Good week for app directories: OneForty raising $2.4M
Applications have been a hot ticket to venture funding this week. Two directory-style startups landed cash to help users navigate the thousands of different apps for iPhone and Twitter. Not a new concept, we recently spotlighted several different companies that focused on leveraging social data to make recommendations for iPhone apps.
The most recent to raise funds is Boston-based OneForty, a Twitter application directory, secured $1.6 million that appears to be lead by Flybridge Capital … Continue Reading
iPhone beats Droid in Manhattan speed tests
Note to New Yorkers: Carry your new Droid phone to Wall Street, Grand Central Terminal, Union Square, or Madison Square Park, and you may find AT&T iPhone users — the ones who are always complaining — are actually downloading data at four times the speed of your Verizon phone.
A new report from mid-market investment banking firm Piper Jaffray rebuts the notion that the new Verizon Droid phone gives better service than AT&T’s iPhones. The … Continue Reading
Quantivo lands $4.6M for business intelligence software
Quantivo, maker of software packages that dissect customer behavior and trends, and make recommendations for how to derive revenue from market shifts, has brought in $4.6 million in notes and warrants, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in San Mateo, Calif., the company is backed by Partech International and Foundation Capital.… Continue Reading
Oclaro buys optical networking supplier Xtellus
Oclaro, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of optical and laser components for a variety of applications has swallowed smaller competitor Xtellus for $33 million in stock, with another $7 million on the way if Oclaro’s stock price falls, and if New Jersey-based Xtellus hits a revenue target of $17 million.
As a public company, Oclaro has clear advantage in a market where customers want to work with the most solid and established player. This attitude … Continue Reading
Future of Funding: An event about the brave new VC world (tickets here)
The venture capital industry we’ve known for the past decade is fading away, and a bunch of question marks hover over its future.
I’m pleased to announce that VentureBeat is partnering with the Founder Institute to kick off an event called Future of Funding, designed specifically to help address these questions.
Here’s the context: The number of VC firms is dwindling, and the amount they’re investing has declined, but that cash is the life-blood of … Continue Reading
Rdio is ready for the App Store—but not for users
There’s been much secretiveness surrounding the new startup Rdio, who many expect to take a revolutionary tack in the online, subscription-based music world. Though the company’s still in private beta testing, and is short on providing details, the startup has just launched an iPhone app that gives a first glance at what Rdio might actually do.
When the founders of Kazaa, Skype, and Joost do something these days, the tech world tends to take notice. … Continue Reading
Running a startup in London? Check out White Bear Yard
At the Le Web conference in Paris last week, there was a debate about whether a bright moment for tech startups in London had passed. The Bebo and Last.fm acquisitions happened almost two years ago, and several of the startups from the “Silicon Roundabout,” an area around Old Street in the East, have moved on. Travel social network Dopplr relocated to Berlin after the Nokia acquisition, for one.
But London, as always, is reinventing itself … Continue Reading
5 o'clock roundup: AT&T's thrifty network spending, Bit.ly's new video site
Updated
Here’s the latest action:
AT&T has cut spending on network construction since the iPhone’s launch — Everyone likes to rag on AT&T for the badness of its cellular network and data service, and these charts probably won’t help. The company’s usual response is that it’s doing the best it can to meet high demand, and things will get better next year, and anyway most of the usage is coming from a few data hogs. … Continue Reading
DiscoveryBeat videos: The masters explain how to get your app noticed
We’re pleased to present the videos of our DiscoveryBeat panel sessions that took place on Dec. 8.
They’re a good way to learn from some of the smartest minds about how to get your application noticed in an age of noise. With more than 100,000 apps on the iPhone and 500,000 apps on Facebook, it’s a huge challenge.
To succeed, it might seem you have to schmooze Apple executives at private barbecues to get featured … Continue Reading
Facebook readies its Game Dashboard to organize your social gaming life
Facebook is in the midst of redesigning how users find, interact with, and keep track of games on the social network. Called the “Game Dashboard,” the new feature is Facebook’s attempt to play nice with social game developers, serve the interests of gamers, and at the same time stop games from ruining the experience for everybody else.
