Liquid Robotics(R), an ocean data services provider and developer of a wave-powered marine robot, has formed a new strategic advisory board. Liquid Robotics is based in silicon Valley and Hawaii and is backed by VantagePoint Capital Partners. PRESS RELEASE Liquid Robotics(R), an ocean data services provider and developer of the first wave-powered Wave Glider(R) marine [...]

Better Place has raised $200 million through a Series C equity financing from a consortium of investors and partners. Since its founding in 2007, Better Place has raised more than $750 million of equity financing. New investors include GE and UBS AG, among others. Existing shareholders, including Israel Corp, HSBC Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, [...]

CrunchFund and the Tech Coast Angels ACE Fund have joined as investors in a recently completed funding round for YouMail, a provider of cloud-based, enhanced telecommunications services. This brings total investment raised by YouMail since 2007 to nearly $13 million. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., YouMail is also backed by VantagePoint Capital Partners and Siemer Ventures. [...]

Bridgelux, a developer and manufacturer of LED lighting products, has added $15 million in financing to help it boost accelerate research and development. The company is backed by VantagePoint Capital Partners, DCM, El Dorado Ventures, Novus Energy Partners, IFA, Chrysalix, Harris & Harris Group, Craton Equity Partners, Jebsen Asset Management and Passport Capital.

According to Sequoia Capital’s website, “Santur Corporation is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-performance tunable lasers for metro and long-haul WDM systems. The company’s patented DFB-array technology enables the fabrication of broadly tunable sources at the same performance and costs as fixed wavelength sources.” I have absolutely no idea what that means, and, even after [...]

TouchTunes Interactive Networks, a digital jukebox maker, has completed a $45 million Series E funding round that gives the company a pre-money valuation of $300 million, TouchTunes CEO Charles Goldstruck told peHUB. 3i, the UK-based PE firm, is investing $40 million in the company, while VantagePoint Capital Partners, which owns a majority of TouchTunes, is [...]

TouchTunes Interactive Networks, the company that sought to go public via Jon Ledecky’s failed Victory Acquisition Corp. SPAC, has accepted a $45 million investment from investors 3i, which provided $40 million in capital, and VantagePoint Capital Partners, which contributed $5 million. VantagePoint is an existing investor in TouchTunes.

Craton Equity Partners led a $60 million Series E round for Bridgelux Inc., a developer and manufacturer of LED lighting technologies. A laundry list of existing and strategic investors also participated in the round, including VantagePoint Capital Partners, DCM, El Dorado Ventures, Novus Energy Partners, Invus Group, VTS, Harris & Harris Group and Passport Capital. The company said the infusion will help it bolster research and development efforts. David Asarnow, a principal at Craton Equity, will join the Bridgelux board as an observer.

Advertising technology start-up EDO Interactive has closed on an undisclosed amount of Series B financing co-led by Baird Venture Partners and VantagePoint Capital Partners. The money will help EDO expand its sales, technology and analytics staff. As part of the round, BVP partner Benedict Rocchio and VantagePoint managing director Tom Bevilacqua will join the company’s board. William Blair & Co. assisted EDO with the fundraising. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

(Reuters) – Green is back in venture capital circles — but call it light green. Having placed big bets on capital-intensive industries like solar and ethanol just as the financial crisis quashed interest in risky new technologies, early-stage investors these days have a limited appetite for startups that need large amounts of cash to bring [...]