def sign_raw_data(raw_data, privatekey_hex):
    """
    Sign a string of data.
    Returns signature as a base64 string
    """
    if not isinstance(raw_data, (str, unicode)):
        raise ValueError("Data is not a string")

    raw_data = str(raw_data)

    si = ECSigner(privatekey_hex)
    si.update(raw_data)
    return si.finalize()