Funding Daily: Wacky Wednesday

What do family trees and mobile app discovery have in common? Israel and $25 million. Two Israeli companies each raised $25 million in investment today. Coincidence? Probably, but where is the fun in that? I prefer my own explanation. That these similarities were engineered by the ghosts of our ancestors. I have no idea why or how or what they will do next. Perhaps I shall consult a Ouiji board, or maybe I can track down a predictive analytics startup that specializes in netherworld data.

MyHeritage acquires Geni and $25M to build family tree of the whole world

MyHeritage, a genealogy website where people can research and build their family trees, raised $25 million in its fifth round of funding. The company is also acquiring Geni, a similar ancestry site founded by Yammer CEO David Sacks. On MyHeritage, users enter their personal data into the site to create a family tree, and can search through billions of records to uncover new information and connect with long lost family members. There are 72 million users and this acquisition will add 7 million more. This latest funding found was fronted by new investor Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Index Ventures and Accel Partners. Read more on VentureBeat.

Everything.me secures $25M because smart simply isn’t good enough

These days, being smart just isn’t enough, or at least not for phones. Everything.me has raised $25 million to bring mobile devices from “smart to dynamic.” The HTML5 based platform responds to users’ activity by changing the apps on screen to accommodate their needs. This is the third round of funding for this product, which was first released as DoAT at TechCrunch Disupt in May 2011. The $25 million brings total investment to $35.5 million. This round was led by Telefonica Digital, and as well as SingTel Innov8, Mozilla and previous investors including Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), DFJTF, BRM Group and Horizons Ventures. Everything.me is based in Israel. Read more on VentureBeat.

With $30M, Sumo Logic will wrestle your data into submission 

Sumo Logic, the “big data” startup that focuses on analytics, has pulled in $30 million for its third-round of funding. Most large companies will generate terabytes of log data every day. Sumo Logic wants to replace company’s traditional log management systems, which typically leave 98% of data unanalyzed. Its founders say that Sumo Logic is unique as it’s cloud-based and can be set up in a matter of minutes. It is used by the likes of GoDaddy, Netflix, Ooyala and Formspring to turn their log management data into actionable insights. Accel Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm with a $100 million fund dedicated to big data startups, will lead the financing. Existing investors Sutter Hill Ventures and Greylock Ventures also participated in the round. Read more on VentureBeat.

Big data company AgilOne fortells the future from the cloud

Today, AgilOne launched its flagship solution (also called AgilOne) and announced the closure of a $10 million round of investment. AgilOne provides cloud-based predictive marketing intelligence to help marketers figure out what their customers are going to do next. The platform serves as a “data scientist in the cloud.” It not only helps teams make sense of large quantities of data, but also make smarter marketing decisions and address issues of acquisition, retention, and reactivation. The $10 million in financing was led by Mayfield Fund, with participation from Sequoia Capital who led the $6 million Series A last year. Read more on VentureBeat.

Ginger.io takes a data-driven approach to health to manage chronic disease 

Ginger.io has raised $6.5 million to turn mobile data into heath insights. This behavioral analystics platform collects and analyzes passive and active data from users’ phones to provide deeper insight into health and well-being. Using smartphones, the technology maps the behavioral patterns of the owner and sends a “check-engine light” alert when something is amiss. Patients use the app for personal monitoring purposes, but healthcare providers and researchers can also access this data (with patient consent) to enhance their care. Still in the early stages, the system can be applied for depression, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. With this investment from Khosla Ventures, True Ventures, and Romulus Capital, Ginger.io will scale the time and make the platform available for other conditions, like Diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, and Crohn’s Disease.

CommonBond loosens shackles of student debt

Higher education in US can be extremely expensive and graduates spend years saddled with student loans. Crowdfunding startup CommonBond was founded to “fix the broken student loan system”. CommonBond connects student borrowers with alumni investors to provide loans at a lower fixed rate than traditional repayment systems. Along with its official launch today at the University of Pennsylvania’s illustrious Wharton School of Business, CommonBond is also announcing $3.5 million in investment. $2.5 million of this came from prominent alumni and will be disbursed to students in the form of loans, while $1 million is seed funding to help get the platform off the ground.

iSchool Campus raises $4M to set up “Smart Schools” around the country

Education technology company iSchool Campus received $4 million in its first round of funding, led by Crocker Ventures. iSchool Campus provides a “Smart School” system that integrates technology-based teaching tools across multiple platforms. It operates through a specifically configured wireless network to keep all the tech around the school. To deploy, the system includes an iMac Lab, Macbook Pros for each teacher, HD TVs, a remote audio system, classroom management software, and ongoing professional development. From there, teachers can execute their curriculum and track stunt progress. The program is being piloted in Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Texas and Utah.

Indisys makes machine-human interactions as helpful as possible

Indisys has raised $5 million from Intel Capital for its natural language and intelligent conversation technology. Applying computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and machine learning, Indisys provides virtual employees that organizations can use for customer service. Banks, telecom companies, and retailers around the world have adopted the technology. Indisys is based in Spain and will use the investment to accelerate international expansion.

CENTRI keeps deloyment of mobile data on smooth seas

Seattle company CENTRI Technology has raised $4.5 million in its second round of funding. The company helps mobile operators and enterprises deliver and manage data across all connected devices and networks. This round was led by the Matthew Pritzker Company. Read the press release.

MedTech company takes $13.6M to determine which ICU patients get jello

GlySure, which develops blood glucose monitoring systems for hospitals, secured $13.6 million to complete clinical trials of its system. Monitoring blood glucose levels is important for maintaining the overall health of patients in the ICU. Glysure is based in England and the products are not approved for use in the US or Europe. This investment will go towards securing regulatory clearance. It is the third round of funding for Glysure and included Amadeus Capital Partners, Chester Investments, Delta Partners, Morningside Ventures and Frank Bonsal, Jr.

Doctape wants to make your office paperless by storing everything in the cloud

German company Doctape has entered public beta and closed its first round of funding. Doctape is an online space where personal and business files can be stored and shared in a digital file cabinet. Doctape was built off the Node.js platform, which eBay, LinkedIn and Microsoft use. There is no software download needed; everything is stored on the cloud. The amount of this round has not been disclosed, although contributors include prominent European angel investors and entrepreneurs. Read more on VentureBeat.