Technology is probably the busiest sector for venture investing right now and Chicago based venture capital firm Lightbank is looking for a technology enthusiast to add to its growing team of associates.

Online education marketplace Udemy has completed a $12 million Series B financing round led by Insight Venture Partners, with additional support from existing investors Lightbank, MHS Capital and Learn Capital. This brings bringing Udemy’s total funding to $16 million. The company has also announced the hiring of Dennis Yang as president and chief operating officer.

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 [...]

Lifecrowd, the social activities discovery site, has tagged on $5 million more to help boost the company’s online marketplace. Chicago-based investment fund Lightbank led the investment and will get a board seat as part of the transaction. Other backers include Bullpen Capital, Baroda Ventures, Prism VentureWorks and MuckerLab. PRESS RELEASE: SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 19, [...]

BodyShopBids, a Chicago-based online and mobile platform that customers can use to solicit custom auto repair estimates, today announced that it has secured $1M in series A financing led by OCA Ventures. New World Ventures and Lightbank also participated in the round. Jim Dugan, managing partner of OCA Ventures, and Jeff Maters, vice president of [...]

Not long ago, the daily deals giant Groupon was the toast of Chicago, a press darling that received the blessing of Oprah Winfrey, was commended by Forbes as the “fastest growing company ever,” and even reportedly spurned a multibillion-dollar buyout offer from Google. A Chicago Tribune headline from last December summed up its place in [...]

Lightbank, the venture fund started by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, has put an undisclosed amount into BodyShopBids, a free online service that enables consumers to get auto repair estimates from local body shops. No terms were released. BodyShopBids was formed in early 2011, and is based in Chicago.

San Mateo, Calif.-based myRete has raised an undisclosed amount of venture capital from Lightbank, the technology investment fund created by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. myRete makes a location-based social networking app called WhosHere. The company, which was formed in 2008 and says its already profitable, will use the funds to grow its business.

Lightbank has led a $1.2 million investment into BabbaCo. SV Angel also collaborated. BabbaCo is a baby products company.

Scale Venture Partners and Lightbank, the tech investment fund launched by Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, were joined by New Enterprise Associates, Trinity Ventures and Anthem Ventures in a $23.5 million round of fundraising for Beachmint, a social commerce company for celebrity-created consumer products. Specifics on the transaction were not specified, but Sharon Wienbar, from Scale Ventures, will join the Olsen-twin-affiliated company’s board.