Credit reference and analytics company Experian, of Costa Mesa, Calif., has acquired internet marketing intelligence firm Hitwise, of New York, for about $240 million in cash.

Hitwise collects information about traffic to Web sites, getting it directly from internet service providers, and has done a good job marketing the information (they’re constantly sending us comparisons between Web 2.0 companies, for example, to help VentureBeat with reporting). It says it covers the surfing patterns of about 25 million people in the US, UK, Australia and the Asia Pacific.

Data has become more important, as advertisers and others seek more information about which sites they want to support and which ones have influence.

Hitwise reportedly raised less than $20 million since its founding in 1998. Insight Venture Partners was an investor, and told Dow Jones it owned about one-quarter of Hitwise, suggesting this was a great return. Sydney-based venture capital firm Allen & Buckeridge invested in a seed round.

Google is one of more than a thousand customers of the company.

More here from Tim O’Reilly about this, who talks about the significance of data.

SurgRx, a Redwood City, Calif. maker of technology that uses heat and electric current to seal human tissue for medical purposes, has raised $20 million in fifth round of financing, VentureWire is reporting (sub required).

Hedge fund Magnetar Capital led the round, which included backers Alta Partners, Prospect Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates and California Technology Ventures, the report said, citing Ed Unkart, the company’s chief financial officer.

The technology is used as part of a “jaw” device that helps seal vessels ranging in diameter from less than 1 mm to 7 mm, during laparoscopic and open surgery.

There’s a YouTube video (caution: somewhat bloody) demonstrating the technology below:

SurgRx is going up against big players such as Johnson & Johnson Inc. and Tyco International Ltd, in market that includes things like gynecologic, transplant and general surgical procedures — measured by some to be worth more $4 billion.

SurgRx previously raised about $43 million.

Hayward, Calif.’s Metabolex, a biotech company developing treatments for diabetes and related metabolic disorders, said it has raised $32 million in a fourth round of financing.

It was led by MPM BioEquities. New investors AllianceBernstein, Deerfield Management and T. Rowe Price also participated in the round, joined by existing investors Alta Partners, Bay City Capital, Biotech Turnaround Fund, Birchmere Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, KBC Funds, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, Pictet Funds (LUX) – Biotecho, Merlin Biomed, Novo Ventures, VantagePoint Ventures, Venrock Partners and Versant Ventures.

The company has raised about $200 million over the years.

From the release (here):

The company plans to use the additional funds to accelerate the clinical testing of MBX-8025 and the development of several promising preclinical programs. MBX-8025 may represent a novel approach to treating dyslipidemia; a Phase 1 study demonstrated MBX-8025 could reduce lipid parameters, such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides. The company’s lead insulin sensitizer, MBX-102, is now in a 400-patient Phase 2/3 study in patients with type 2 diabetes who use insulin. Metabolex entered into a strategic alliance with Ortho-McNeil, Inc. in 2006, giving Ortho-McNeil an exclusive license for worldwide development and commercialization of MBX-102 and MBX-2044, a follow-on insulin sensitizer. Metabolex is conducting the Phase 2/3 trial of MBX-102 and a Phase 2a trial of MBX-2044.

Both MBX-102 and MBX-2044 may lower blood glucose by improving insulin resistance, an underlying cause of type 2 diabetes. Metabolex’s compounds activate genes that are linked to insulin sensitization without modulating genes associated with weight gain and edema, as is seen in currently marketed insulin sensitizers from the thiazolidinedione (TZD) class. Clinical research to date suggests the difference in gene expression may offer the efficacy advantages of TZDs with an improved safety profile.
In addition, preclinical work has shown that MBX-102 may have potent anti-inflammatory activity. Inflammation has been linked to the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, suggesting an additional mechanism by which Metabolex’s drugs may control the disease process in diabetes.

Reliant Technologies, a Mountain View, Calif. company that makes aesthetic laser medicine and surgery products, said it has raised $15 million in a fifth round of funding led by Delphi Ventures, Three Arch Partners and Meritech Capital Partners and others.

See statement here.

Solmetric, a manufacturer of solar test and measurement equipment, has raised $250,000 in a round of angel financing, VentureWire reports today (sub required).

The company, based in Bolinas, Calif., just north of San Francisco, was founded by Willard MacDonald, a former senior design engineer at Agilent Technologies, in late 2005. It aims to make the installation process more efficient.

From the piece:

The company sells its sensing and light metering product for around $1355, MacDonald said. Currently, the company has approximately 200 customers, mainly in California, he said, but MacDonald expects that number to increase. There are roughly 2,000 solar installers in the U.S., he said, and all of them are potential customers.

The company’s Web site says MacDonald holds 7 patents for new technologies in the test and measurement field.

Pandora Networks, an Emeryville, Calif. provider of a service that unifies wired, wireless, email and other communications in a single networked service for businesses, has raised $6 million in financing.

D.E. Shaw Group. was the investor.

See the announcement here.

With the funding, Pandora has now raised $8 million since 2004.

Zazzle, a Redwood City, Calif. company that gives users a way to personalize products like apparel, posters, U.S. Postage and greeting cards online, and then sell them, has acquired Confego for an undisclosed amount.

Confego, based in Berkeley, Calif., lets big companies like Reebok customize apparel, bags and footwear from the ground up using Confego’s software. In a statement, the companies said Confego has “perfected” the manufacturing and fulfillment process, allowing delivery of custom shoes in just one week, as opposed to the three to five week lead time currently provided from similar vendors.

Zazzle has raised $16 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures.

Here is the statement.