A VC

The 0.00% YieldThe Gotham Gal and I don't normally keep much cash in the bank. We like a portfolio of tax free municipal bonds for our cash that is not invested in venture deals, private companies, real estate, and the like. But...
» 13 Mar 2010, 3:13 am

One Year Of FoursquareOur portfolio company Foursquare turned one year old yesterday. They posted about their birthday on the company blog. It is stuff like this that makes startups so fun to be around: It was exactly a year ago when Naveen and...
» 12 Mar 2010, 2:47 am

The Cashless ExerciseSorry for the inside baseball title, this post is not about net exercising options or warrants. It is about an exercise I've been going through since the beginning of the year. I've always walked around with hardly any money on...
» 11 Mar 2010, 5:48 am

Transitioning From One Job To AnotherMark Suster just keeps putting out great stuff on his blog. Last night he posted about the tricky issue of transitioning from one job to another. Mark writes the post from the perspective of the entrepreneur/executive hiring someone who is...
» 10 Mar 2010, 3:59 am

The Public DashboardI really like how Tumblr publishes some key stats publicly every month in their own stylized dashboard. I also like the way they foreshadow upcoming product features: As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Related...
» 9 Mar 2010, 4:15 am

American Venture Magazine

Companies Selected to Present in Statewide Venture ForumAlbany, NY – The final slate of presenting companies has been chosen for the Eighth Annual SmartStart UNYTECH Venture Forum, presented by the Center for Economic Growth in...
» 7 May 2008, 1:56 pm

dCUPERTINO, CA. -- Iamba Networks, provider of Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) solutions today announced the company has closed a $7 million round of financing. Investing firms in this round include iamba's investors from previous...
» 7 May 2008, 12:25 pm

Fresh venture capital money for Clean Technology with less dealsAccording to an Ernst & Young report (with data from Dow Jones VentureOne), eventhoug the number of venture capital deals for cleantech companies were down by 11 percent, venture capital investments in these companies grew to $571.6 million in...
» 7 May 2008, 12:24 pm

Parature Secures $16 Million in Venture CapitalVienna, VA (Vocus) May 7, 2008 -- Parature announced today that the company has secured $16 million in Series B venture capital financing. This round was led by, Palo Alto, CA based Accel...
» 7 May 2008, 12:05 pm

SmartStart& UNYTECH Venture Forum 2008SmartStart UNYTECH is the premier Upstate NY venture forum where VC firms look to see the best...
» 7 May 2008, 12:03 pm

OtoMedicine, Inc. is eighth investment for the Southwest Michigan First Life Science FundKALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund has announced OtoMedicine, Inc. as its eighth investment.OtoMedicine is a bioscience company that has developed a proprietary product, AuraQuell(TM) to prevent noise-induced...
» 7 May 2008, 7:51 am

The Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine secured $40 M in venture capital funding.AVM May 1, 2008 - According to PE Hub and Venture Beat, Turbine Inc. has obtained $40...
» 1 May 2008, 12:37 pm

William Bing Gordon joins KPCB venture capital firmMENLO PARK, CA -  Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers today announced that William "Bing" Gordon will join the firm as Partner in June 2008. Gordon...
» 1 May 2008, 12:20 pm

New Relic Secures $3.5 Million VC Investment From Benchmark CapitalMENLO PARK, CA, May 1 -  New Relic, Inc., a leading provider of Ruby on Rails application performance management solutions, today announced it has received $3.5 million in first-round...
» 1 May 2008, 12:12 pm

Pontiflex Inc. Secures $2.5 Million in Series A Venture Capital FundingBROOKLYN, N.Y., - Pontiflex Inc., creator of the online advertising industry's first...
» 1 May 2008, 12:12 pm

Buzzd closes its Series A FundingNEW YORK, NY - Buzzd, a location-based cityguide and social network on the mobile device, announced that it has completed its Series A funding round, led by Greycroft Partners and Monitor...
» 30 Apr 2008, 7:26 am

Demo

DEMO Spring 2010: Spotlight on MobileLeading up to DEMO Spring 2010, March 21-23 at the JW Marriott in Palm Desert, we’ll rollout more information about the key themes and panelists featured in each of  the 7 DEMO Tech Segments - Cloud, Social and Media, Health and Life Science; Clean and Sustaining Tech, Enterprise, Mobile and Consumer. DEMO Spring 2010 Spotlight on Mobile. Read more
» 2 Mar 2010, 3:52 pm

DEMO: See the big trends (and speakers Dharmaraj, Fenton, Wong and Chien)We’re shaking things up a bit at the upcoming DEMO conference in Palm Springs, Calif., on March 22-23. The consumer Internet remains exciting, but we’re seeing more action around the edges of the Internet going forward. Read more
» 2 Mar 2010, 3:49 pm

DEMO Spring 2010 Tech Segment: Spotlight on CloudLeading up to DEMO Spring 2010, March 21-23 at the JW Marriott in Palm Desert, we’ll rollout more information about the key themes and panelists featured in each of  the 7 DEMO Tech Segments - Cloud, Social and Media, Health and Life Science; Clean and Sustaining Tech, Enterprise, Mobile and Read more
» 25 Feb 2010, 9:20 am

Register by 3/1 to become a DEMO VIPDEMO VIP Registration remains open throughout the year... but the comp hotel offer benefit goes away on March 1. Register to become a DEMO VIP and attend both DEMO Spring and DEMO Fall. Read more
» 23 Feb 2010, 12:25 pm

DEMO Spring Preferred Registration deadline extended to 2/12Attend DEMO in 2010 and get involved early with the next round of companies shaping the industry. DEMO's focus on seven sectors: Social and Media, Health and Life Science, Clean and Sustaining Tech, Cloud, Enterprise, Mobile and Consumer has generated interest from hundreds of companies around the world looking to launch at DEMO this spring.  Read more
» 2 Feb 2010, 2:27 pm

DEMO Spring 2010.. 7 key tech verticals to take center stageThe DEMO Spring 2010 class of demonstrators and alphapitch companies is quickly coming together.  Attend DEMO and be there to see the latest innovation across seven different categories, both B2B and B2C, including: Read more
» 25 Jan 2010, 1:44 pm

DEMOfall 09 demonstrator Micello's products now availableThe Micello Indoor Maps application is now available for download on the Apple iTunes store! www.micello.com.  Watch more on how Micello extends Google's navigation to indoor spaces  http://bit.ly/4Sa2A4  Read more
» 25 Jan 2010, 1:38 pm

DEMO Conference, in 20th year, Gets Straight A’s from Participating Technology Start-UpsIn observance of its 20th year as the industry’s premier forum for launching IT-enabled products, DEMO Conference organizers commissioned a survey by BluePoint Venture Marketing of all previous demonstrators to determine the conference’s impact on early-stage companies and gauge company success rates. Over 100 senior executives participated in the survey, and the results revealed that DEMO presenters achieved above-average success rates overall and nearly a quarter were able to obtain funding within one year of presenting. Read more
» 13 Jan 2010, 7:13 pm

Want to launch at DEMO? Join us at an open house at Kleiner PerkinsIf you’re considering launching your company’s product at DEMO conference this year, you’re welcome to join us at an open house at one of Silicon Valley’s most respected venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. On Feb. Read more
» 11 Jan 2010, 10:27 am

