Funding Daily: Fortnight

The word fortnight fell out of use some years ago. One fortnight is 14 days, so in a way we have a fortnight of funding today. The word derives from the Old English phrase fēowertyne niht, meaning “fourteen nights.” There, you’ve learned something new today. I’ve done my duty. Here are today’s funding stories.

DFJ gathers $325M for 11th fund

Venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) has pulled together its latest startup investment fund in the amount of $325 million. Steve Jurvetson will lead the fund, which will focus on early-stage investments. “With the close of DFJ Venture XI, we are excited to partner with the next generation of great entrepreneurs who will forge the future,” said the firm in a statement today.

Domo’s business software charge gets a big $125M boost

Today business intelligence company Domo announced a $125 million round of funding. To date, the company has raised a total of $250 million. TPG Growth led the round, with participation from Dragoneer Investment Group, Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley, Salesforce.com, T. Rowe Price, and Viking Ventures. GGV Capital, Greylock Partners, IVP and Mercato Partners. Read more on VentureBeat.

Mysterious startup Magic Leap raises $50M to build a ‘rocket ship for the mind’

Magic Leap has soared its way into a whopping $50 million first round of funding. We don’t know exactly what Magic Leap does yet, but we do know that it involves ultra-sensory perception, human computing interfaces, and wearable technology. It develops technology called “cinematic reality,” which seems to be along the lines of an immersive virtual reality device. Information about the funders was not disclosed. Read more on VentureBeat. 

Totango locks down $15.5M to keeping cloud software users paying up

Totango, a startup that shows software sellers which users are at risk of leaving in order to maximize engagement, subscription renewals, and increased cloud spending, has just raised $15.5 million in new funding. The company has now raised $19.3 million in funding. Canvas Venture Fund and InterWest Partners led the round, with participation from Gemini Israel Ventures and Pitango Venture Capital. Read more on VentureBeat. 

ThoughtSpot gets $10.7M to search for trends in companies’ data

For companies concerned about keeping data secure inside on-premises data centers, ThoughtSpot offers an intriguing solution: a dedicated box of hardware to run the startup’s single business intelligence application. Today the company announced a $10.7 million round and launched an early-access program for its appliances. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, which included participation from ServiceNow chief executive Frank Slootman, ZScaler chief operating officer Lane Bess, Splunk chief marketing officer Steve Sommer, and Nutanix vice president of worldwide sales Sudheesh Nair. Read more on VentureBeat. 

Hungry? Tapingo aims to make ordering food a wallet-and-wait-free process

Mobile ordering system Tapingo has tucked away $10.5 million in new funding. People can search for nearby restaurants, browse menus and place orders online, and have their food delivered or ready for pickup. The apps also learn about your preferences to make smart recommendations over time. The company started its roll out on college campuses. This is the startup’s second round of funding, led by Khosla Ventures with participation from existing investor Carmel Ventures. Read more on VentureBeat.

Car Loan 4U raises $13M to help people find car financing

Car Loan 4U,a UK-based leading online car finance specialist, today announced an $13 million investment from UK venture capital firm, Scottish Equity Partners (SEP). Launched in 2006, Car Loan 4U provides an online service for consumers looking for car finance, and has overseen its most successful period of growth over the last 12 months.

Apartment List is fixing the painful, time-sucking process of rental search

Apartment List announced that it has raised $6 million in additional funding, led by Glynn Capital and Passport Capital. Its engine aggregates millions of listings from around the country and puts them together in a map-based interface, with filters for price, neighborhood, number of bedrooms, amenities, and even pet-friendliness. This round adds to the $15 million Apartment List raised in November. Read more on VentureBeat.

Motilo raises $5.8M to become an online fashion capital

Motilo, the London-based social fashion platform, announced today that it has secured $5.8 million from private investors for expansion and marketing. Motilo is a combination of online fashion community, search engine and e-commerce site, including curated content and access to fashion advice from industry experts. Read more.

GroupMe cofounder launches Fundera to help small biz owners find loans

Fundera launched its platform today that connects small businesses with lending alternatives to banks. The startup also revealed backing by $3.4 million in venture capital. Jared Hecht is one of the cofounders. He helpd start GroupMe, which Skype bought in 2011 for upward of $50 million. Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, and angel investors Strauss Zelnick, Rob Wiesenthal, David Rosenblatt, and David Tisch participated in this round of funding. Read more on VentureBeat. 

Celery sets up preorder payment systems with 2 lines of code

Celery says your business can begin accepting preorders in less time than it takes to brush your teeth. The startup has secured $2 million to continue development of its platform that makes it quick and easy to set up preorder payment systems. Y Combinator, SV Angel, Max Levchin and others contributed to this seed round. Celery is based in San Francisco. Read more on VentureBeat.

UXPin nails down $1.6M

Browser-based design tool UXPin has closed a $1.6 million funding round led by Freestyle Capital with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and IDG Ventures. The cash will be used for hiring for its U.S. offices as well as product development. UXPin aims to make a lightweght but thorough SaaS tool that lets users design just about anything, all without having to download any software.

Easy Social Shop nabs $1.1M

Easy Social Shop is a social commerce solution that today announced the completion of a 1.1 million funding round led by lool Ventures. Easy Social Shop allows online merchants to build Facebook stores out of a preexisting online shop with a single clicks. It has over 80,000 shops.
YouEye nabs $950K to show what people do on your website

YouEye spies $950K

YouEye, a startup that provides analysis of consumers’ interactions with websites, has raised $950,000 in funding, according to a document it submitted today to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s software derives insights from input from ordinary people who sign up to work with YouEye. Users of YouEye, based in Mountain View, Calif., include Google, Target, and Unilever, according to the company’s website.