News Byte

Wireless Beacon Startup Estimote Lands $3.1 Million, Hires GroupMe Vet Steve Cheney

Estimote, a Y Combinator graduate that makes wireless sensors — or beacons — that can be used to transmit information to nearby smartphones in environments such as retail shops, has snagged a $3.1 million seed round from a long list of venture firms and angel investors, including Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Betaworks and Bessemer Venture Partners. The company is also announcing the hire of former GroupMe business-development boss Steve Cheney, who will open Estimote’s New York City office and run business operations.

News Byte

Former Zynga Security Head Puhlmann Joins Endgame as CTO

Nils Puhlmann, former Zynga chief security officer, is joining security solutions provider Endgame — best name ever — as CTO. The Arlington, Va.-based Endgame is backed by venture investors, including Kleiner Perkins and Bessemer Venture Partners, with about $54 million in funding. Before departing in 2012, Puhlmann was at Zynga for several years managing all security issues for the online gaming company.

Pinterest Does Another Massive Funding — $225 Million at $3.8 Billion Valuation (Confirmed)

Pin this! An even more ginormous pile of money for the social bookmarking phenom.

Voices

Checking the Five Boxes of Subscription Commerce

If the boxes don’t deliver the goods, they’re toast.

News Byte

Twitch Snags $20 Million

Twitch, an online video network and gaming community, announced that it has raised a $20 million series C round of funding. The round was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from WestSummit Capital and Take-Two Interactive Software, as well as existing investors Alsop Louie Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. The company, which sees more than 45 million unique monthly visitors, will use the new capital to further scale its sales and infrastructure divisions.

News Byte

Enterprise Security Startup Defense.net Raises $9.5 Million

Defense.net, a company that aims to protect enterprise customers from denial-of-service attacks from malicious third parties, announced a $9.5 million round of funding on Tuesday. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, and is the VC firm’s 30th security investment to date.

Qwilt, Maker of Super-Caching Gear for Video, Lands $16 Million Series C Round

Delivering popular video by moving it close to the consumer.

Bessemer Venture Partners Launches $100 Billion Cloud Index

The cloud is definitely no longer a fad.

News Byte

Altair Semiconductor Raises $25 Million

LTE chipset developer Altair Semiconductor announced Monday it raised a $25 million round of financing from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, BRM, Giza Venture Capital, JVP and Pacific Technology, bringing the total amount of funds raised to just over $100 million. The Israel-based company will use the capital to further expand their position in the LTE chipset market. Altair’s products are found inside of USB dongles, tablets, Ultrabooks, Internet hotspots and routers.

Former Yahoo Security Head Somaini Lands at Cloud Startup Box

One of three high-profile hires for the IPO-bound startup.