DEMO, the event for launching tech products, moves to Bay Area (reminder: Jan. 18 deadline)I’m delighted to announce that DEMO, the conference where key technology companies from Netscape to Salesforce.com have launched their products over the past two decades, is moving to the San Francisco Bay Area for its fall event. Read more
» 5 Jan 2010, 10:18 am

Email helper Liaise (DEMOfall 09) now open for public useLiaise, a startup that shared the top prize at DEMOfall 09 (the technology conference co-produced by VentureBeat), is opening to the public today after a period of private beta testing. Liaise’s plugin for Microsoft Outlook makes email more useful by extracting action items, and the Sunnyvale, Calif company is unveiling some new features today. Liaise sounds useful to me because my email inbox is really the center of my work, but it can often feel like important.. http://demo.venturebeat.com/
» 16 Dec 2009, 1:46 pm

Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing

Google Apps Marketplace Discover, Deploy, and Manage Apps for BusinessApp Stores have been around for a while, but mostly for cell phones, and very few business applications. Google is making a big move into online enterprise applications with the Google Apps Marketplace already stocked with over 50 real business applications. Google Apps boasts 25 million users at more than...
» 10 Mar 2010, 10:05 am

Platform shifts Mainframe to Mini to PC to Mobile. Why leaders fail to make the shiftPlatform shifts happen every decade or so in computing. The leaders of the previous generation are rarely successful in dominating the next generation platform. IBM dominated the mainframe business. They didn’t lose their dominance because another company built a better mainframe. They lost it because the market shifted to a...
» 4 Mar 2010, 7:50 am

From MSFT evangelist to Mac enthusiast - the other side of the roadFor five years I was a Microsoft evangelist to the startup and venture capital community. That ended a couple months ago. I am now a Developer Advocate at Google and I love it. After years of defending Microsoft against the Apple fanatics I decided to go to the other side...
» 2 Feb 2010, 7:50 am

Google Apps announces de-support of IE6Internet Explorer 6.0 launched in August of 2001, more than 8 years ago. Microsoft’s current version is IE 8. Web developers have complained for years about needing to support multiple versions of browsers and the security risks in older browsers. Older browsers don’t support new features, particularly around voice and...
» 1 Feb 2010, 5:30 pm

How Google sets goals and measures successGoogle sets impossible bodacious goals…and then achieves them. The engineering mindset of solving the impossible problem is part of the culture instilled in every group at Google. Tough engineering problems don’t have obvious answers. You need to invent the solution, not just optimize something that exists. Every quarter every group...
» 28 Jan 2010, 7:05 am

SeedCamp European startups visit NYC and Silicon ValleySeedCamp is a European based startup incubator similar to Ycombinator or TechStars here in the USA. Google hosted the top startups from the program in New York City and Silicon Valley this week. Each startup pitched to an audience of VCs, Angels, and startup mentors. Here is a short overview...
» 21 Jan 2010, 3:55 pm

What do Mark Cuban, Dan Farber, Steve Ballmer, and Mary Jo Foley have in common?Doing what you love to do is a special privilege. Many people trudge through life working jobs they don’t like, or in these times, struggling to find a job at all. This week I had the chance to spend time with Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Dan Farber,...
» 21 Jan 2010, 7:00 am

Predictions for 2010 and the new decadeNew Years Day is a time for thinking ahead to a new year and decade. But first, a look back. For me, the Internet started in 1994 with Netscape. I started working with AltaVista in 1996, and with Napster in 1999. My first modern and affordable cell phone was the...
» 4 Jan 2010, 10:33 am

Google vs Microsoft on the browser, cloud, and mobile platformsGoogle is an amazing company, even more so from the inside. To the outside world Google is just search. But Google has made three big bets on the future of computing; Chrome (browser), Google Apps (cloud), and Android (mobile) that will change everything. VentureBeat interviewed me yesterday about my first...
» 18 Dec 2009, 8:06 am

Gmail offline access fully supported, and more cool stuff from Gmail LabsGmail is my new email client after 5 years on Microsoft Outlook. One of the knocks against Gmail was that you couldn’t use it offline. Not anymore. Offline Gmail has been available via Gmail Labs for over a year, and now is a fully supported feature of Gmail. File attachments...
» 15 Dec 2009, 10:11 am

Florida Venture Capital

Help HaitiLike many of you, I've been wondering how best to help the Haiti earthquake victims. The following list (thanks Bro!) makes it easy...Disaster relief organizations are mobilizing to aid Haiti - and are asking for help. Funds are needed to provide enough safe water, temporary shelter and vital medical supplies.UNICEF and Save the Children already have emergency teams in Haiti, and the Red Cross has released $200,000 in disaster funds.You can donate to these groups:- Text Yele. Wyclef Jean is urging donors to text 'Yele' to 501501 and make a $5 contribution to the relief effort over cell phone. Click here to get more information via Wyclef's foundation page.- Text HAITI. For those interesting in helping immediately, simply text "HAITI" to
» 14 Jan 2010, 8:31 am

How to Approach VCsI got a great set of questions from an entrepreneur (Delena) on an earlier post, concerning how to approach, qualify and follow-up with VCs. I've heard these tactical communication questions a bit more often in the past year so I thought I'd expand upon at least one of Delena's questions here.Delena asked "How long should one pursue a [VC] firm?" My first answer is to pursue appropriate investors until you no longer need funding, but the devil's in the details.Chum the Water, Before Baiting a HookYou've seen those deep sea fishing shows, right, where they throw meat out well before casting a line? This is especially true for shark fishing. Well, given how the popular media likes to equate VCs and sharks (think SharkTank), follow that sa
» 10 Dec 2009, 11:10 am

IZEAFest at SeaWorld RecapAfter attending IZEAFest @ SeaWorld last weekend, I was planning to share a summary of the event here. However, I see that Convention News TV has already created a very nice video detailing the event, including clips from speakers such as Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), Aaron Brazell (@technosailor), Rae Hoffman (@sugarrae), and others.IZEA and other attendees did such a good job documenting the event, I'll just share this media feast:IZEAFest video on UStream, Sponzai walk-thru & Murphy/Feldman/Rua interview, IZEAFest video on YouTubeIZEAFest on TwitterIZEAFest on blogsIZEAFest pics on Flickr (remember: these are attendee-generated pics from the conference and after-hours networking...view at your own brain-melting risk) If you remember no
» 9 Oct 2009, 8:16 am

Florida Growth FundEarlier this week I attended a Florida Venture Forum welcome event for the Florida Growth Fund, a $250 million hybrid fund-of-funds managed by Hamilton Lane for the Florida State Board of Administration. A say "hybrid" because the fund has two missions: 1) invest into Florida-focused venture capital funds and 2) invest directly into Florida companies. It's not clear how much of the fund will go into each of those buckets, but their investment amounts per deal/fund are roughly $5-15 million.A couple of the principals from Hamilton Lane spoke at the event, Greg Baty and David Helgerson, and it was very well attended. Both Greg and David are drinking from a firehose at the moment, Florida is a big, diverse geography for venture capital. T
» 2 Oct 2009, 10:24 am

Venture Capital SyndicatesI've written before about how tough markets like this really separate the wheat from the chaff within a company. As if your company were a foxhole, you get to see who stays to fight by your side and who runs to another foxhole with more protection; or worse, who runs away from the fight altogether looking for a safe desk job far from the battlefield.My past posts were more about people within a company, but a similar test of commitment happens within investor syndicates. Most entrepreneurs I've met focus on picking their lead investor, but spend little attention on the long-term strength/weakness of the syndicate that forms around that lead. As an investor that typically leads deals, Inflexion spends considerable time and diligence archi
» 15 Jul 2009, 11:17 am