The company is reining in the worst abuses of Facebook game companies, which have polluted the network’s communications … Continue Reading
The secret history of Silicon Valley (video)
Despite what today’s young entrepreneurs might think, Silicon Valley didn’t launch with the Internet – or even Steve Jobs. It goes back to the World War II days. Serial entrepreneur Steve Blank has given talks on the evolution of the Valley to both the CIA’s Venture Capital firm In-Q-Tel and the American Business Associaton of Russian Speaking Professionals.
His full lecture is below – and we’ll warn you, it’s a lot longer than the usual … Continue Reading
Android closes in on iPhone ad traffic in AdMob's latest report
Google’s open-source Android operating system accounted for more than one in four of the smartphone ads served in November by AdMob, the mobile ad network that Google agreed to buy for $750 million six weeks ago. That’s up from 20 percent in October.
That means Apple’s iPhone, which seemed untouchable only a few months ago, has a fast-rising competitor. Apple’s share of ad requests is twice as big — 55% — but Android traffic is … Continue Reading
Knowledge Networks buys Caduceus to expand biotech research
Knowledge Networks, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based provider of market research and media planning services, announced that it acquired Caduceus Marketing Research, a firm exclusively geared toward health care and pharmaceutical research.
Knowledge is backed by Alloy Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, Oak Investment Partners, Maveron and Oak Hill Venture Partners.… Continue Reading
Quantenna funnels $4.5M into wireless video chips
Quantenna Communications, maker of chips used for wireless video services in the home, has raised $4.5 million of a targeted $15 million fourth round of venture funding, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Fremont, Calif., it is backed by Grazia Equity, Sequoia Capital, Sigma Partners, Southern Cross Venture Partners, Swisscom, Venrock and TPG Ventures.… Continue Reading
Bella Pictures takes $10.3M for wedding photography
Bella Pictures, a wedding photography firm, has raised $10.3 million in equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in San Francisco, it is backed by Angels’ Forum, Foundation Capial and TPG Ventures.… Continue Reading
RelTel captures $1M to analyze surveillance video
RelTel, maker of software used to break down and analyze footage caught by surveillance cameras, has brought in $1 million in a seed round, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in San Francisco, the company targets restaurants, shops and other commercial spaces. The new funding came from eonBusiness, FF Angels, Hyde Park Angels, Maples Investments, Zelkova Ventures and SoftTech VC.… Continue Reading
First Solar looks to bright 2010 — does that go for the rest of the industry?
First Solar (FSLR.O), the world’s largest manufacturer of thin-film solar modules based in Tempe, Ariz., has been very vocal about its positive outlook for the next year, especially with its investors. But is its optimism merited? And if so, do others in the solar industry have a watershed year to look forward to as well?
The company says it expects revenue between $2.7 and $2.9 billion in 2010, which exceeds industry watchdog predictions of $2.4 … Continue Reading
BMW debuts green ActiveE, giving EV consumers more choice
BMW is entering the green space in a big way. At the Detroit Auto Show, it’s debuting its electric Concept ActiveE. Initially launching as a limited lease program, the production version is expected to debut at the Paris auto show in September. Initial leasing of the green bimmer is expected to begin in North America by late 2010.
Production models are expected be priced somewhere between the high-end Tesla Roadster and more everyday Nissan Leaf … Continue Reading
Twitter is down; is the 'Iranian Cyber Army' responsible?
[Update: Twitter is back up. For now, the company is only saying, "Twitter's DNS records were temporarily compromised tonight but have now been fixed."]
Twitter is down right now (it’s 10:45 p.m. Pacific Time as I hit publish), and it may not be the standard technical hiccup that the site experiences once in a while.
When I try to connect to the site, I get an error message from my browser (not the infamous … Continue Reading
Inertia Beverage takes wine direct-to-market with new $14M
Inertia Beverage Group, host of an online wine marketplace facilitating direct sales and trades between wineries and consumers, has brought in $14 million in a new round of venture capital to strengthen its core offerings and give competitors like Vinfolio a run for their money.
Now’s not a great time for winemakers. Even with the holidays coming up, the poor economy has put a pinch on discretionary spending, hurting sales of even mid-level brands. This … Continue Reading
