VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Boston, US-based food ordering platform ezCater scooped up $4 million in a funding round from several investors and high-net worth individuals to beef up its online list of food caterers around the country.

BEAVERTON, OR--(Marketwired - Apr 15, 2014) - Act-On Software, the leading marketing automation provider for small and mid-market enterprises, today announced it has secured $42 million in new venture financing. Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) led the round, with existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures, US Venture Partners, and Voyager Capital also participating. Act-On will use the new capital to accelerate its business on all fronts, including new product development, sales expansion, and brand recognition.

Venture capital firms in the US have raised a record-breaking total funding amounting to $8.9 billion in the first quarter of 2014, according to Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association.

Norcross, US-based behavior intelligence firm Brickstream raised $8.7 million in a new funding round to track and analyze the behaviors of shoppers in brick-and-mortar stores.

Men's shorts manufacturer and retailer Chubbies has received USD4 million investment, reported TechCrunch.

Startup Lifesum has taken in investment from Bauer Media Group and SparkLabs Global Ventures valued USD6.7 million, reported Bloomberg.

Startup Brigade Media has raised USD9.3 million from Sean Parker, Marc Benioff and Ron Conway, reported TechCrunch.

Technology-first beauty brand Julep has taken in USD30 million funding, reported TechCrunch.

Rocket Internet's Lamudi has received USD7 million funding from Tengelmann Ventures and other new investors left undisclosed, reported TechCrunch.

Airbnb’s Storefront has received additional USD7.3 million funding led by Spark Capital, reported TechCrunch.

Wellington, New Zealand-based tech startup Loomio launched a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign on its own website to develop a mobile version of its open-source collaborative decision making tool.

Unitus Seed Fund backed Mumbai, India-based dental clinic chain Smile Merchants with an undisclosed investment to develop the latter's hub-and-spoke system and fund its national expansion.

The government of Chile gave $350,000 in funding to tech startup Kaitek Labs to develop prototype of a device that detects red tide in a bid to reduce the costs of testing for toxins.

Giraffe Friend, a wearable device that reminds the user to correct bad posture to prevent backaches, launched a crowdfunding campaign on DemoHour and has already raised $14,000 (CNY87,527).

Silicon Valley, US-based tech firm Tachyus landed $6 million in a venture round led by Founders Fund to expand its workforce and use data to optimize oil and gas production.