Dystonia Cure Within Reach for Tyler's HopeI've blogged here before about Tyler's Hope and wanted to share a big day for Tyler and his family. This morning CNN.com posted the video below and TylersHope.org is getting bombarded with people wanting to help find a Dystonia cure. How can you help?1) Watch this video;2) Learn more at TylersHope.org;3) Join the Tyler's Hope Facebook Cause; and4) Help Tyler find a cure by giving and inviting friends to help!Tyler Staab is a classmate of my daughter's and I'd personally appreciate anything you can do to help...Embedded video from CNN Video Let's get to know each other, Join FVB, my venture capital blog community!
» 11 Jun 2009, 11:35 am

When Marketers Collude, Bloggers LoseAs an active investor in social media, I've followed the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) since it's founding by a handful of marketers back in 2004. The growth of marketers in the organization is a testament to the power unlocked by consumer generated content. The core of that power rests with the content creators such as bloggers, podcasters, vloggers and even to the granularity of social network participants. I think WOMMA understands that, but I fear they've been led astray by a minority of marketers who want to dictate payment terms when engaging bloggers. Sure, they want the exposure bloggers can deliver, but they only want to pay bloggers in free markers, coffee mugs, products, trips and passes.Normally the market woul
» 3 Jun 2009, 12:39 pm

Spymaster Game on TwitterAn area I've been digging into lately, Twitter Games, got a boost today with the launch of http://PlaySpymaster.com -- created as a "side project" by the iList team. First impressions are good, quality implementation, but I wonder how the tweet noise will impact users as more games hit the stream. Luckily SpyMaster is early so game-fatique hasn't set in...yet.Strength in the game comes from the size of your "spy ring" so if you'd like to join the fun comment here or follow/@ me on twitter. Let's get to know each other, Join FVB, my venture capital blog community!
» 29 May 2009, 10:44 am

Top Tech Trends 2009 and BeyondRafe's coverage of the Churchill Club Top Tech Trends is worth sharing. Jurvetson's observations about distributed search are very similar to some I've been investigating. For every explicit action people take on the web (e.g. creating a link that GOOG indexes), there are 10X+ implicit actions (e.g. browsing, scrolling, video abandons) that are not being indexed for intelligence today. There are distinct efforts happening within content indexing, social feeds and webmaster analytics (largely implicit action data) that, when combined, will deliver maximum search intelligence. Much of the "Real-time web" excitement around Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook and others still focuses on explicit actions (e.g. status updates), but the best value will
» 21 May 2009, 2:19 pm

NVCA Four Pillar Plan to Restore IPO MarketThe National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) annual meeting kicks off today with a great mix of sessions and speakers. At a policy level, NVCA Chairman Dixon Doll is also announcing a four pillar plan to help increase liquidity via IPOs.Pillar I - Ecosystem Partners: consolidation and attrition has limited the number of mid-tier accounting/legal/i-banking firms who can help smaller companies reach the public markets -- at least at a manageable cost. The NVCA is encouraging a new set of ecosystem participants and partnering with the largest players in the industry to do the job better.Pillar II - Enhanced Liquidity Paths: The NVCA is endorsing alternative distribution between buyers and sellers that grows buyers and their commitment to h
» 29 Apr 2009, 7:13 am

Investor Pitch: Excite, Engage & Exit with the AskI've recently been coaching some entrepreneurs presenting at upcoming investor conferences. It's something I've done for years and still enjoy. I remember the first investor pitches I gave and the first I heard, and can appreciate how "blind" many entrepreneurs are flying when doing their first investor presentation.Although my advice is always tailored to the entrepreneur and company at hand, there is one nugget I try to share with all. Remember the goal of your presentation and don't wander too far from it. In most situations, the goal is to Excite, Engage & Exit with the Ask.Excite: Focus on what is most exciting about you and your business. Don't get bogged down in re-hashing your business plan. If your technology is truly disrupt
» 27 Mar 2009, 11:32 am

Funding Post

Investor Profile: Battery VenturesMurat Bicer, Senior Associate , Battery Ventures Murat joined Battery in 2007 as a Senior Associate focusing on investments in communications infrastructure and enabling technologies. Prior to joining Battery, Murat worked at Mercury Computer Systems where he was responsible for growing Mercury's share in the communications market by managing the development of innovative communications systems and infrastructure solutions. Murat also worked in the financial services group, where he helped investment banks improve the performance of program trading and derivatives pricing applications. Previously, he worked as a software engineer at Intra Information Technologies, a startup company that developed GSM-based mobile transaction devices for fi
» 13 Mar 2010, 4:57 am

Investor Profile: Honda Strategic VenturingPaul Cummings, Principal, Honda Strategic Venturing Paul Cummings is a Principal with Honda Strategic Venturing (HSV), the corporate venture capital arm of Honda Motor Corporation based in Mountain View, California. HSV seeks investment opportunities in technology venture companies to establish the strategic foundation for collaborative partnership both to excel Honda's innovative R&D and to help technology venture companies succeed in Honda's product markets. Prior to joining Honda, Paul held various management positions with an automotive tier 1 supplier; including, positions in mergers and acquisitions, business development and operations for a Japanese partnered joint venture. Paul also worked for Accenture in the Sydney, Australia off
» 13 Mar 2010, 4:57 am

Investor Profile: Altos VenturesHo Nam, General Partner & Co-founder, Altos Ventures Ho Nam is a General Partner and co-founder of Altos Ventures, focusing on investments in the areas of networking, storage and semiconductors. He currently serves as a director of Billeo, Vapro, WhiteHat Security, and Yosemite Technologies and works closely with CrownPeak, Enwisen, and Xignite. Ho led the firm's prior investments in Axis Systems (acquired by Verisity), Evolve Software (EVLV, acquired by Primavera Systems), Inzap, Listen.com (acquired by Real Networks), Nishan Systems (acquired by McDATA), Pixo (acquired by Sun Microsystems), Provato (acquired by I-Many) and Soundpipe (acquired by Comdial). All were deals in which Altos was the lead investor in the seed or first institutio
» 13 Mar 2010, 4:57 am

Investor Profile: Horizon VenturesJohn Hall, Managing Director, Horizon Ventures John Hall has more than 16 years of experience in the venture capital industry . He was a General Partner of Newtek Ventures from 1989 until 1999, when he co-founded Horizon Ventures where he also is a General Partner. Prior to his venture capital career, John had broad experience in senior financial and general management roles over a 20-year period in the pharmaceutical, semiconductor and software industries and was a co-founder of 3 successful software companies. As a venture capitalist, John has been a member of 14 board of directors of both private and public companies and currently serves on the boards of four private companies. He holds a B.S. degree in Accounting and Finance and a
» 13 Mar 2010, 4:57 am

Investor Profile: Sutter Hill VenturesAndy Sheenhan, Managing Director, Sutter Hill Ventures Andy Sheehan focuses his investments on internet software, services and digital media companies. Andy currently is a director of Buzz Media, Inc., Grain Communications Group, Inc., and Yext, Inc. His prior directorships have included, @Road (acquired by Trimble), AllBusiness.com, BakBone Software, Datran Media, Intermix Media and Myspace (acquired by News Corp.) and ReachLocal. Andy joined the firm in 2007 from VantagePoint Venture Partners, where he was a managing director. Previously, he worked at Alex. Brown & Sons and ABS Capital Partners. Andy received his BA from Dartmouth College with a degree in English. He earned his MBA in 1985 from the Wharton School. *Come meet wi
» 13 Mar 2010, 4:57 am

