Things have been pretty quiet around Boston in terms of financing deals. Until today.
Here are three decent-size funding rounds just announced, across the very disparate sectors of digital coupons, networking tech, and brain diseases (yeah, I do some neuro too):
—SavingStar, a digital grocery coupon service based in Waltham, MA, has raised $9 million in Series C funding led by DCM. Previous investors, including Flybridge Capital Partners, First Round Capital, and IA Ventures, also participated in the round. SavingStar spun out of Upromise (part of Sallie Mae) in 2010 and has now raised a little over $18 million in total venture funding. The company’s couponing system, which competes with paper-based promotions, works via the Web or mobile apps (iPhone and Android).
—Exinda, a Boston-based maker of network optimization software, has raised a $12 million Series B round from OpenView Venture Partners and Greenspring Associates. The company plays in the WAN optimization sector (wide area networks), which also includes companies like Cisco, Citrix, and Riverbed. Boston-based OpenView first invested in Exinda back in 2007.
—NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, MA-based startup tackling Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases, has raised a $9 million Series B extension round to bring its total capital raised to $28.6 million. The new money comes from existing investors, including Mérieux Développement and Shire. NeuroPhage is developing a drug to prevent the buildup of amyloid plaques and combat certain types of protein misfolding thought to underlie neurodegenerative diseases. The company says it is about a year away from starting clinical trials.
