More Money into Interactive Marketing

A couple of financings making news today may have some impact on the interactive marketing space.

• Kontera, which I wrote about here (and which was previously known as eZula), has taken in $7 million from venture firms Sequoia Capital and Lehman Brothers. The company’s press release touts Kontera’s ability to monetize user-generated content — via in-text links in discussion forums and the like. Kontera doesn’t specify what it’ll do with the dough, just saying it will fuel growth.
• Meanwhile, IGA Worldwide, the in-game advertising company, has brought aboard Intel Capital as an investor. The firm is taking in a total of $17 million in a Series A funding round. Other investors include Easton Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures and DN Capital. The company says it’ll use the money to expand its relationships with publishers and continue to “extend its global operations in support of a growing base of customers in North America, Europe and Asia.”

UPDATE: So I’ve found out that Kontera was not previously known as eZula, though some former eZula executives founded Kontera. They are completely different companies, Kontera tells me.