Investor Profile: Altos VenturesBrendon Kim, General Partner and Co-founder, Altos Ventures Brendon Kim is a General Partner and co-founder of Altos Ventures, focusing on investments in the areas of wireless communications and enterprise software. He currently serves as a director of Branders, New Vine Logistics, and Vapro. Brendon has also served as a director of Bluedot Software (acquired by Ambassadors International), Egreetings (EGRT, acquired by American Greetings) and Enwisen. Before joining Altos Ventures in 1996, Brendon was a management consultant at CSC Index. He led executive teams in strategy development, marketing, and re-engineering projects that resulted in dramatic revenue and productivity improvements. His clients included Fortune 500 companies in the t
» 13 Mar 2010, 4:57 am

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Congrats to Siqi and Alex and the Serious Business teamAs announced earlier today, Zynga is acquiring Serious Business. It is a good outcome for everybody. Congrats to Siqi, Alex and the rest of the Serious Business team!
» 11 Feb 2010, 5:02 pm

Interview with Chairman of CrowdstarLast Friday Lazard analyst Colin Sebastian hosted a conference call where he interviewed Peter Relan, Chairman of Crowdstar, one of the newer entrants to the top tier of social games publishers. Here are the Lazard notes from the call, republished with permission from Colin: LCM Online Game forecast On Friday we hosted a conference call with Peter [...]
» 1 Feb 2010, 3:38 pm

Entertainment commerceI’m heading to New York (love Virgin America wifi) to speak at the National Retail Federation’s “Big Show” conference tomorrow. As I’ve said before, I’m really excited about the trend towards shopping as entertainment that we’ve been starting to see recently, epitomized by companies like Gilt and HauteLook. I think we’ll see more models of [...]
» 12 Jan 2010, 6:47 pm

Interview with CEO of Serious BusinessIn December I posted an interview with the CEO of Playdom that Atul Bagga, the gaming analyst at the investment bank ThinkEquity, recently conducted. Atul interviewed the CEO of Serious Business, Siqi Chen. Serious Business is also a Lightspeed portfolio company. The transcript gives some info on Serious Business’ revenue/DAU, conversion rates, demographics, and revenue [...]
» 6 Jan 2010, 4:54 am

Top 5 trends for enterprise cloud computing in 2010by Ravi Mhatre, Lightspeed Venuter Partners Lightspeed has invested across multiple enterprise infrastructure areas  including database virtualization (Delphix), datacenter and cloud infrastructure (AppDynamics, Mulesoft, Optier) and storage virtualization (Fusion I/O, Pliant, Nimble). This year we wanted to profile several important trends that we see emerging for Cloud Computing in 2010: 1. Enterprises move beyond experimentation with the [...]
» 5 Jan 2010, 4:25 pm

2010 Cleantech PredictionsLightspeed has invested across several cleantech areas, including solar (Stion), biofuels (LS9, Solazyme), clean coal (Coaltek), LED lighting (Exclara), and energy storage (Leyden Energy, f/k/a Mobius Power). Peter Nieh and I (Andrew Chung) teamed up again this year to make a few predictions about cleantech in 2010 (see our prior year predictions for 2009 and 2008): 1. [...]
» 18 Dec 2009, 5:00 am

Interview with CEO of PlaydomAtul Bagga, Gaming analyst with ThinkEquity, has published some great research on the social gaming space. He recently published an interview with the CEO of Playdom, John Pleasants. Playdom is a Lightspeed portfolio company and I’ve known John since we worked together at CitySearch in the mid-late 90s. The report requires an account with the [...]
» 16 Dec 2009, 9:31 am

2010 Mobile PredictionsWe continue to be excited about the mobile sector and the opportunities for entrepreneurs to build large companies. The industry has seen the smartphone universe expand dramatically and now no smartphone is complete without an app store. New business models like mobile advertising, which were touted in 2005 and 2006 but failed to live up [...]
» 14 Dec 2009, 2:09 pm

2010 Consumer Internet PredictionsOnce again, Lightspeed is going to go on record and make some predictions for 2010, in the areas of Consumer Internet, Mobile, Cleantech and Enterprise. I am leading off with our 2010 Consumer Internet Predictions, with my partners posting the other predictions coming over the course of the next week or so at the Lightspeed [...]
» 11 Dec 2009, 5:00 am

Test your design intuitionI’m an advocate of A:B testing of all elements of design and copy. However, that doesn’t mean that good design intuition can’t help advance the baseline from which you start your testing. Which Test Won? has a list of real world A:B tests run on different homepages, lead gen pages, search landing pages etc, all with [...]
» 10 Dec 2009, 2:28 pm

LinkedIn VC & PE Q&A

What would you do......What would you do in the following scenario? You were looking for funding, and a member on LinkedIn with lots of big names in his career history said that it was easy and he would do it with ease. Then he asked for an application fee to meet expenses and after doing due diligence you paid him He then wasted three months of your time, with limited communication, and after making firm commitments with progress, suddenly turned out to be lying.
» 13 Mar 2010, 5:40 am

Does anybody know any cases where share issue structured to record premium within distributable reserves?» 11 Mar 2010, 10:03 pm

Ideas wanted on how to complete a financingCompany looking to raise Series A financing. Typical VC/PE model is that they will want about 40-45% of company for the first round. To keep current valuation of the company, a $10M raise is needed. However, actual need is $3M but this won't give the VC/PEs the 40-45%. Any ideas on how to get the $3M and keep current valuation?
» 11 Mar 2010, 4:05 pm

I am looking for venture capital interested in developing renewable energy power plants in developing countrie» 11 Mar 2010, 2:16 pm

How do Angel investors and Venture investors differ?We have a Focus Community member that is looking for some help with this - any insight? http://www.focus.com/questions/small-business/how-do-angel-investors-and-venture-investors-differ/?tfso=3870
» 11 Mar 2010, 11:10 am

Would (angel) investors be interested in investing in starting entrepreneurs, if they could spread the risk be» 10 Mar 2010, 8:06 pm

projeat finance for new establishment of news-paper» 10 Mar 2010, 6:39 pm

What is the benefit of a business case presentation? that's my take on it. What's yours?A business case serves four purposes: it helps the presenter himself think through the project in a systematic, step-by-step manner. It explains to others interested parties why the project should be accepted. It helps potential funding partners understand the economic value of the project. It provides a framework for completion of the project on time and on budget. An effective business case is one that matches the purpose and parameters of the funding that it seeks to attract. In short, an eff ...
» 10 Mar 2010, 3:50 pm

Can you recommend capital allocation books and articles?I am doing some postgrad study on capital allocation. I.e. how companies decide how to allocate their capital to new projects or investments. To help with my reading list I would appreciate your thoughts on good books or articles on this subject.
» 10 Mar 2010, 10:22 am

I'm creating something that currently does not exists on Internet and could potentially change a lot of things» 9 Mar 2010, 11:52 am

Closed Question: Non-Profit Challenges in purchasing computer related servicesI have a non-profit acquaintance that receives funding for specific capital expenses from philanthropists. They receive funding for operational expenses mostly from private donations. With much of the industry moving to software as a service, and network maintenance being an operational expense, what is the best method for a non-profit to move capital funding to operational funding?<br>Clarification added March 9, 2010 9:40 AM: Thanks Jayne, your response really helped. I will work with t ...
» 9 Mar 2010, 8:22 am

