketed $4 million in a funding round led by both new and previous investors to develop its audio products and enhance its marketing strategies.

San Mateo, California-based Internet startup AVOS Systems is laying off 80% of its workforce because of the lack of traction, according to sources familiar with the situation.

California, US-based enterprise software startup Elementum, a spinoff from Singaporean firm Flextronics International Inc, bagged $44 million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners for a cloud-based supply chain tracking software.

California, US-based optical communications network product designer and manufacturer JDS Uniphase Corp (JDSU) bought Boulder, Colorado-based real-time intelligence software solutions provider Trendium for an undisclosed amount.

New York, US-based education solutions provider McGraw-Hill Education purchased Los Angeles, California-based online curriculum tool developer Engrade for an undisclosed amount to meet the increasing demand for digital educational content.

San Francisco, US-based sports-centered social networking platform Sqor raised over $4.4 million out of the targeted $13 million funding round ahead of a major platform update set to take place in February.

Fresno, California-based agricultural startup OnFarm's growers integrated data platform gained global recognition when it competed in the IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2013 and was included in the top six finalists.