Funding Daily: The crowdfunding takeover

Two of our favorite deals stories of the day, involving director Spike Lee’s latest project and an ambitious smartphone that runs both desktop-grade Ubuntu and Android, are crowdfunding stories.

Will Spike and Canonical meet their goals? Or will their dreams be crushed? So much drama!

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Here’s all the funding news that’s fit to print:

SynapDx secures $15.4M

Google Ventures led a $15.4 million round for SynapDx, a company that’s trying to make a blood test for autism. The startup is based in Massachusetts and just launched a clinical study with 660 children participating at 20 sites. Foundation Medical Partners also participated in the round, as did existing investors North Bridge Venture Partners and Catalyst Partners. SynapDx was founded in 2010.

Jobandtalent closes $3.3M

London- and Madrid-based Jobandtalent announced the closing of a €2.5 million (£2.2 million/$3.3 million) funding round led by a group of leading Spanish investors, including Kibo Ventures, angel Félix Ruiz, and Alfonso Villanueva, the senior partner and director for McKinsey & Company’s office in Singapore. The company’s offering is an algorithm-based recruitment platform that matches candidates to job opportunities. Company reps say that by gathering “passive” data on jobs, the platform constitutes a virtual recruitment consultant.

Expect Labs takes in more $2M

Virtual assistant startup Expect Labs has taken a round of strategic funding from Samsung, Intel, Telefónica, Liberty Global, and previous investor IDG. The Greylock- and Google Ventures-funded outfit raised more than its previous round of $2.4 million, but the exact terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company’s tech eavesdrops on your conversation and automatically pulls up related information, helping to make you look like the world’s smartest (and/or creepiest) smartypants.

Uniiverse locks down $1.25M

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P2P payments startups Uniiverse has raised $1.25 million in funding from Real Ventures, as well as angel investors. The Toronto-based company launched in early 2012 and now has 11 employees. Its marketplace, which enables people to sell tickets to events and services, includes over 26,000 event organizers and service providers in over 400 cities around the world. Read the full story on VentureBeat.

Spike Lee goes after $1.25M
Spike Lee is financing his next film on Kickstarter. The famed director launched a crowdfunding campaign today, aiming to raise $1.25 million directly from his fans so he can bypass the Hollywood studio system and create a movie about human beings “who are addicted to blood.” Read the full story on VentureBeat.

Canonical locks down $446M of a $32M campaign

Ubuntu firm Canonical wants to make you “a beautifully crafted smartphone” featuring the Ubuntu phone OS and Android (for those moments when you feel a little less secure in your early adopter-ness). Called Ubuntu Edge, the project is currently living over at Indiegogo, where it eagerly awaits your dollars and cents — $32 million, to be exact. Read the full story on VentureBeat.

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Google snaps up 6% of Himax

Google has agreed to purchase a 6.3 percent stake of Himax Display, a sign Google is getting more serious about boosting production of its Google Glass wearable tech. Himax Display is a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Himax Technologies. It produces liquid crystal on silicon (“LCOS”) chips and modules that are in devices like Google Glass and pico-projectors. Himax Display also has some other prominent investors, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Khosla Ventures, and Intel. Read the full story on VentureBeat.