Gaikai raises $10 million to put games in cloud

SAN FRANCISCO (Private Equity Week) - If Gaikai has its way, playing games on the computer will become a lot easier, which means those hours of lost productivity might also begin to soar.

The Los Angeles, California-based startup, which is developing technology that makes it easier for users to play games online, last week announced it has raised more than $10 million in a Series B funding round from TriplePoint Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, Benchmark Capital and an undisclosed investors.

The company's technology allows user to easily play computer games without requiring downloads or having to install applications, by playing games in the cloud. Mitch Lasky, general partner of Benchmark Capital and a Gaikai board member, said that the business is "poised to take advantage of sweeping changes in how games are bought, sold, and ultimately even played brought about by the industry-wide shift to digital distribution."

Gaikai, which was founded by Andrew Gault and Rui Pereira, had previously raised $5 million in a first round of funding from Benchmark, according to a regulatory filing earlier this year.

The startup was one of a handful of early stage tech companies to raise venture capital funding recently. A select list of other startups to raise capital includes the following:

CLEANTECH

Clean Filtration Technologies Inc.

Redwood City, CA

www.cleanfiltration.com

Amount/Round: $3.5 million/Series B

Investors: Dow Venture Capital

Details: Develops water treatment technology.

GAMING

Gaikai Inc.

Los Angeles, CA

www.gaikai.com

Amount/Round: $10 million/Series B

Investors: TriplePoint Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, Benchmark Capital and an undisclosed strategic backer

Details: Provides cloud-based video game streaming service for use on multiple devices and platforms. Nate Redmond, of Rustic Canyon Partners, has joined the board.

MATERIALS

Innova Dynamics Inc.

Philadelphia, PA

www.innovadynamics.com

Amount/Round: $5.5 million/Series A

Investors: Rho Ventures (led) and MentorTech Ventures

Details: Develops materials used to protect surfaces from bacteria and other microbes, such as in water bottles. The company was spinout from the University of Pennsylvania. Nicholas Darby, a partner at Rho Ventures, has joined the board.

MED TECH

Inova Labs Inc.

Austin, TX

www.lifechoiceoxygen.com

Amount/Round: $10 million/Series A

Investors: Three Arch Partners

Details: Develops portable and stationary oxygen concentrators. Richard Lin, partner at Three Arch, has joined the board.

WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

DOTGO

New York, NY

www.dotgo.com

Amount/Round: NA/Series A

Investors: Epic Ventures and TomorrowVentures

Details: Develops mobile publishing platform, with an emphasis on text messaging. The company was founded in 2007 by Kenneth Lanzetta, a professor of physics and astronomy at Stony Brook University, and Stefan Gromoll, a former graduate student in astrophysics at Stony Brook University. The development of DOTGO has been partially funded by the National Science Foundation. Chris Stone, managing director of EPIC Ventures, and Court Coursey, managing partner of TomorrowVentures, have joined the board.