Partech Ventures closes $440M fund for growth-stage startups Partech Ventures, an established VC firm with offices in Paris, Berlin and San Francisco, has raised €440 million ($440 million) for its first growth fund. Partners plan to invest in fast-growing technology companies, with a focus on European startups. Lyft said to hire banker to explore sale, funding Ride-hailing startup Lyft hired Qatalyst Partners, the boutique investment known for brokering many of tech industry’s largest M&A deals, to explore a possible sale or new funding, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing unnamed sources. San Francisco-based Lyft has raised more than $2 billion from VCs and strategic investors. Cisco snaps up security startup CloudLock for $293M Cisco announced it will acquire venture-backed cloud security provider CloudLock in a transaction valued at $293 million. People-meeting sites MeetMe and Skout tie the knot MeetMe, the publicly traded developer of an app for meeting new people, announced that it is acquiring Skout, another company that offers a similar service, in a transaction valued at $54.6 million. San Francisco-based Skout previously raised at least $22 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz. Introducing new ways to access CrunchBase Data Uncover new opportunities, discover industry trends, and build powerful apps using the Daily Excel Export or API. | 