Funding and Acquisitions Roundup: M.Night Shyamalan and others invest $500K in Mingyian to connect celebs with audiences (and $$) in China

By Brian Kovalesky, StartUp Beat Editor

Today’s early-stage startup funding and acquisitions news:

Mingyian, startup that connects celebrities with fans in China has raised $500,000 in Seed funding. Investors include Dominate Fund, RRE Ventures, film director M. Night Shyamalan, Foley Ventures and Chinese energy executive Eric Yao. The company appears to work at least partially on traditional marketing agency model, where the company works directly with the celebrities to better use digital tools to reach Chinese audiences. Mingyian was founded in 2011 by Jenny Bai , Rebecca Eydeland, and E! Entertainment founder Larry Namer, and has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Beijing.

Vital Stats:

Website: www.mingyian.com

HQ: New York City, Los Angeles, Beijing

Founders: Jenny Bai , Rebecca Eydeland, Larry Namer

Year Founded: 2011

Investors: Dominate Fund, RRE Ventures, Foley Ventures, M. Night Shyamalan, Eric Yao (Seed)

Innovation: Connecting celebrities and well-known individuals from various professions with audiences in China.

Total Funding: $500,000

(Sources: Mingyian, TechCrunch)

More funding and acquisitions news…

Yahoo Acquires Bignoggins, A One-Man Fantasy Sports App Maker (via TechCrunch)

Uber investor Shervin Pishevar raising $150M for Sherpa Ventures Fund (via Silicon Valley Business Journal)

TECHMEDIA NETWORK ACQUIRES BESTOFMEDIA GROUP (via company press release)

We’ve raised $3.8M from Accel Partners to expand Pixate’s products and services (via company blog)

Coinstar (now called Outerwall) to buy up gadget recycling kiosk startup ecoATM (via GigaOm)

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