Private Equity Hub

peHUB RewindHere's a look at the last week's worth of scoops, data, and analysis from the peHUB team. Catch up on what you missed before it goes behind our paywall... All First Reads | All Second Opinions Joanna Rees Gets an Introduction to San Francisco Voters peHUB Returns To Boston - Shindig on March 31 Is New York's Startup Scene Surpassing Boston's? Not So Fast Spark Capital Backs Postabon New Yorker to Washington: Please Do Away with PE Tax Breaks? The New Dork: An Entrepreneur State of Mind Canada Posed To Scrap Impediment to U.S. Investment Chris Dixon: The Ultimate Founder's Founder Look, Forget the Yacht; Think Camper Trailer He's Back: Dan Rosensweig on Becoming CEO of Chegg - and How He Feels about Yahoo Today Amazon Shrugs i
» 13 Mar 2010, 9:00 am

peHUB Second Opinion 3.12Uh Oh: Will Meg Whitman's investments pose a conflict of interest problem? The former eBay CEO and current Republican gubernatorial candidate has invested in private equity and hedge funds. (Dealbook) Kabletown: It didn't take long for 30 Rock to parody the NBCU merger with Comcast, and last night's episode was excellent. (Dealbook) Is it a sign? Deal rumours are running rampant, particularly in the retail chain arena. As Reformed Broker says, "This market is circulating more rumors than Fleetwood Mac's record company." Cheap Cigars: There was a "who's who" of Wall Street meeting in January to hash out the financial reform that's on the table today. Here's the story behind it. (Reuters) FYI: KKR's NYSE listing values the firm at $7.5 bi
» 12 Mar 2010, 1:50 pm

A Rough Week — and Likely Future — for WiMaxOh, WiMax, why have we sunk so much money into you? That may be what investors in a number of heavily capitalized WiMax startups were asking themselves again earlier this week, when Cisco announced that it’s no longer developing or investing in any WiMax equipment. The move followed the same recent decision by Alcatel Lucent, which has [...]
» 12 Mar 2010, 12:04 pm

PE Debt Watch (Upgrades &amp; Downgrades)As usual, we have a week’s worth of ratings actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies from ratings agencies Moody’s Investors Service. This week Moody’s has some distaste for the Intergraph dividend recap, downgrading the company’s corporate family rating and calling the payment, which increases the company’s leverage by one and a half turns, “aggressive.” Company: HCA Inc. Sponsor: Bain Capital, KKR. Action: Moody's Investors Service assigned a Ba3 rating to the company’s proposed offering of $1.0 billion of first lien senior secured notes due 2020. Moody's also affirmed the existing ratings of HCA, including the B2 corporate family and probability of default ratings. Highlight: "Much like the secured note offerings com
» 12 Mar 2010, 9:59 am

peHUB First ReadHacking America: Wired Profiles Andrew Breitbart. (Wired) Police are the New Tax Collectors: Virginia hands out almost 7000 traffic tickets in one weekend to raise money for the government. (Economic Collapse via Clusterstock) Regret Nothing? John Kay says it's a bit disarming that Warren Buffet and George Soros are the only financiers to take personal responsibility for the financial collapse and bad performance numbers, rather than blaming it on "unprecedented" things like a "perfect storm." (FT) Need Those Soft Skills: If there is anyone in finance right now who feels the pain of lacking "soft skills," its Harry Markopolis. (FINS)
» 12 Mar 2010, 4:00 am

peHUB Second Opinion 3.11Dodd: "We don't need Republicans." (NY Times) Excited for Wall Street 2? Well you'll have to wait. The movie, which was slated to come out in April, has been pushed back to the fall now that it may get invited to Cannes. (Variety) Tricky Tricky: Is the Kabel Deutschland IPO an ambitious IPO or a cunning ploy to smoke out trade buyers? (Reuters) In the weirdest news you'll see today: Wondering what to do with leftover breast milk? This guy decided to make cheese out of it. Just, wow. (Reuters via WSJ) Who Hates Avatar the Most? I felt a little robbed after seeing Avatar (shouldn't it have been Pocahontas II?), but I certainly didn't hate it as much as these whiny mining executives. Reuters reports: "Let me put it this way, my kids saw th
» 11 Mar 2010, 4:41 pm

Amazon Shrugs in ColoradoThe Colorado legislature recently passed a bill (Colorado Bill HB 10-1193) that basically seeks to improve the state’s ability to collect use tax on internet sales. This is a tax that most buyers of the covered products technically should be paying anyway but are rarely collected. Most people think those things they buy online are [...]
» 11 Mar 2010, 3:52 pm

He’s Back: Dan Rosensweig on Becoming CEO of Chegg — and How He Feels about Yahoo TodayUber-executive Dan Rosensweig, 48, has had more lives than most cats. Ten years ago, Rosensweig was still president of Ziff Davis, where he spent a total of 18 years. He then went on to become the chief operating officer of Yahoo; a principal at the private equity firm Quadrangle Group; and the president and CEO of Red Octane, the [...]
» 11 Mar 2010, 3:10 pm

Look, Forget the Yacht; Think Camper TrailerLet’s face it. You’d like to own a cruising yacht but that’s never going to happen because the IPO market isn’t coming back any time soon. Also, you’re not Jim Clark or Larry Ellison. That doesn’t mean you can’t travel in the luxury to which you’d like to become accustomed. Indeed, if you aren’t averse to [...]
» 11 Mar 2010, 1:12 pm

Harbourvest Cleantech FOF Preparing for CloseBoston-based HarbourVest Partners is preparing to hold a final close on its new cleantech fund. The firm has raised $139 million in commitments to date and is waiting to hear on one or two potential commitments before holding a final close, a source familiar with the situation said. Harbourvest launched fundraising just over a year ago with a target of $150 million and hard cap of $250 million. peHUB first flagged the fund in March 2009. The management company, called HarbourVest Cleantech Associates, was formed in April 2008. Harbourvest declined to comment.
» 11 Mar 2010, 11:12 am

TechCrunch

The New Museum Brings Together Seven Artists With Seven Engineers (50 Discount Tickets)What happens when you pair seven visual artists with seven engineers and technologists? The New Museum in New York City is about to find out. An upcoming exhibit called Seven On Seven will put together artists and programmers for one day and tell them to come up with something together. It could be an application, a work of art, a full-blown product, or anything they want. Some of the participating technologists include Delicious founder Joshua Schachter, WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg, former Facebook data dude Jeff Hammerbacher, and Tumblr founder David Karp. The seven pairs of collaborators will present their final project at the New Museum on April 17. We have 50 discount codes good for $100 off the $350 ticket price (just
» 13 Mar 2010, 9:25 am

Rushin’ For Fiber, Baltimore Appoints A “Google Czar”A couple weeks ago, we noted the city of Topeka, Kansas' humorous attempt to get Google's attention: by rebranding their city "Google, Kansas." Why would they do such a thing? Because they want in on Google's fiber action — the search giant's proposed plan to sell 1 gigabit-per-second broadband to consumers. Now Baltimore, Maryland is getting in on the fun as well. The city has appointed a "Google Czar" — yes, that's the actual title — to lobby the company to put Baltimore on the list of cities in the initial trial. Tom Loveland, CEO of a local tech company, Mind Over Machines, has been appointed by Baltimore's mayor to take this exalted, but volunteer position.
» 13 Mar 2010, 9:20 am

