VentureBeat

DEMO application deadline is today; meetup at Accel Partners

Today is the deadline for applications to the upcoming DEMO conference. We’ve got some truly pathbreaking companies launching this Spring and can’t wait to reveal them on stage at Palm Springs March 22 and 23.

We’ll be finalizing the list of accepted companies shortly. In the meantime, we’re holding several events next week for qualified companies to help them get networked and prepared. Today we’re announcing a cocktail event at Accel Partners. Details follow:

Cocktails... Continue Reading

Glam raises $50M at whopping value of $750M, prepares IPO

Glam Media, the fast-growing online media company catering to mostly women, has raised another $50 million from investors — to help it expand before going public over sometime in the next one to three years. More impressively, the company is now valued at $750 million by its investors.

I spoke to chief executive Samir Arora earlier today, and he confirmed the financing amount, including many of the details surrounding the company’s business. Notably, the company... Continue Reading

DEMO update: Get your applications in by Feb 5., meet more investors

We’ve extended the deadline for applications to the upcoming DEMO conference to Feb. 5.

With the next DEMO coming up soon — March 21-23 at the sunny resort town of Palm Springs, Calif. — we’ve been engulfed with applications from companies wanting to launch solid products. Several promising companies have asked us for more time, so we’ve extended the deadline.

We’ve also had an open house scheduled at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins on Feb... Continue Reading

VentureBeat is hiring in advertising, sales and more

VentureBeat continues to grow, and has an another ambitious year planned.  We’re looking for key people to help us manage our growth.

You’ll get to work one of the most influential business blogs — with syndication across outlets like the New York Times. VentureBeat also hosts exciting events on the most disruptive technologies of the day, including DEMO (the leading launchpad for emerging technology products), MobileBeat, GamesBeat, GreenBeat and DiscoveryBeat.

Here are our two most pressing openings:... Continue Reading

Want to launch at DEMO? Join us at an open house at Kleiner Perkins

If 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. 3 and 4, at KPCB’s offices at 2750 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, we’ll be taking meetings with up to 20 companies considering launching products at DEMO. Whether you’re contemplating a launch at the upcoming March 21-23... Continue Reading

How Jajah, a little phone company, sold for $207M while everyone else got killed

Two weeks ago, the Spanish phone giant Telefonica said it had acquired Internet phone company Jajah for $207 million in cash. That’s an excellent return for Silicon Valley-based Jajah, considering its investors put in only $33 million and it launched a little more than four years before.

In interviews with several employees, former employees and other observers, I asked how the Mountain View, Calif. company managed to succeed even as a host of other VoIP... Continue Reading

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.

This is a major move for DEMO, which has been hosted outside of the Bay Area for its entire history. As the new executive producer of DEMO, I’ve been seeking ways to make DEMO even more relevant and... Continue Reading

Nuance buys voice-to-text company Spinvox for $102.5 million

Nuance has confirmed the story VentureBeat broke earlier this morning, that it has acquired voice-to-text company SpinVox for $102 million. Of that, $66 million will be in cash, the rest in stock. The company said it was buying Spinvox to expand the voice-to-text part of its speech-recognition business.

In its statement, Nuance said it would integrate SpinVox’s technology, which is used by several international telecom carriers, into its speech recognition service offerings. Nuance has a... Continue Reading

Voice-to-text company Spinvox to announce sale to Nuance, source says [confirmed]

[This is confirmed: Spinvox just announced a sale to Nuance in a blog post, and in a press release. The price is $102.5 million, comprising $66 million in cash and $36.5 million in common stock..]

Spinvox, the London company that lets you translate your voice into text messages, could announce its sale today, according to a VentureBeat source close to the company who requested anonymity.

We’ve called Spinvox for official comment. We reached Simon Crowfoot,... Continue Reading

VentureBeat is hiring! We seek an ad ops manager and a director of advertising sales

VentureBeat is still hiring.

Consider working for one of the most influential business blogs — with syndication across outlets like the New York Times — that also hosts exciting events to debate the most disruptive technologies of the day, including DEMO (the leading launchpad event for emerging technology products), MobileBeat, GamesBeat and most recently GreenBeat.

