THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY
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...]
Cloud-based services will create 14 million new jobs by 2015, a recent study commissioned by Microsoft in collaboration with the research firm IDC predicts. Though half of those jobs will be in China and India due to the sheer size of their populations and the potential for cheaper labor, over 1.2 million jobs will be created in the US and … [Read more...]
This Year’s IBM’s SmartCamp Gathers the Hottest Startups Forget capture the flag. Startup campers at IBM’s SmartCamp play nab the investment dollar. Designed to encourage global innovation, SmartCamp connects the hottest startups around the world with not only resources and advice, but personal handshakes and a listening ear from some of … [Read more...]
By Igor Sill Virtually all of the start-up presentations I see given by first time entrepreneurs fall well short of their intended goal, getting funded. Essentially, these presentations are primarily nothing more than “yet another idea” delivered via 50+ slides. Though a great deal has already been published on the subject, I continue … [Read more...]
By Igor Sill* Venture capital investing is in the midst of a revival and change. It is certainly creating a different story from its past based on Wall Street’s new-found appetite for venture-backed technology companies. To many investors, the silver lining in 2011 was Wall Street’s initial public stock issuance of venture backed … [Read more...]
In an effort to provide a more personalized ecommerce experience, Groupon has acquired Adku, the ecommerce big data startup, the company recently announced. Though officially undisclosed, the price has been rumored to be around $10 million, Techcrunch reported. Founded by three former Google engineers, Adku optimizes personalized shopping … [Read more...]
Mosoro, a Bluetooth accessory startup that utilizes internal sensors to do everything from judge your golf swing to streaming media directly to a device, has raised $1.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by leading Internet entrepreneurs and co-founders of ServiceMagic.com, Mike Beaudoin and Rodney Rice as well as Boulder venture … [Read more...]
Piazza, a question and answer sharing platform for students and professors, recently landed $6 million in Series A funding, led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Kapor Capital and Felice Ventures. The company also has backing from SV Angel and Sequoia Capital. Piazza enables a Q&A platform in which students share and answer … [Read more...]
While venture funds raised $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 162 percent increase over the third quarter, there was a 41 percent drop in the number of funds, with 38 venture funds raising capital compared to the 64 that raised $2.1 billion in the previous quarter, as firms continued to consolidate, according to a recently released … [Read more...]