Boston Roundup: ClearSky Data, Backupify, Flashnotes, OnCorps, & More

Updated 10:20 am Eastern
Here are a few recent financing deals, including some on the stealthy and secretive side, from around the region:

—Highland Capital Partners and General Catalyst have put $12 million into a stealthy new enterprise IT startup called ClearSky Data. The news comes via Scott Kirsner at Boston.com, who spoke with founders Ellen Rubin (a founder of CloudSwitch) and Lazarus Vekiarides (formerly of EqualLogic).

—Confer, a Waltham-based IT security startup, has raised an $8 million Series A financing round from Matrix Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners. The company says it specializes in protecting computers, servers, and mobile devices from attacks. The company’s CEO is Mark Quinlivan. [Added this item.]

—Backupify, which sells data backup services for online software like Google Apps and Salesforce, has filed paperwork for a $3 million debt financing. The Cambridge, MA-based company didn’t discuss any new financing in a recent press release touting its fourth-quarter performance, but did say it now has more than 500,000 users.

—Flashnotes, a startup that helps college students buy and sell digital copies of study materials, has filed SEC paperwork indicating a new $1.8 million equity financing, with room to possibly double in size. The Boston-based company raised $1.5 million last year as it acquired a competitor, and raised a $1.8 million seed round in 2012.

—OnCorps, a Cambridge-based startup that provides corporate data analysis software, has filed paperwork for a $1.1 million equity financing. The company is stocked with veterans of Accenture, including founder and CEO Bob Suh. On its website, the company lists powerhouse venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz as its lead investor.

—Startup Institute, a private skills academy meant to get people ready for early stage tech company work, has expanded to London and Berlin. The growth follows last year’s move into New York (before expanding, the venture had been known as Boston Startup School). More details via BostInno, which also notes that Startup Institute has recently raised $1.3 million in equity and debt from angels and bankers.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.