Funding Daily: Get graded on your big data intelligence

At VentureBeat, we come across a lot of funding news every day. In order to bring you the most information possible, we’re rounding up the quick-and-dirty details about the funding deals of the day and serving them up here in our “Funding daily” column.

Birst raises $26M for big data

Big data startup Birst has raised $26 million in its fourth round of funding, with a goal accelerating growth and product development. The company provides business intelligence software and competes with QlikTech, SAP, IBM, Oracle, GoodData, and Microstrategy. The new funding round was led by big dog VC firm Sequoia Capital with additional participation by prior investors Hummer Winblad and DAG Ventures.

Engrade moves to the front of the class with funding to keep teachers organized

Classroom management software company Engrade has closed a $3 million funding round. The company’s software helps teachers, administrators, and school boards keep track of students’ grades and progress reports. Rethink Education led the round, with NewSchools Venture Fund and private investors Greg Gunn, Zac Zeitlin, and Richard Chino.

Flingo grabs another investment, mere months after its last one

Smart TV app maker Flingo has received another $1 million in funding from entrepreneur Mark Cuban, bringing its total first round to $8 million. Flingo has developed a technology, dubbed SyncApps, that can detect what you’re watching in just a few seconds and communicate that information to your television, smartphone, or computer.

Datasift secures $7.2M investment

DataSift, a social data platform that extracts large amounts of data from a number of online sources, raised $7.2 million. Essentially its services help understand the impact of social media marketing techniques employed by business. Existing investors IA Ventures and GRP Partners led the round.

App security startup Appthority gets a $6.25M boost

App security company Appthority has raised $6.25 million. The company works to prevent potential apps with malware, location tracking, and keystroke recording  from ending up on your smartphone. US Venture Partners and Venrock led the funding.

Vungle Raises $2M seed round

Mobile advertising company Vungle has raised an impressive $2 million seed investment. The company creates ads in the form of video trailers for mobile applications. Big name VCs and angel investors Google Ventures, AOL Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Ron Conway, Dave McClure, Maynard Webb, Scott McNealy, and Tim Draper participated in the round.

McCann WorldGroup invests $4M in Israeli incubator

Media startup incubator Thetime has raised $4 million from investor McCann WorldGroup. Thetime is an Israel-based incubator for media companies looking to get guidance, funding, and new business ideas before they obtain a seed round. After seed funding, Thetime offers additional resources to help startups receive institutional funding. McCann WorldGroup gets a 15 percent stake in Thetime for its investment.

Collaboration software startup Blueprint raises $15.9M

Blueprint has raised $15.9 million to help with software development project management. The company helps business people and software developers, working for the same companies, set goals for software and app development projects. It then manages the work for each project, helping each department communicate effectively. New investor Tandem Expansion Fund led the round, with the participation of existing investors from BDC IT Venture Fund, Walsingham Partners Fund, and several private investors.

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