Sequoia takes root in Evernote as early investor gets big exit

February 3, 2012 1:35 PM Jennifer Van Grove
Jennifer Van Grove

In a head-scratching private-market barter, illustrious venture firm Sequoia Capital has managed to secure an even larger chunk of up-and-coming Silicon Valley startup Evernote.

Russian firm Troika Ventures, Evernote’s first institutional investor, sold its stake in the note-taking and note-sharing …

Small business accounting service Xero raises $16.6M

February 3, 2012 12:00 PM Sarah Mitroff
Sarah Mitroff

Xero, an online-accounting service for small businesses, announced today it has received $16.6 million in its latest round of funding. PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel participated in the round.

“Xero was started by a few entrepreneurs who …

LA-based telemarketing software startup raises $15M

February 3, 2012 6:05 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Telemarketing is a dirty business, but someone’s gotta do it — because somehow, it’s still profitable.

Also profitable is selling software to telemarketers that allows them to track the calls they make, the responses they get (or don’t get) from …

What Facebook isn’t telling you about its risky ad business

February 2, 2012 5:37 PM Jennifer Van Grove
Jennifer Van Grove

Editor's Pick

In its IPO filing Wednesday, Facebook identified mobile’s limited revenue potential, competition from other social networks, and the potential loss of advertisers as factors that could seriously harm its business. But was the social networking company, which relied on advertising …

Does former MySpace CEO think Facebook’s stock value will last?

February 2, 2012 11:48 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Editor's Pick

No one knows how hard the mighty can fall quite like Mike Jones. Jones was MySpace’s most recent CEO; his job was to assess a faltering social app and see if it was saveable.

Since Jones saw a once-powerful network …

Facebook’s next big move: a paywall?

February 2, 2012 10:27 AM Jeff Tinsley

Guest Post

Facebook’s IPO filing yesterday comes after a highly  successful 2011 — $3.7 billion in revenue, $1 billion in profit according to recent reports. Yet, as the world eagerly awaits the opportunity to invest in the social networking giant, it’s worth …

Power play: How Zuckerberg wrested control of Facebook from his shareholders

February 1, 2012 4:22 PM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Editor's Pick

Mark Zuckerberg controls a majority of Facebook’s voting rights, and will continue to enjoy that control after it goes public, according to an unusual arrangement he struck with some key investors and colleagues among Facebook’s shareholders.

A string of voting …

BREAKING: Facebook files its S-1; let the IPO hoopla begin

February 1, 2012 3:15 PM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Facebook has filed its S-1 form with the SEC, announcing its intention to go public.

The SEC filing is included at the end of this post for your convenience, since this news has understandably had a negative impact on the …

Facebook user data: 845M monthly users, 2.7B daily likes & comments

February 1, 2012 2:51 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Facebook filed for an initial public offering today, and included an updated report on the giant social network’s user and usage data.

The company’s total number of active monthly users, which it defines as registered Facebook users who have logged …

LivingSocial lost $558M in 2011

February 1, 2012 11:29 AM Jennifer Van Grove
Jennifer Van Grove

Amazon spent $175 million for a 31 percent stake in number two daily deals site LivingSocial, and in so doing bought us all the best look yet at the privately-held Groupon competitor’s financials.

Buried in Amazon’s annual 10-K filing, made …

Vegas startup Rumgr raises $500K for a better, prettier Craigslist app

February 1, 2012 9:06 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Startup classifieds service Rumgr has just received funding to be a sort of suped-up Craigslist. It’s a mobile and web location-based marketplace that lets you snap images of your unwanted stuff, browse pictures of other people’s unwanted stuff, sell, trade, …

Digital Capital wants to play matchmaker for investors and digital entertainment startups (exclusive)

February 1, 2012 8:00 AM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

A new firm in Zug, Switzerland is launching today to act as a matchmaker for investors and digital interactive entertainment and video game startups.

Digital Capital describes itself as a “funding vehicle” for game developers, offering opportunities for investors and …

Facebook app Bday Gift Finder launches with $2M in funding

February 1, 2012 4:30 AM Cody Barbierri
Cody Barbierri

Finding the perfect gift for a friend’s birthday can be tricky. Bday today launched the Bday Gift Finder, a Facebook app that scrapes your friends’ profiles to recommend the perfect presents. And the company has already secured the best gift …

Facebook said to be filing $5B IPO, Morgan Stanley selected to take lead

January 31, 2012 2:59 PM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

Social network king Facebook will likely file its first papers with regulators on Wednesday morning for a $5 billion initial public offering, “sources close to the deal” have told Reuters subsidiary IFR.

We heard at the end of last week …

CardSpring links coupons directly to your credit card, raises $10M

January 31, 2012 1:23 PM Sarah Mitroff
Sarah Mitroff

CardSpring, a company that creates mobile applications specifically for credit and debit cards, announced today it has raised $10 million in its first round of funding.

CardSpring has produced an Application Programming Interface (API) that developers can use to make …

Sumo Logic raises $15M, drops its stealthy status

January 31, 2012 11:22 AM Sarah Mitroff
Sarah Mitroff

Sumo Logic, an enterprise log management and analytics company, announced today it has raised $15 million in its second round of funding. Sutter Hill Ventures led the round with participation from Greylock Partners and angel investor Shlomo Kramer.

The company …

After finding Chinese malware, AlienVault gets $8M round

January 31, 2012 9:13 AM Meghan Kelly
Meghan Kelly

AlienVault, developer of open source security software, announced an $8 million second round of funding after recently identifying Chinese Malware infecting the Department of Defense.

The round comes from Trident Capital, which was most interested in AlienVault’s SIEM (security information …