An Ecosystem Is Born: Animoto Opens Up APIWe're big fans of Animoto, a website that lets you easily create photo and video slideshows matched to music. The site is constantly innovating its nifty product, most recently adding an iPhone app and the ability to incorporate video. For those not familiar with Animoto, the startup basically allows you to take your images, video and your music and mash them together to create cool videos. What makes the videos cool is the company's technology that renders the pictures so they're in-step with the music you've chosen, adding nice transition effects. This morning, Animoto is opening up its API, allowing partners to now incorporate Animoto's compelling technologies into independent sites The first API that being rolled out for the Animoto P
» 13 Mar 2010, 5:12 am

MySpace’s Mid Level Management Structure Is CrumblingThe problem with all of these people who are walking out the door at MySpace isn't so much the number of them, because MySpace is trying to replace them by hiring more people. It's the fact that the best people are leaving, and taking a lot of the knowledge base with them. Three star senior employees left to go to cross-town startup Gravity, we reported earlier this week. And tonight we've heard that Jeff Webber, the engineering director that oversees the email, instant messaging and other "communications" platforms for MySpace, resigned earlier this week as well to join a startup. He's been at MySpace for nearly three years and was one of the star engineers and leaders, says one source. Other recent departures - VP and General Manager of
» 12 Mar 2010, 9:32 pm

E-Book Readers: Will Secondary Features Win Consumers’ Hearts Or Leave Them Cold?How many e-book readers do you think are out there right now for you to choose from? If you did a little digging, I bet you'd find 50 or so. Maybe 10 really worth checking out. But right now is a bit of a weird period in e-reader history. The Kindle cemented e-readers in the consumer headspace, catapulting them from weirdo alternative technology to mainstream gadget. That's what the iPad threatens to do with tablets — we'll see about that. But the Kindle and the iPad are two important forces in the current e-reader wars; the question, upon the answer of which depends the success of many a device, is whether "bonus" features like second screens and weird form factors in e-readers will be enough to differentiate them from the high-profile d
» 12 Mar 2010, 6:47 pm

MyBrandz: Finally, You Can Find People Who Love Nike, Apple, And Ferrari As Much As You DoEver wanted to tell the world how much you love BMW, Coca-Cola, and any of the other biggest brand names on Earth? Here's your chance: MyBrandz is a new community site that looks to let people talk about their favorite brands with other users, allowing them to share their favorite products, photos, and more. You may remember MyBrandz as the company that convinced a guy to tattoo the YouTube logo to his arm a few months back. My initial reaction to the site was that it was a bit bizarre — is there really an audience of people who want to talk about how much they love these multibillion dollar corporations (many of which couldn't give a hoot about their customers)? And then I remembered the throngs of die-hard Apple fans that police inte
» 12 Mar 2010, 3:50 pm

South Asian Mobile Social Network Mig33 Sending Twice As Many Messages A Day As TwitterMobile social networks have tremendous potential to flourish in developing countries where mobile phone usage trumps internet connectivity. SMS based social networks like SMSGupshup have gained considerable traction in Asia because of this. For example, in India, there is currently a 10 to 1 mobile-to-PC ratio. Mig33, a mobile social network that involves VoIP calls, instant messaging, e-mail, text messaging, and picture sharing, has accumulated 35 million registered users of its service and is growing fast in South Asian markets such as Indonesia and India. Assuming 3 to 10 percent are active on a monthly basis, that would be 1 million to 3.5 million active users. Mig33's users are now sending over 1 million virtual gifts a month, and p
» 12 Mar 2010, 2:02 pm

It’s Hard To Watch The Newsosaurs Turn A Blind Eye To Their Own ExtinctionSometimes it is obvious where the world is headed, but some people and industries become frozen in place and time. They are like the duckbilled dinosaurs happily munching on the still-abundant plants around them when the meteor strikes instead of the small furry mammals underfoot who take cover every day by natural habit. In the print newspaper industry, it's the same story. Everyone wants to wall off the Web and keep grazing on declining ad revenues. A week ago, I wrote a post based on a conversation I had with Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Marc Andreessen in which he made the case that print media companies would be better off shutting down their print operations now ("Burn the boats") and move forward unencumbered into the
» 12 Mar 2010, 11:47 am

Brightkite’s Sneaky Plan To Get Regular Users Into Location: Group TextBrightkite is tricky. Tricky and smart. While larger than most of their location-based rivals with over 2 million users, they know that in the past year they've lost some momentum to the newer check-in services like Foursquare and Gowalla. So they're trying to do something unique to swing momentum back in their favor. Today, at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, Brightkite is unveiling its new Group Text service. It's both a feature on the website and a standalone application in the App Store (it should be available shortly). With it, Brightkite is latching onto one of the most popular and fast growing categories in mobile applications: group texting. Unlike regular text messaging, this type of app allows you to message many people all a
» 12 Mar 2010, 11:41 am

CauseWorld’s New App Melds The Check-In With The Check-OutLast night, we wrote about a CauseWorld teaming up with TechCrunch to provide double karma points during the SXSW festival starting today in Austin, Texas. These points, obtained through checking-in at various locations, can be used to donate to charities through big brands that support the app. It's a great feature, and we hope you'll use it in Austin. What we didn't talk too much about is the app itself that enables it, CauseWorld, which just released a new version of its iPhone app in the App Store. We first covered the app back in December, but now it has been significantly upgraded. One of the core ideas behind the app has always been the intersection of the mobile and physical world (something I've thought a lot about as well). A new
» 12 Mar 2010, 10:30 am

FunMail’s FunTweet Visualizes Twitter Streams With Pretty PicturesWe've written about FunMobility's nifty picture messaging app for the iPhone and Android, called FunMail, that allows users to blasts their text into the application, which then breaks down whatever the user typed for context and places fun graphics with your original text. Now, FunMobility has caught the Twitter bug and is launching FunTweet, a web service which turns any Twitter stream into visual messages that are related to the text. Similar to FunMail, FunTweet will turn text in Tweets into a matching image. On FunTweet's site, you sign in with your Twitter credentials and the service will draw your Tweets from your Twitter homepage feed and display each tweet as a FunMail image on FunTweet. Users can also enter a @UserName, a HashT
» 12 Mar 2010, 9:58 am

Topix VC News

Search and storage startups benefit from explosive gorwth of dataFunny, but just the other day, only two hours after Silicon Valley entrepreneur Eric Gries told me that "Information is becoming too fast and too furious," another Silicon Valley executive used the same F-words to describe the state of the Information Age.
» 13 Mar 2010, 9:23 am

Genetix Pharmaceuticals Secures $35M in Series B FundingGenetix Pharmaceuticals, a leading gene therapy company developing breakthrough treatments for severe genetic disorders, announced today that it has completed a $35 million Series B financing with new investors Third Rock Ventures and Genzyme Ventures joining TVM Capital, Forbion and Easton Capital.
» 13 Mar 2010, 1:04 am

Web stocks still well below their bubble-era highsA certain class of investors might be forgiven for still feeling burned by the dot-com bubble -- even after a decade has passed.
» 12 Mar 2010, 4:53 pm

Open source search startup Lucid Imagination raises $10MLucid Imagination CEO Eric Gries has raised another $10 million for the San Mateo-based open source search startup.
» 12 Mar 2010, 8:45 am

