Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, a listed, Japanese pharmaceutical research company, is buying venture-backed Intellikine Inc. Takeda will pay $190 million in cash, and up to $120 million in additional milestone payments. Intellikine was backed by at least $41 million from venture investors including Abingworth, BiogenIdec, CMEA Capital, Fintech Global Capital, Novartis Venture Funds, Sofinnova Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners.

Biopharma company Intellikine Inc. has sealed $4 million in new milestone payments as it begins two Phase 1 clinical trials of its drugs. The company, based in La Jolla, Calif., is backed by $41 million from venture investors including Abingworth, BiogenIdec, CMEA Capital, Fintech Global Capital, Novartis Venture Funds, Sofinnova Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners.

The Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association has been an uneven investor in venture capital. Commitments have risen and fallen over the years without obvious pattern. In 2006, earmarked capital was $105 million, according to a peHUB analysis of its portfolio. A year earlier, it was $67 million. The year before it was $93 million, and [...]

Search engine company Blekko has raised $30 million in new funding, half of it coming from publicly traded Yandex. Australian investor MLC Private Equity, and existing investors U.S. Venture Partners, CMEA Capital and PivotNorth Capital also contributed to the round. Yandex acquired a minority stake in Blekko, the company said. Blekko was formed in 2007, and launched its search engine last year.

Solar experts have long anticipated a shakeout in the thin film solar industry. Thin film cells, a component of solar panels, offer the potential of low costs. But higher energy conversion efficiencies give competing crystalline silicon cells a market advantage, especially as Chinese firms pump out great volumes supported by inexpensive loans from state banks, lowering [...]

Ardelyx Inc. has raised $30 million in fresh capital from New Enterprise Associates, CMEA Capital and new investor Amgen Ventures. The Series B round will help advance Ardelyx’s pharmaceutical pipeline that includes product candidates to help treat irritable bowel syndrome, chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes. The company has raised a total of $56 million since it was formed in 2007. Ardelyx is based in Fremont, Calif.

Pixazza said Monday that it’s changing its name to Luminate. Mountain View, Calif.-based Luminate provides a platform for image applications. The company has received funding from August Capital, CMEA Capital, Google Ventures and Shasta Ventures.

Sorbent Therapeutics, the California-based biopharmaceutical company, took $36 million from a group of VCs, the company announced. Investors include Novartis Venture Funds, which led the financing, joining existing investors Sofinnova Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, CMEA Capital and AgeChem. The deal brings Sorbent’s total funding to $53 million.

Contour Energy Systems, a developer of battery systems, has closed an undisclosed amount of Series C financing, the company said Tuesday. Investors in the round include EDB Investments, CMEA Capital, Harris & Harris, Schlumberger and U.S. Venture Partners. The latest infusion will go toward research and development efforts, production capacity expansion and funding working capital growth.

On the wings of LinkedIn’s IPO, a panel of three top venture capitalists discussed the fast-improving IPO environment, grooming top tech entrepreneurs, and finding companies that could be the next Google.

After a long dry spell, IPOs are recovering along with an improving economy, according to Saad Khan of CMEA Capital, Axel Bichara of Atlas Venture, and Bill Maris of Google Ventures, all of whom tell Jen Rogers of Reuters Insider that now is a good time to be a venture capitalist.

Still, the quest for top talent is extremely competitive, with the best entrepreneurs having multiple options. The panelists say finding the great founders of companies is what makes venture capital a difficult business.