Yottaa Inc., a web optimization company, has closed $9 million in Series B funding. All existing investors, including General Catalyst Partners, Stata Venture Partners and Cambridge West Ventures returned for this round and were joined by additional undisclosed investors, the company said. PRESS RELEASE Yottaa, Inc., the web optimization company, announced today that it has [...]

General Catalyst Partners has led a $4 million series A round for Locu. Chris Sacca’s Lowercase Capital, Lightbank and SV Angel participated, while Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi of AngelPool, Quotidian Ventures, and Matt Ocko of Data Collective also took part in the round. With offices in Cambridge, Mass. and San Francisco, Locu is building [...]

Gridco Inc., a smart grid power management startup founded by Naimish Patel, founder of publicly traded Sycamore Networksm has raised $8 million in funding from investors, according to an SEC filing that appeared early yesterday. Patel is listed as president of Gridco. Among those listed as Gridco’s directors are Ric Fulop, a partner at North [...]

Last year, the state’s investment council committed to three new funds: Khosla Ventures IV, Tenaya Capital VI and General Catalyst Group VI, according to a December 2011 investment report.

SnagFilms has closed a seven-figure financing round to accelerate its growth plans. All current investors participated, including New Enterprise Associates and Comcast Interactive Capital , along with two new investors: media and Internet executive Terry Semel and David Fialkow, co-founder and managing director of General Catalyst Partners. The company has also arranged its first debt [...]

Abine, a provider of online privacy solutions for consumers looking to regain control over their personal information, has appointed Kristina Kennedy as vice president of marketing and Brian Michon as vice president of engineering. Abine is backed by Atlas Ventures and General Catalyst Partners. Earlier last year, it closed a series A round, raising $5.2 [...]

Stion this week announced one of the year’s largest private company solar investments, a $130 million financing of its thin-film module manufacturing technology. What the deal says is that some investors still believe they can change the game in solar. The currently prevailing perception is that solar, and thin film in particular, are the graveyards [...]

Stion, a manufacturer of thin-film solar modules, has raised $130 million in equity financing led by AVACO and Korean private equity funds. Existing investors Khosla Ventures, Taiwan Semiconductor, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Braemar Energy Ventures and General Catalyst Partners all participated in the round, the company said. The money will help Stion continue a planned expansion of its manufacturing facility in Hattiesburg, Miss. The company will also put $35 million into a Korean manufacturing subsidiary. Stion is based in San Jose, Calif.

General Catalyst Partners led a $20 million round for Plum Disctrict, a San Francisco-based local commerce platform for moms. New investors Comcast Ventures and Duke University contributed to the round, along with existing investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. As a result of the funding, Raul Vazquez, the former president and chief executive of Walmart.com was named to the board of directors.

(Reuters) – EBay said it acquired the data analysis firm Hunch to help it develop more recommendation technology for its online marketplace. Chris Dixon, Tom Pinckney and Matt Gattis, who founded Hunch in 2009, will stay on at eBay and remain based in New York. The purchase price was not disclosed. Hunch analyzes data from [...]