Cambridge startup follows VC money westAfter winning some West Coast venture funding and a spot in Facebook Inc. 's startup incubator program, RunMyErrand Inc.
» 12 Mar 2010, 4:31 am

Qualcomm, others invest $46M in AMECChinese fab tool specialist Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. has closed its Series D financing round by securing $46 million from existing investors.
» 11 Mar 2010, 8:22 pm

LivingSocial Gets $25M for Group BuyingWe know there are lot of entrants in the group deals space - see my recent piece, Groupon and the Wannabes - but now the competitors are seriously bulking up.
» 11 Mar 2010, 4:00 pm

Juniper helps virtualization security vendor Altor raise $10 millionVirtualization security vendor Altor Networks has raised $10 million in a new funding round from investors including Juniper Networks .
» 11 Mar 2010, 11:54 am

Lucid Imagination Secures $10 Million in Series B FundingFunding will be used to accelerate enterprise readiness and adoption of Lucene/Solr search technology, allowing organizations to more easily tap the disruptive power of Lucene/Solr for delivering timely, accurate access to the critical information their customers and employees demand.
» 11 Mar 2010, 7:35 am

Battery Ventures Raises a Fresh $750 MillionThe venture capital industry may be shrinking , but Battery Ventures is growing.
» 10 Mar 2010, 11:16 pm

Psychiatric Solutions shares rise on media report of potential buyout by Bain CapitalShares of Psychiatric Solutions Inc. surged Wednesday after media reports said the mental health hospital operator may be bought out by private-equity firm Bain Capital.
» 10 Mar 2010, 3:06 pm

VC Circle

Citi Deal To Help Apollo Build Up Realty Portfolio In IndiaGlobal private equity house Apollo Management LP may assume control of about seven to eight investments of Citi Property Investors (CPI) in India, on which it is currently holding due diligence. Apollo is in advanced negotiations to take over Citigroup's real estate unit, CPI, with assets worth over $12.5 billion under management globally. In India, this could see some of CPI's key investments passing over to Apollo giving the latter a fairly well-spread real estate portfolio to start with. Among the marquee investments of CPI are $55 million investment in Nitesh Estates, its multiple investments worth over $200 million in New Delhi-based BPTP, $20 million in True Value Homes in Chennai and another $50 million commitment into Gera Developme
» 12 Mar 2010, 4:40 am

Nine Rivers Capital Invests $7M In Global AgriSystemNine Rivers Capital Limited (NRC), an SME-focussed private equity firm, has invested $7 million in New Delhi-based Global AgriSystem Pvt Ltd (GAPL). Along side the investors, the promoters of GAPL have also participated in this funding round. Corporate Finance Associates (CFA) India acted as exclusive advisors to GAPL for this transaction. GAPL is promoted by Ramesh Vangal-backed Katra Group along with Gokul Patnaik, an agriculture supply chain veteran. The company offers procurement, storage, processing and distribution services for fresh fruits & vegetables. It operates six agri-hubs in and plans to expand its footprint to 20+ agri-hubs over the next three years. GAPL recently acquired a company having a brand as well as distribution for
» 12 Mar 2010, 2:43 am

Infrastructure Continues To Be Strong Story On AIMThe Alternative Investment Market (AIM), the junior market of London Stock Exchange, saw the lowest level of fund-raising last year in its 15-year history. This was pretty much in line with the state of IPO markets all over the world. Marcus Stuttard, who was appointed as the head of AIM in April last year, had a busy time last year as “there was much to be handled at home itself.” The exchange saw a lot of action from Indian companies across sectors – real estate, media and commodities – but shareholder activism appears to have played a spoiler. In an interview with VCCircle, Studdard who was recently on a roadshow to India, an economy that is registering positive growths and is attractive to AIM, he talks about investor appetite a
» 11 Mar 2010, 9:28 pm

SingTel Signals Support For Bharti-Zain DealSingapore Telecommunications (SingTel) may help with the funding for Bharti Airtel's $9 billion acquisition of Zain's African assets, a senior SingTel executive said on Friday. SingTel, Southeast Asia's largest telecoms firm that owns 32 percent of Bharti, said the acquisition would be financed by debt, and there was no need for it to inject money directly into its Indian affiliate since the deal would not dilute its stake. "In one way or the other we will be part of the funding, we are a very substantial shareholder of Bharti," the CEO of Singtel's international operations, Lim Chuan Poh, told Reuters in an interview. Bharti and Zain are in exclusive talks until March 25 for the Kuwaiti firm's operations in 15 African countries and have ag
» 11 Mar 2010, 10:51 pm

Rabo Equity Invests $10M In The Global GreenRabo Equity Advisors, an Indian food and agribusiness-focused private equity firm, is investing $10 million in The Global Green Company Ltd, a group company of diversified Avantha Group. The investment is made through Rabo’s $120 million India Agri Business Fund, which makesgrowth funding in food and agribusiness companies in India, said a Rabo Equity statement. India Agri Business Fund has also raised another $20 million commitment from Capvent AG and its affiliates, taking its fund size to $120 million. This is the first investment of the India Agri Business Fund this year. It has earlier invested in edible oil seed company Geepee Agri Pvt Ltd, agri inputs firm Sri Biotech Laboratories and LT Foods and Daawat, both of which are in the r
» 12 Mar 2010, 3:24 am

News Roundup: Danish Co ISS Buys Majority Stake In SDB CiscoDanish Co ISS Buys Majority Stake In SDB Cisco - Integrated Service Solutions (ISS), a Denmark-based facility management company, is acquiring a majority stake in security services firm SDB Cisco for around Rs 150 crore. Chennai-based SDB Cisco is a 60:40 joint venture company between the MAC Group-promoted listed Sicagen India and Singapore-based Certis Cisco. ISS is acquiring MAC's stake in the JV. (Economic Times) Manipal Health To Raise PE - Manipal Health Systems Pvt Ltd, a Bangalore-based healthcare company, is planning to raise private equity for funding expansion. The company is already in talks with some PE firms. It plans to utilise the funds in adding beds and improving services. The company, which currently has a network of 1
» 11 Mar 2010, 8:02 pm

LSE-Listed Infrastructure India Faces Shareholder IreShareholder activism continues to hit overseas listed firms with predominantly India operations. After the cases of Hiranandanis-led Hirco and Trikona Trinity Capital both listed on AIM, LSE-listed Infrastructure India Plc (IIP) is now facing an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) next month that could potentially see the removal of three out of existing four board of directors as proposed by one of its key shareholders, Advance UK. Advance UK, that owns 10.1% stake in IIP, had last December requisitioned a meeting to remove the directors and replace them with two of its own nominees. Advance UK has alleged high overheads with IIP and said the firm should be merged with a large infrastructure company. In addition, it has alleged that the II
» 12 Mar 2010, 2:27 am

Fortis Buying 23.9% In Parkway Holdings For $685MFortis Healthcare Ltd (owned by former promoters of Ranbaxy) is acquiring 23.9% stake in Singapore-based healthcare services firm Parkway Holdings from private equity biggie TPG Capital for around $685 million. The deal apparently has been struck at 14% premium to the value of TPG’s stake as of closing price of Singapore Stock Exchange listed Parkway, as per VCCircle estimates. Other big investors in Parkway include Khazanah Nasional, the sovereign wealth fund of Malaysia, that is the second largest shareholder of Parkway with 23.32% stake. Besides being the first significant overseas acquisition by an Indian firm in the healthcare services space, this deal is also the largest outbound deal by an Indian company since 2008. The big outboun
» 11 Mar 2010, 3:44 am

