Emeryville, Calif. - Lithium Technologies, the provider of a platform that lets businesses create their own social networks and online communities, announced on Monday that it has raised a $12 million second round of financing, led by Benchmark Capital.

Menlo Park, Calif. - Benchmark Capital, an early-stage technology venture capital firm, has named Facebook executive Matt Cohler as a general partner. Cohler, one of the first five employees hired at Facebook in 2005, currently serves as the company's vice president of product management. He will join Benchmark in the fall and maintain a relationship with Facebook, serving as special advisor to founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

San Francisco - Grockit, a San Francisco-based start-up developing a massively multiplayer learning game, announced on Friday that it has raised $8 million in its second round of financing, led by Integral Capital Partners with participation from Benchmark Capital.

American Fork, Utah - Move Networks, a provider of HD online TV services, announced on Monday that it has landed a $46 million third round of financing, led by Benchmark Capital.

Sausalito, Calif. - Glassdoor.com, a stealth-mode "social networking company focused on employment conditions in the workplace," has raised $3 million in a second round of funding led by Benchmark Capital, according to PEHub.com.

San Francisco - Gizmoz, a provider of customized, user-generated avatars for use with social media services, announced on Monday that it has raised $6.5 million in its second round of financing, led by DoCoMo Capital.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Gigya, a developer of technology for distributing, tracking and analyzing widgets, said on Monday that it has raised $9.5 million in its second round of funding, led by Mayfield Fund.

Denver - ManiaTV Network, an Internet-based television network, has raised $5.5 million in its third round of funding, led by DAG Ventures, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing.

San Francisco - Yelp, a social media site where users can post reviews of local bars, restaurants and other businesses, announced on Wednesday that it has raised a $15 million fourth round of financing, led by DAG Ventures.

Mountain View, Calif. - FriendFeed, the developer of a social media platform that lets users keep up with what Web pages, photos, videos and music their friends and family are sharing, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $5 million in its first round of financing, from Benchmark Capital and company co-founders Paul Buchheit and Sanjeev Singh.

Redwood Shores, Calif. - Conduit, a developer of Web community toolbars, announced on Thursday that it has raised $8 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Benchmark Capital.

San Francisco - Metaweb Technologies, the developer of an expansive online database that aims to house all the world's data, has raised $42.4 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Benchmark Capital and Goldman Sachs, VentureBeat reports.

Framingham, Mass. - Vivox, a provider of integrated voice services for online games and virtual worlds, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $7.8 million in a second round of venture capital financing, led by Benchmark Capital.

Palo Alto, Calif. - FriendFeed, a social media alerts service founded by four developers involved with Googe's e-mail and mapping services, on Monday announced its launch, The New York Times reported. FriendFeed lets users see what websites their friends are visiting, and also supports 23 other Web services, such as YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Slashdot and Last.fm. The alerts of friends' activities are presented in a streaming feed that can be posted on any Web page. Palo Alto, Calif.-based FriendFeed was incubated at venture capital firm Benchmark Capital.

Menlo Park, Calif. - Emerging from stealth mode, Gizmoz, the developer of a new service that lets users create 3D talking characters and videos for use in blogs, social networks and e-mail, said on Thursday that it has raised $6.3 million in its first round of funding from Benchmark Capital and Columbia Capital.

Menlo Park, Calif. - Power Challenge, a developer and publisher of online sports games, announced on Monday that it has received an $8 million investment from venture capital firm Benchmark Capital.

Santa Clara, Calif. - Vudu, the developer of a TV set-top box that aims to deliver movies directly to televisions over the Internet via a peer-to-peer network, announced on Monday that it has signed content licensing agreements with seven major Hollywood movie studios, and 15 independent and international distributors.

Hertzliya, Israel - Mobile game developer Vollee (formerly Game Steam) announced on Thursday that it has raised $4 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by BlueRun Ventures with participation from Benchmark Capital.

Ramat Hasharon, Israel - Zlango, the developer of an icon-based language for use in SMS text messages, announced on Monday that it has raised $12 million in a new round of venture capital financing, led by Benchmark Capital and Accel Partners.