Electric car startup Fisker Automotive, along with its plug-in sports car, is turning out to be one of the worst venture capital bets of all time. We asked GigaOM readers a variety of questions about what they think will happen to Fisker and what they think will be the broader implications of and lessons learned from Fisker’s high-profile crash and burn. Here are the results. Read more »
Silver Lake is doubling down on digital media by bringing on Dave Habiger as a Senior Advisor. Habiger most recently served as the CEO of NDS and before that led the digital movie download provider Sonic Solutions. Read more at paidContent »
Publishing giant McGraw-Hill has announced that it will sell its education division to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $2.5 billion. The news comes months after the publishing company said it would split its education and financial services units. Read more »
After leading two international carriers, Sol Trujillo might be coming home. According to Bloomberg, Trujillo is looking to buy T-Mobile USA with the help of private equity. So far he’s hit roadblocks, but if he’s successful he would certainly shake things up at the ailing carrier. Read more »
Realtime’s technology lets developers insert code into their web sites that creates an open pathway direct to their servers. The net result is a user doesn’t have to refresh the browser for updates. Think of it as an IM connection for elements of a web server. Read more »
A new competition is trying to tempt more startups to London with a £1m booty. But it turns out the “prize” is actually a cash-for-equity investment on terms that are yet to be decided — and from an individual whose identity is being kept secret. Read more »
European online food delivery service Just-Eat plans to consolidate its position as the industry’s global leader with a bumper new round of funding led by private equity group Vitruvian. And that means more expansion and more acquisition. Read more »
At just 2.5 years old, Andreessen Horowitz, the VC firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, has become a tech industry institution with holdings in Facebook, Twitter, and more. GigaOM talked with Andreessen to get his thoughts on Silicon Valley and the larger tech landscape. Read more »
Jeff Clavier’s SoftTech VC has closed investment on its third fund at $55 million, making Fund III its biggest fund yet.
Clavier talked to GigaOM about why SoftTech decided to go so big, how the new cash will be invested, and the larger tech industry landscape. Read more »
If you thought 2011 seemed like a big year for web startup funding, you were absolutely right. According to the latest MoneyTree report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, 2011 saw the highest level of VC investment in Internet companies over the past decade. Read more »
Fewer venture firms raised more money during 2011. A smaller industry with more money, plus an active angel community that can put money in early stage deals, means entrepreneurs are likely to face the biggest fundraising challenge at the Series B round. Read more »
Controversy in Northern Ireland after an investigative reporter uncovered the criminal background of a prominent new business investor — a revelation which has led to a series of critical questions about his activities and relationship with the region’s startups. Read more »
There’s been a storm over Skype’s private equity investors and their treatment of stock options, but is that storm a remnant of Silicon Valley’s cash-rich, founder-happy culture? Evidence from elsewhere would suggest that entrepreneurs just don’t know how good they’ve been getting it. Read more »
Here’s how many renewable-energy startups envision their road to success: Raise venture-capital financing, prove their technologies in pilot and demonstration projects, secure project financing to build full-scale plants, build them and then enjoy all the profit rolling in. But even well-funded venture-backed startups are running into […] Read more »
