Top stories in today's VentureWire:
Art by Mike Lucas
A new beauty brand called Madison Reed Inc. raised $12 million in venture funding to become hair color's answer to Bonobos, Warby Parker or Zappos, says founder and Chief Executive Amy Errett. Norwest Venture Partners led the Series B investment in Madison Reed, joined by earlier backers True Ventures and Maveron. Ms. Errett, a former True Ventures general partner, explained that she left venture investing behind when she realized how hair dyes sold at groceries and pharmacies failed to satisfy demand in a massive U.S. market.
Indiegogo Inc. has raised $40 million in a new round of financing, the single largest venture capital investment into a crowdfunding business so far, according to DJX VentureSource. Institutional Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the Series B round, joined by the company's existing investors Insight Venture Partners, MHS Capital, Metamorphic Ventures and ff Venture Capital. The San Francisco startup became the first online crowdfunding site when it launched in 2008 with the goal of 'democratizing funding,' especially for independent film projects. Since then, more than 200,000 campaigns have run on Indiegogo.com.
Also in today's VentureWire, Mass-media company Hearst Corp., which has been acquiring and funding health-information companies as it continues its expansion into new areas, has announced the formation of its newest business division, Hearst Health, which will be putting a $75 million fund to work helping early-stage providers of health-care information products... Sols Systems Inc. has raised a $1.75 million seed round led by Lux Capital to convert videos from your smartphone into custom orthotics, using 3-D printing...and Opower Inc., a maverick in building a business based on motivating people to use less energy, has a younger startup chasing in its footsteps and gaining traction. Simple Energy, a graduate of the 2011 class at accelerator Techstars Boulder, has raised a fresh $6 million Series B round led by Westly Group.
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