Life sciences venture firm InCube Ventures has launched an equity crowdfunding site for biomedical technology companies at all stages. Read more »
Google Ventures is looking to become one of the top-tier VC firms in Silicon Valley, and hiring high-profile partners is part of the path to the top. Read more »
Venture capitalists are seeing all the headlines about cyberattacks, and they’re moving quickly to fund security startups that could solve problems. Read more »
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 at GigaOM Pro »
Accel Partners will be adding a new partner to the firm, bringing former Groupon President and COO Rob Solomon into the firm that was an early investor in Facebook and other web companies. Read more »
TechStars Chicago, formerly Excelerate Labs, has announced its inaugural class of startups. Read more »
With its team nearly doubled, Tandem plans to invest in more early-stage startups in more places while still maintaining its focus on mobile. Read more »
While hype persists around software-defined networking, venture capitalists are looking for more SDN startups to fund. The hype could dissipate and enterprise adoption could come in 2014 or 2015, so founders have time. Read more »
For online media companies, social platforms like Facebook and Twitter bring many opportunities as well as risks. An intelligent and proactive social media strategy can expand a brand’s reach. But the more heavily a media company relies upon a social media platform the more it relinquishes control over the customer experience. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Foursquare said Thursday it has raised $41 million to expand its location-based service, but the financing is convertible debt rather than equity, which increases the pressure on the company to prove it has a real business. Read more »
Quantance has gone back to its investors for a $12 million Series D, which it plans to use to bring its envelope tracking chip to market. The technology promises significant gains in LTE device battery life. Read more »
The first quarter of cleantech was a mix of good and bad news. Avis’ purchase of Zipcar and Silver Spring Networks’ long-awaited IPO finally occurring were further signs of thawing capital markets and movement in the acquisition space. However, in both situations valuations were lower than hoped, a sign of how investors view cleantech. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
A montly look at where in health tech investors put their money. Read more »
Venture capitalists have been putting more money behind enterprise startups than consumer-facing startups in recent years. VCs expect the trend to last for some time. Read more »
FundersClub, a website that lets investors back start-ups for as little as $1000, cleared an important regulatory hurdle when the SEC said its model is legal, in part because it is consistent with the Jobs Act. Read more »
500 Startups has named a new partner and has opened an office in New York, and has plans to add a San Francisco office in the future. Read more »
One Medical Group, a San Francisco-based medical practice aiming to use technology to bring concierge-style medicine has raised $30 million in a round lead by Google Ventures. Read more »
Last month, total funding in digital health may have been down, but deal volume was up. Take a look at a graphic showing some investment highlights from February in health tech. Read more »
CreativeLIVE, a Seattle-based provider of online skill-focused classes, has raised a small amount of funding from big name Hollywood agencies Creative Artists Agency and William Morris Endeavor, as well as Google Ventures and the Crunchfund. Read more »
Neo Innovation, a web development and product design firm, has created an investment fund targeting startups that demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the “Lean Startup” principles. Read more »
Fresh off portfolio company Intucell’s $475 million exit, Bessemer Venture Partners’ Bob Goodman is on the hunt for new mobile infrastructure startups. At the wireless industry’s biggest event, Mobile World Congress, he’ll find plenty to choose from. Read more »
Venture capitalists made more big data investments than ever before in 2012, and a few more deals have already closed in 2013. Entrepreneurs from several venture-backed data startups will speak at Structure:Data next month. Read more »
Can New York City be a major-league player in tech without a high profile IPO? City advocates think so, and point to the city’s “dash tech” and recent success versus other hubs Read more »
This week, Kaplan and Pearson both announced their own accelerators for ed tech startups. Their announcements comes on the heels of launches by two other ed tech accelerators. Read more »
After a year of building up its network and creating its curriculum, ed tech accelerator Socratic Labs this week debuted its first cohort of startups. Read more »
For the past few years, Palo Alto-based ImagineK12 has run a startup accelerator exclusively for education technology entrepreneurs. But Socratic Labs and LearnLaunchX are bringing similar models east. Read more »
TechStars, the national startup accelerator program based in Boulder, Colo., is partnering with Chicago’s Excelerate Labs to create the rebranded TechStars Chicago. Read more »
Eugene Chung, a former venture capitalist with New Enterprise Associates, is the new managing director of TechStars NYC. In a blog post Thursday, TechStars founder and CEO David Cohen said Chung had been selected to replace David Tisch, who stepped down last August. Read more »
GAIN Fitness, a San Francisco-based startup backed by InterWest Partners, former Square COO Keith Rabois and Practice Fusion co-founder Matthew Douglass, is launching a new marketplace of workout apps from top trainers. Read more »
Google Ventures-backed MindSumo, a marketplace that helps companies recruit college students and generate new ideas through real-world competitions, has launched in public beta with clients including Facebook, Chegg and Microsoft. Read more »
According to venture capital database, CB Insights, education technology companies raised a total of $1.1 billion in 2012, with about one-third of the funding going to about ten companies. Read more »
How did venture capital stack up in 2012 compared to 2011? A new report taking a look at all VC investments for the past year breaks down some of the trends, noting overall decreases in funding but a few areas that did well. Read more »
Redpoint Ventures has raised a $400 million new fund to invest in early-stage startups, specifically in the areas of mobile and cloud technology, big data, entertainment technology and delivery, and mobile infrastructure companies. Read more »
Software-defined networking holds a lot of promise for better network security, so it’s no surprise the vArmour Networks, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup, has scored $6 million in Series A funding to make that promise a reality. We’re just not sure how yet. Read more »
Corporate giant GE appears to be taking a greater interest in early stage digital health startups. On Tuesday, the company’s $6 billion health care initiative, Healthymagination, announced a three-year program with Startup Health to support health entrepreneurs. Read more »
According to health tech accelerator Rock Health, investors poured $1.4 billion into digital health companies last year, which is up 45 percent from 2011. The major areas of interest include healthcare purchasing tools for consumers, personal health tracking, Electronic Medical records and hospital administration. Read more »
Reddit, the online community that gained fame last year for a Q&A with President Obama, is said to be raising venture funding that could value the company at $400 million — and would give it ammunition to compete with other new-media players such as BuzzFeed and Tumblr. Read more at paidContent »
Preparing to compete with on-demand car service Uber, London-based Hailo is reportedly raising $30 million in a round of venture financing that could value the startup at $140 million. Read more »
Every VC firm has its own way of evaluating potential investments. Remmy Oxley, an anonymous VC, says that Moneyball-style methods are the next step, and reveals his firm’s algorithm for screening candidates. Read more »
SecondMarket, the New York-based online platform for trading shares in privately-held companies, on Wednesday announced that it is partnering with AngelList to enable qualified investors on its site to invest amounts starting at $5,000 or less in early stage tech startups. Read more »
