OStatic

OpenX Technologies, an open source advertising community that helps online publishers make money, has just announced a $10.4 million third round of venture funding, bringing total investment in the company to nearly $31 million since mid-2007. The company's technology lets publishers manage a mix of ads from multiple networks across a web site, and competes directly with Google's Ad Manager. Palo Alto-based firm DAG Ventures led the round of financing, and GigaOm has more on OpenX's plans here.?

The 451 Group is well-known for its close tracking of venture capital deployments focused on commercial open source companies. On Thursday, May 14th--this week--researchers at The 451 Group are hosting a free webinar from 12:00pm EDT to 1:00pm EDT, focused on the history of venture funding in open source firms between 1997 and 2008. The analysis will focus on trends spanning more than 370 funding deals.

At OStatic, we've written on several occasions about how schools could benefit from adopting open source software solutions--an effort already going on in many parts of the world. We've also reported on the multi-billion dollar U.S. market for textbooks, and the huge cost savings that could be reaped by educational institutions if they pursue open source textbooks. Now, as Ars Technica reports, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has launched an inititative to compile open source textbooks for the state, which is experiencing a budget crisis. The initiative faces an uphill battle, but shows a lot of promise, especially if it gets funding.