Firas Nasir has joined The Carlyle Group as a Dubai-based managing director on the firm's Middle East and North Africa team. He previously was an executive director with UBS. www.carlyle.com
Jeff Johnson has joined Yucaipa Cos. as a principal overseeing the firm's current and future media properties. He previously was fired as editor of the Los Angeles Times, after refusing a Tribune Company order that he lay off editorial employees.
iSoftStone Information Service Corp., a Beijing-based provider of IT outsourcing solutions, has raised $45 million in Series B funding. Fidelity Asia Ventures and Mitsui Ventures Global Fund were joined by return backers AsiaVest Partners and InfoTech Pacific Ventures. Bocom Capital Partners acted as financial advisor to iSoftStone. www.isoftstone.com
Kwiry Inc., a San Francisco-based interactive advertising startup, has raised around $1 million in Series A funding from Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. www.kwiry.com
Neuropure Inc., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of treatments for neurological disorders, has raised $500,000 in Series A funding led by Mohr, Davidow Ventures. www.neuropure.com
SecureInfo Corp., a McLean, Va.-based provider of information security assurance solutions, has raised over $5 million in Series C funding, according to a regulatory filing. Listed shareholders include Insight Venture Partners and Nortel. www.secureinfo.com
Nimblegen Systems Inc., a Madison, Wis.-based maker of microarrays for the life sciences market, has filed for a $75 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol NMBL, with JPMorgan serving as lead underwriter. The company has raised around $66 million in VC funding since 2000, from firms like Skyline Ventures […]
Authentec Inc., a Melbourne, Fla.-based provider of fingerprint sensors, has filed for an $86.25 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol AUTH, with Lehman Brothers serving as lead underwriter. It has raised $52.5 million since 1999, from firms like Sierra Ventures (21.2% pre-IPO stake), Harris Corp. (19.1%), Carlyle Venture Partners […]
A bit more info on Microsoft's pending acquisition of voice application company Tellme: The final sale price will be just a hair below $800 million, and a number of the later-stage investors will basically some out break-even. Earlier backers like Barksdale Group, Benchmark Capital and Kleiner Perkins will make a decent cash-on-cash return, but nowhere […]
First Reserve president Ben Guill has resigned, as first reported yesterday at peHUB. The move takes effect in April, and comes just seven months after First Reserve closed its eleventh energy-focused fund with $7.8 billion. No successor has been named. Read more here.