THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY
Avira, a German security company, has acquired SocialShield, and will be adding its service to its lineup of free security products, the company recently announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “It is Avira’s mission that our users feel free to make new friends, share pictures, and conduct business on the Web without worries or … [Read more...]
Monitise, the UK mobile banking specialist, has bought its US competitor Clairmail for $173 million. Its a consolidating move that reflects a coming of age in mobile banking. The combined companies will serve more than 13 million customers, processing $10 billion in weekly payments. Now with one third of the top 50 US financial institutions, … [Read more...]
Airbnb has bought Crashpadder, essentially a smaller, UK version of itself. Both companies run online marketplaces in which residences can be rented for short durations. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The move has perfect timing ahead of the Summer Olympic Games in London, as plenty of football fans will need couches to … [Read more...]
Digital Sky Technologies, an early investor in Facebook, is currently cooking up a $1 billion tech fund, with plenty of incentives to get other investors to show up for the potluck, according to a recent tech presentation unearthed by Bloomberg. To start the fund, DST is throwing in $50 million in Facebook stock, meaning that investors too would … [Read more...]
Spotify is rumored to be looking for more cash, which logically makes sense as it continually grows users, paying subscribers and its music library. The jaw dropper comes with the valuation it expects- $3.5 billion, according to Business Insider, based on multiple anonymous inside sources. As early as 2011, Spotify raised $100 million at a $1 … [Read more...]
Half of All Israeli Deals Come from Foreign Funds Following a lackluster year in which Israeli VC funds raised virtually no capital, the sector returned in 2011 to raised $796 million, according to recent numbers from the IVC. Though an improvement, Israeli VC funds still have a considerable way to go to reach levels of a few years ago. Last … [Read more...]
Amazon is buying Kiva Systems, an order fulfillment company in the spirit of R2D2, for $775 million in cash. Kiva has created a system of order fulfillment that uses hundreds of autonomous mobile robots to fulfill orders two to four times faster than traditional means, according to the company's own figures. Robots move across the warehouse and … [Read more...]
Brandwatch, a social media monitoring platform, has raised $6 million to expand its service to the US and other areas internationally. Nauta Capital and existing investor the Gorkana Group participated in the company's largest funding round to date. Brandwatch's platform analyzes and summarizes what people are saying on the web about a … [Read more...]
Zayo, a provider of enterprise fiber based bandwidth services, has acquired AboveNet for an impressive bundle of $2.2 billion. “AboveNet and Zayo’s business models are closely aligned with a disciplined focus on high bandwidth fiber-based communications services for enterprises, government and carrier customers,” said Dan Caruso, President … [Read more...]
Apple recently announced plans to initiate a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share starting July 1 in the fourth quarter of 2012. It will also launch a $10 billion share repurchasing program in fiscal 2013, which begins Sept. 30, 2012. The company expects to spend $45 billion in the next three years. The repurchase program was implemented to … [Read more...]