The idea of the “lean startup,” where young companies make use of readily available tools and quick iteration to figure out their business without spending much money, might be trendy, but VC Ben Horowitz is not a fan. Today he debated lean startup proponent Fred Wilson. Read More »
NYT Startups
Y Combinator is capitalizing on its formidable momentum to raise an $8.25 million fund for its startup program. Meanwhile, it said today that 74 percent of the 27 companies from its latest class are either profitable or have received commitments for outside funding. Read More »
Tweetdeck, a London-based startup that builds software to consume rapidly updating information streams, has raised $3 million in funding in what is an internal round, according to John Borthwick, co-founder of Betaworks. With this Series B round, the company has raised a total of $3.5 million. Read More »
Asking potential customers to buy a mobile app instead of a free one is a huge mistake, said investors on a panel at Google I/O about the freemium business model, where companies give their product away for free and charge for premium features and services. Read More »
Blip.tv has raised a $10.1 million round of financing aimed at rapidly growing its business for the distribution and monetization of web video shows. The funding round, which is the company’s third, was led by Canaan Partners and included existing investors Bain Capital Ventures. Read More »
SimpleGeo, the impeccably timed geo-location infrastructure startup, has raised a $8.14 million Series A. And at only a year old, it’s remarkable how quickly SimpleGeo has been able to capitalize on the excitement around geo-location technology and be recognized as a thought leader in the space. Read More »
Were you thinking to yourself, “What I really need is another way to share what I’ve bought with my friends?” You’re not alone! At least I hope you’re not alone, given a useful social web service requires a healthy network of people to support it. Read More »
Booyah, which makes the location-based mobile gaming app MyTown, has raised $20 million in a round led by Accel Partners and including Kleiner Perkins and DAG Ventures. The company also added Accel’s Jim Breyer, well-known for being a Facebook board member, to its own board. Read More »
Etacts, which makes useful tools for managing email and phone contacts, has raised $650,000 in angel funding. The two-man Etacts team has been busy since completing the Y Combinator program, adding features at a rapid clip and closing a round from well-respected investors. Read More »
Seed-stage investing is where it’s at these days. If you’re starting an Internet company with the slightest bit of potential, funders are probably already knocking on your door. Now comes word that three East Coast VCs focused on the web are forming another early-stage fund. Read More »
Technology companies have a wad of cash burning a hole in their pockets and in the last few weeks haven’t been shy about spending it acquiring venture-backed startups. In last week 15 startups were acquired, according to data cited by the Wall Street Journal. Read More »
Mig33, a mobile social service with 34 million members, in October of 2009 decided to shift its center of gravity to where its customers were: Asia. It also went from selling voice minutes to social games and virtual goods. The moves seem to be paying off. Read More »
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