ComScore Report: 5.3 Trillion Ads in 2012, Social Media Taking Lead

trillions

ComScore released its Digital Future in Focus report for 2013, revealing that nearly 6 trillion ad impressions were served up the US. What’s more, social media is steadily taking the lead, accounting for 16.6 and will soon surpass portals as the most engaging online activity. Facebook naturally leads this surge, contributing to the largest share … [Read more...]

Startup Act 3.0: Show Me the Visa!

ellis

Third time’s a charm? A group of lawmakers led by Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) have launched Startup Act 3.0, a bill that would make it possible for foreign entrepreneurs who employ at least five full time, non-family members to stay in the US for at least three years, as well as have a potential path to permanent citizenship. Before anybody … [Read more...]

US District Judge Tosses out 4 Facebook IPO Lawsuits

Facebook IPO

A US District court dismissed four shareholder lawsuits related to Facebook’s botched IPO, on the grounds that the individual investors behind the cases purchased the company’s stock after the company had already amended IPO filings, including warnings about an unproven ability to monetize its mobile efforts, Reuters reported. The lawsuit, … [Read more...]

Former Autonomy Owner Launches $1 Billion Fund Amidst Fraud Investigation

Money Sign

Nothing suggests a comeback like raising a billion fund on the same day your former company is being investigated for fraud. Mike Lynch, the former CEO of Autonomy, has raised $1 billion to establish the Invoke Capital fund, where he plans to support small R&D technology companies, the Telegraph reported. He’s secured financial investment … [Read more...]

SoftBank Launches $250M Fund to Help Startups’ Asian Expansion

softbank II

SoftBank Capital, the venture firm of Japan's SOFTBANK Corp., announced the closing of the PrinceVille Fund, a $250 million fund designed to help startups expand into Asia. “Due to its long-standing strategic relationship with SOFTBANK, a worldwide leader in Internet, mobile communications, broadband services and fixed-line telecommunications … [Read more...]

Salesforce Quietly Acquires EntropySoft, a French Content Connector Company

Money Sign

Salesforce has quietely acquired EntropySoft, a French company that enables connecting content repositories together in order to leverage better business value out of content, EMS Wire reported. EntropySoft essentially allows companies to extract customer data for better marketing. Its Connector Hub allows customers to work on documents stored … [Read more...]

Liberty Global to Buy Virgin Media for $23.3B

Money Sign

Liberty Global, the US cable heavy weight, has agreed to purchase Virgin Media, a large cable and broadband provider in the UK, for $23.3 billion, both companies recently announced in a press release. If approved by regulators, the deal would make Liberty Global the largest cable and broadband company in the world outside of China. The company … [Read more...]

Gigya Passes 1.5B Unique Monthly Users, or About 2/3 of the Internet

gigya

Gigya, the provider of social infrastructure, announced it has reached 1.5 billion unique monthly users, up from the billion it reported a year ago. That's nearly 2/3's of the global Internet population. It took some sizable companies to attain that kind of reach. The company surpassed 650 clients with 300 leading online businesses. Customers … [Read more...]

Truphone Raises $118M to Slice International Long Distance Bills

truphone

Truphone, a UK company that strives to eliminate international calling fees, has raised an impressive $118 million round at a $473 million valuation. The investment round was made by a group of investors led by Roman Abramovich, the wealthy Russian owner of Chelsea Football Club. Abramovich's investment gives him a 23 percent stake in the … [Read more...]

Foursquare’s 3 Billion Checkins Showcase America’s Awesome Places

foursquare

Foursquare took the excuse to celebrate the company recently crossing the 3 billion checkins threshold with its release of “The Best of Foursquare.” Rather than a guide curated by editors, travel writers or critics, Foursquare's approach is all based on user experience data. Taking all that checkin data as well as tens of millions of user … [Read more...]