THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY
2012 remains a mixed bag for the Israeli VC community. According to a recent IVC report, “Most Active Venture Capital Funds in Israel,” Israeli venture capital funds raised $607 million in 2012, a 30 percent drop from the previous year. Nevertheless, more than 90 venture capital funds made first investments in Israeli-related companies in 2012, … [Read more...]
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...]
Though it won't market a product until 2014, DataGravity has already landed some pretty serious capital. The stealth mode startup recently raised $30 million in a round led by with existing investors Charles River Ventures and General Catalyst Partners participating. It brings the company's total capital to $42 million. The company specializes … [Read more...]
Ribbit Capital, a new Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, has closed on a $100 million fund that will be focused solely on finance-based startups. The firm will focus on startups specializing in lending, payments, insurance, accounting, tax preparation, personal financial management, and other financial services. The firm will target … [Read more...]
Cox Enterprises, an owner of radio and TV stations, newspapers, cable and telephone services, has placed a big bet on the startup world. Moreover, it's placed big money on the entrepreneurial instinct of Tripp Rackley, a serial entrepreneur who successfully launched and sold two companies to Intuit and Qualcomm and claims to have created over $1 … [Read more...]
Infusionsoft, a company that provides small businesses with a complete end to end CRM, social marketing and sales management, has raised $54 million from Goldman Sachs. The company will use the new funding for “fueling our product development, accelerating marketing and sales, and growing our partner and education programs in the U.S. and … [Read more...]
Janrain, which provides a social log-in management platform for developers that allows for easy signup through Facebook and other social media services, has raised $33 million. The round included contributions from new investors including salesforce.com, Millennium Technology Value Partners, Split Rock Partners, and Epic Ventures, as well as … [Read more...]
Though there was an increase in number of Israeli startups that managed to raise money last year, there was less money raised. Last year, 575 Israeli high tech companies raised $1.92 billion from the investment community, a 10 percent decrease over 2011 when 545 raised $2.14 billion, according to a recent report from the IVC Research Center. VC … [Read more...]
by MATT GALLAGHER, Red Herring Providing a one-stop shop for music soundtracks for TV and film producers, konsonant/ is rewriting the rules for how soundtracks are produced. The company's database features music that is unique and written by real film composers, artists and real bands from around the world. “We pride ourselves as the boutique … [Read more...]
Despite the cynicism of the public market following the Facebook debacle, the IPO market actually managed marginal improvements for 2012, though its success was severely hampered by Facebook and similar market disappointments such as Zynga, according to Renaissance Capital's 2012 Annual Review of the US IPO Market. The IPO market started 2012 … [Read more...]