“Meru Networks (of Sunnyvale), the leader in infrastructure solutions that enable the All-Wireless Enterprise, today announced that it has closed its latest round of venture funding, raising $27.6M in a Series D round led by leading global investment and technology development firm the D. E. Shaw group. Other investors in this round include existing Meru investors Lehman Brothers, Clearstone Venture Partners, NeoCarta Ventures, BlueStream Ventures, Evercore Ventures and JumpStartUp Venture Fund.”

“Four years after realigning itself as a designer of RFID systems for wireless Internet networks, AeroScout has received a $21 million third round of venture capital that brings its total funding to $41 million. Two new Silicon Valley firms joined AeroScout’s investor syndicate for the new round, with Menlo Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., leading the round. Greylock Partners of San Mateo, Calif., was the other first-time investor. The new money will support continued sales, marketing and development of San Mateo-based AeroScout’s product line, a system of radio frequency identification tags and sensors that operates on networks using the Wi-Fi wireless standard.”

“The private equity firm formerly known as Texas Pacific Group has dropped Texas from its name. It quietly switched its name to TPG Capital — skipping geography altogether. The giant investment organization, which is managing $30 billion in capital, specializes in turnarounds, management buyouts and leveraged recapitalizations… TPG has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo as well as Fort Worth, Texas, and elsewhere.”

“Range Fuels announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the company up to $76 million to build the first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the U.S. The plant will produce ethanol from wood chips from unmerchanteable Georgia pine trees and forest residues. The plant will be located in Soperton, Georgia, approximately 100 miles west of Savannah. The grant was awarded to Range Fuels, which was founded by Menlo Park, California-based Khosla Ventures”

“In a blow to Israeli venture capital… Grove Street Advisors will no longer manage investment for California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). Grove Street managing partner Clinton (Clint) P. Harris is considered one of the main and most highly regarded gatekeepers of Israel’s venture capital industry. Centinela Capital Partners and Oak Hill Investment Management LP will take over the CalPERS account. Since 1998, through Grove Street Advisors, CalPERS has invested $70 million in Israeli venture capital funds and an additional $60 million in direct investments, making it the largest single investor in Israeli venture capital.”.

“Pacific Corporate Group Holdings, LLC (“PCG”) today announced that Pacific Corporate Group Asset Management, which was formed in 2005 as a business unit of PCG, has been spun-off and re-established as a separate, independent, employee-owned firm. Like its predecessor unit, the new firm, Pacific Corporate Group Asset Management, LLC (“PCG AM”), will focus solely on private equity investment advisory and consulting services for discretionary and non-discretionary clients. PCG AM, like the PCG-owned unit from which it originated, will oversee and/or advise on assets with a total value of approximately $15 billion on behalf of clients that include some of the world’s largest institutional private equity, leveraged buyout, and venture capital investors.”

“Inogen, Inc., a Santa Barbara-based designer and manufacturer of devices that help people suffering from respiratory illnesses, announced on February 16 that it had secured $22 million from the venture capital arm of the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk to apply toward research and development of new devices. According to Inogen, the money will help popularize the Inogen One, a portable, 10-pound respiratory aid the company says could replace the bulkier models currently used by those who have difficulty breathing.”

“New Enterprise Associates Pvt. Ltd. said Monday it is expanding in India and focusing up to $200 million in several technology sectors there. The venture capital firm, which has an office in Menlo Park, said the Mumbai office and upcoming investments are in line with its strategy to develop a presence in the emerging markets of India and China.”

“Google has committed money to two Indian venture capital firms, saying fledgling companies in India with good ideas have too few avenues for financial support. Google invested undisclosed amounts into small venture firms Seedfund and Erasmic. The amounts were likely in the single digit millions… Last year, Google began investing directly into start-ups, including WiFI router company FON, and another WiFi router company Meraki. Overall, these investments have been very small, relative to the hundreds of millions invested by other large companies, such as Intel. Red Herring first wrote about the Google VC move a couple of weeks ago, and Samir Sood, Google’s head of corporate development in South Asia has since sent out a statement, explaining the move: “While the rush of large amounts of venture capital into India is well-documented, very little of this trickles down to the really small firms, the early-stage start-ups.”

“Bridge Pharmaceuticals, which does contract drug research in China for other companies, said Tuesday it raised $35 million in its second round of venture funding. A new investor, Granite Global Ventures, gave money in this round, as did investors from its previous round. Helen Wong of Granite Global took a seat on Bridge’s board as part of the deal. She works out of Granite Global’s office in Shanghai. Bridge will spend the money raised on its research operations in China.”

“The two founders of YouTube Inc. got stock now valued at about $650 million when they sold the business, according to a filling by Google Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission.. Sequoia Capital, which has an office in Menlo Park and was YouTube’s sole venture capital backer, stands to get about $442 million in Google shares, based on Wednesday’s closing price of $470.01.”

“Mayfield Fund said Friday it closed a $200 million fund dedicated to investing in China. Menlo Park-based Mayfield said the new fund, GSR Ventures II, was formed in partnership with GSR Ventures, a Menlo Park-based China focused fund. The dedicated fund follows a two year affiliation between Mayfield and GSR, during which the firms made 11 direct investments in China.”