In addition to hiring writers (contact me), we’re also looking to fill the following two positions (email us here):

Manager,... Continue Reading

Language learning site Livemocha keeps growing — gets $8M boost

Livemocha, the fast-growing site that lets people learn other languages for free — by matching them up with other native speakers online — has raised $8 million more in a second round of funding.

The Bellevue, Washington company is shaking up what its investors say is a $83 billion market worldwide. It’s the first of a bunch of new companies that have emerged recently to teach people foreign languages online, including Myngle, Italki and Yappr.... Continue Reading

Rumor: 02 is buying Israel’s Jajah for $200M — but we hear it’s not done

Internet telephone company Jajah, one of a host of companies that allow users to make international phone calls cheaply over the Internet, will be acquired for about $200 million by the large Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica’s mobile division, O2, this week, according to a report in the Israeli financial news site TheMarker Sunday.

We reached Jajah’s chief executive Trevor Healy tonight, and he declined comment. However, a source suggested the deal, if there is... Continue Reading

Chinese video website Youku raises $40M more, furthering arms race

Youku.com, one of the largest and fastest growing Chinese video websites, said Sunday evening it has raised $40 million in its latest round of funding and signaled that it expects to raise up to $40 million more before the round is over.

We’ve written about the race between the big three Chinese video sites, which include front-runners Youku and Tudou, and third-place 56.com. Youku was founded three years ago, but has grown quickly to rival... 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

DEMO & VentureBeat head to Atlanta, a city that punches above its weight

I’m traveling to Atlanta tomorrow, in the lastest trip I’m making to major cities to meet with local start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Atlanta gets overlooked as a technology and business center. While it’s a small city — at only the 33rd largest in the nation — it has the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies headquartered within its borders.

And there are reasons why entrepreneurship should percolate well here going forward. There’s Georgia Tech, its... Continue Reading

VentureBeat Job Board relaunches – check out these coupons, prizes and referral rewards

I’m delighted to announce the relaunch of our VentureBeat Job Board.

Lots of people are looking for jobs right now, and there are plenty of Silicon Valley companies looking to hire.

So we’re looking to serve our readership with a specialized job board targeted at them. The job board now features a better selection of relevant technology, business development and marketing jobs, useful new features, and more flexible posting options. We’ll be looking to make it even... Continue Reading

DEMO and VentureBeat arrive in Austin for a reason — great tech companies

I’ve just arrived in Austin, Texas, and look forward to meeting local entrepreneurs.

I was here just five months ago (see pics of that event), and there’s a good reason why I’m returning. Austin may be merely the 16th-largest city in the U.S., but after Silicon Valley there are almost no other high-tech regions that rival its prowess.

Austin is just the latest in a bunch of stops we’re making to major entrepreneurial cities, on the... Continue Reading

DEMO and VentureBeat come to New York Thursday; looking for bold ideas

New York, here we come!

This is just the latest in a bunch of stops we’re making to major entrepreneurial cities, on the prowl for the most promising technology products we can find to showcase at the upcoming DEMO conference in Palm Springs, Calif.

On Thursday, we’ll be at New York’s 3 Ten Lounge. The first hundred people to show up will receive a free drink. Join me, local entrepreneurs, investors, startup professionals, and DEMO... Continue Reading

DEMO and VentureBeat come to Seattle Thursday; see you at the bar

I’m hitting the road to visit major entrepreneur cities, on the prowl for the most promising technology products that I can find to showcase at the upcoming DEMO conference in Palm Springs, Calif.

Next up is Seattle, where I’ll be visiting Thursday evening.

Join me, local entrepreneurs, investors, startup professionals, and DEMO alumni companies for cocktails and conversation at Barca Seattle, located on Capitol Hill. The first 40 people who arrive receive a free drink.... Continue Reading

Canopy Financial files for bankruptcy. Still no answers on how this happened.

In the latest turn of events surrounding the astounding management disaster at healthcare banking service company Canopy Financial, the San Francisco startup has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

What is surprising in this case is that well-known and respected Silicon Valley venture capitalists and others provided money and oversight to this company, even as the company tumbled out of control under their noses. The company’s officers committed “fraudulent” activity, according to Canopy’s General Counsel Dan... Continue Reading