Certainly underlining my post about the advanced recovery of Venture Capital in Europe are the two later stage rounds for Zopa and Spotzer:

Spotzer hurries to get backing from media heavyweights:

In its aim to secure a leading position in the up an coming online video advertising space, Amsterdam-based Spotzer has announced a third round of funding, just a month after its second round. In February the company attracted DutchView, the largest Dutch post-production firm, as shareholder. In the current round, it has secured the involvement of Cyrte Investments, a telecom, media and technology fund which is majority owned by Dutch media tycoon and billionaire John de Mol. Spotzer hopes to benefit from Cyrte's network as it sets out to partner with media outlets and creative agencies. Cyrte typically invests much larger sums in bigger international companies, but the firm was happy to make an exception. Thomas Notermans of Cyrte said: "Spotzer wants to be a one-stop shop for all platforms that support audiovisual content. That philosophy fits well with Cyrte's."

In the US, Spot Runner has been providing a similar service to Spotzer's for some time now. The Spotzer team has been open about their plan to copy much of Spot Runner's service. The basic idea is that clients can license and personalize pre-produced video commercials as well as plan and buy targeted air or media time online. This should eliminate the need for traditional agencies, which would bring down the costs. As a result, better quality and more targeted ads would become available for business with limited budgets. It is a potentially disruptive concept in a market that has surprisingly been overlooked by the online world.

Zopa raises 15 million in Series B

Zopa, the world's first online,person-to-person lending and borrowing exchange, today announced it has secured $15 million in Series B funding from Bessemer Venture Partners as well as existing investors Benchmark Capital and Wellington Partners. The additional funding will support Zopa's intended California launch, planned for later this year, which comes on the heels of the company's first anniversary in the UK.

Zopa, http://www.zopa.com, connects people who want to lend with people who want to borrow, and since there is no bank in the middle of the transaction, consumers typically get a better financial deal. Since its UK launch in March 2005, Zopa has gained more than 55,000 members and continues to grow rapidly.