Concurrent India Buys Stake In Maintenance Firm Kazi AviationConcurrent India Infrastructure Ltd, a Mumbai-based company engaged in construction, power and engineering, is acquiring a majority stake in Kazi Aviation & Travel Services for an undisclosed sum. Kazi, a Chennai-based company, is in the business of ground handling, maintenance and repairing of aircraft, Concurrent India said, in its filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Kazi has operations in five airports including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Apart from the maintenance of aircraft of domestic and international aviation companies, Kazi also supports baggage handling at various airports in India.  Concurrent India stocks were traded at Rs 21.75, up by Rs 0.55 or 2.59% at 1 pm in the Bombay Stock Exchange today. In December quarter, the compa
» 12 Mar 2010, 1:00 am

Vishal Retail Calls Off Merger With Private ArmPromoters of Vishal Retail have withdrawn a proposed merger of their privately-owned company Vishal Water World with the public listed financially stressed retail firm. Vishal Water World, an amusement and water park project based in Kolkata, was proposed to be merged with Vishal Retail. This would, in effect, have pushed up promoter holding in the listed company besides bringing in additional assets to the financially beleaguered company. The merger would have taken promoters stake to 70% level as compared to 62% at present. This development comes at a time when buyout giant TPG is reportedly looking to buy the retail assets of the company instead of picking direct stake in the listed firm. Vishal Retail is yet to give any reason why the m
» 12 Mar 2010, 12:03 am

Spykar Fund-Raise May Trigger Major Stake RejigSpykar Lifestyles Pvt Ltd, makers of homegrown eponymous denim fashion brand, is discussing a fresh round of fund-raise with financial as well as strategic investors. This could pave way for the entry of a new investor with a large shareholding who would continue to back the management structure at the Mumbai-based company, said sources directly familiar with the situation. Spykar, with annualized revenue of around Rs 250 crore, already has Avigo Capital as an investor with around a 40% stake in the firm. This leaves little scope for another fund-raise without divesting majority shares unless Avigo is looking at an exit three years after making its first investment in 2007. Edelweiss Capital has been working on all fund raising options. One
» 11 Mar 2010, 3:56 am

Venture Capital Update

True VenturesInvestor URL: www.trueventures.com True Ventures is a venture capital firm with $350 million under management, the most recent fund having closed in July, 2008. The firm is led by General Partners... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 7:26 pm

Lightspeed Venture PartnersInvestor URL: www.lightspeedvp.com ightspeed Venture Partners is a venture capital firm headquartered on prestigious Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, CA. The also have offices in Israel and China.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 7:15 pm

InterWest PartnersInvestor URL: www.interwest.com InterWest invests an average of about $7 – 15 million over the span of their involvement with each company in their portfolio. They invest in companies through... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 7:13 pm

Focus VenturesInvestor URL: www.focusventures.com Focus Ventures provides expansion stage venture capital for software, communications, and semiconductor companies. They seek companies that have completed initial... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 7:12 pm

Silver Creek VenturesInvestor URL: www.silvercreekfund.com Silver Creek’s investment strategy is to provide resources and guidance to outstanding management teams that are building market-leading companies in the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 7:11 pm

Silver Creek Venturesilver Creek’s investment strategy is to provide resources and guidance to outstanding management teams that are building market-leading companies in the information technology arena. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 7:10 pm

Mesirow FinancialMesirow Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1937, they are a primarily employee-owned, private company with more than 1,100 employees in offices... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 6:57 pm

Lightspeed Venture PartnersLightspeed Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital firm that manages over $2 billion of capital commitments. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 6:39 pm

InterWest PartnersInterWest invests an average of about $7 - 15 million over the span of their involvement with each company in their portfolio. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 6:22 pm

Pivot3Pivot3 was founded in 2003 on the idea that a revolutionary scale-out architecture would deliver large-scale, high-bandwidth storage using off-the-shelf hardware components combined with specialized... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
» 3 Mar 2010, 6:07 pm

Venture Woods

That’s when you know a startup has made it!Hilarious!
» 9 Mar 2010, 9:41 pm

Rs. 18000 crore broadband push - is this in the right direction?ToI reports a 18000 crore broadband push by government to improve broadband access to every gram panchayat. While the initiative is welcome, it raises several questions: Investing versus creating an environment to invest: Government spending at such massive scale has been shown to be inefficient over and over again. What are the incentives that the government [...]
» 5 Mar 2010, 1:45 am

IIT Kanpur Golden Jubilee Initiative: The Next50 Global Innovation ChallengeThe Next50 Global Innovation Challenge is an IIT Kanpur Golden Jubilee Alumni Initiative to identify 50 early stage innovators in Agriculture, Cleantech, Financial Inclusion, Education and Technology, who can change the way we work and live. Innovators stand to win awesome cash awards, named prizes and access an exclusive ecosystem of mentoring, business support and funding [...]
» 5 Mar 2010, 1:00 am

UnPluGGd – The Event for EntrepreneursAh well, before you ask me, why another startup event?, here is the core philosophy behind the event: Focus on Business – Over the last three years, we all have seen great products not going anywhere. Some of the companies who became the next hype, are now figuring out the survival route. Ofcourse, [...]
» 25 Feb 2010, 1:24 am

Morpheus announces dates for next batch. To invest 5 L per startupIts really good to see a bunch of active initiatives and discussions around providing support to the young entrepreneurs who are just getting started. The Morpheus (previously known as, Morpheus Venture Partners) is one such initiative. The Morpheus is a business accelerator and we work with companies at idea / early stage. Thus far in our [...]
» 23 Feb 2010, 11:59 am

DreamCatchers! Call to ActionI am very grateful to you all for the response to my previous article: Funding for Real Innovation in India ! Unavailable. Many of you wrote to me as well as extended action/offers to the DCE AUV team. What was however in my opinion the best outcome, happened right in the beginning: Bharat (Delhi/VIN Industries) [...]
» 22 Feb 2010, 9:02 pm

GrowVC - community angel investingInteresting concept here - www.growvc.com - entrepreneurs can now raise money from the community, kiva style. And they can invest their money into other startups to diversify their risk. With some strong on-ground facilitation (and an incentive model for the same) this can work… Thoughts?
» 15 Feb 2010, 3:28 am

Building the Green Entrepreneurial Ecosystem city by Indian city“The nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy. “ This is what President Obama said in his recent State of the Union address. Building the clean energy economy is not easy. Entrepreneurs have to start building businesses, investors will have to understanding them and professionals will [...]
» 3 Feb 2010, 2:12 am

IBF Media event on Cloud ComputingIBF Media, through Capital Connection, is organising an event around Cloud Computing on February 25, 2010 at Ista Hotel, Bangalore The Latest Trends in Cloud Computing: An Operators and Investors Perspective This event showcases some of the latest trends in cloud computing and looks at some of the successful business models and companies in this emerging technology [...]
» 26 Jan 2010, 11:39 pm

Sneak Preview: Proto.in Mumbai - January 30th, IIT BombayLike any Start-up before it’s big release, we at the Team Proto have been extremely busy with the big event which is coming to town. As some of you should be aware, Proto.in is taking place on the 30th of Jan in IIT Bombay. For Start-ups, Investors and the Audience alike, we have an action [...]
» 26 Jan 2010, 7:55 am