Three Companies to Watch: BetterLesson, Wikets, and PeerApp Raise Funds

On a dismal day in Boston, here are a few tech-related company financings worth mentioning (one in mobile/social, one in video, and one in education):

—BetterLesson, a Cambridge, MA-based startup that helps teachers organize and share lesson plans and curricula online, has closed a new $1.6 million financing round from Highland Capital Partners, General Catalyst Partners, New Markets Ventures, NewSchools Venture Fund, and angel investors. BetterLesson says it has built up a Web community of tens of thousands of K-12 educators. Any education company led by a Teach For America alum (founder and CEO Alex Grodd) is worth paying attention to, I say.

—Earlier this week, Wikets, a social commerce and recommendations startup, said it raised a $1.5 million seed round from Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, and angel investors, according to TechCrunch. (Xconomy reported on the round back in June, but without information about the investors.) The Boston-area startup, which is working on its mobile app, is led by founders Andy Park, Vijay Manwani, and Ravi Reddy.

—PeerApp, a Newton, MA-based online video delivery firm, raised $8 million in growth financing led by Summit Partners. Cedar Fund, Evergreen Partners, Pilot House Ventures Group, and other investors also participated in the round. PeerApp started in 2004 and is led by CEO Robert Mayer, a former EMC exec.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.