Linden Lab acquires LittleTextPeople for new projects this year

Anyone remember Linden Lab? How about its game, Second Life? Well, it was the talk of the middle of the last decade (and winner of a 2008 Emmy award), and it’s making moves again. It’s just announced the acquisition of …

Yelp will start its IPO at $12-$14 per share

Yelp has amended its SEC S-1 filing to show a starting price of $12 to $14 per share of Yelp stock.

The shares will make their debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol YELP.

The most recent …

Valve’s digital distribution kingdom by the numbers (Steam-powered infographic)

VideoGameDesignSchools.org has crafted a slick infographic detailing Valve’s conquest of the digital distribution market.

It should come as no surprise that Steam is doing well, but this infographic puts in perspective just how much better Valve’s PC gaming digital storefront …

Cisco warns EU of video chat’s bleak future under Microsoft/Skype

Networking technology giant Cisco has filed an appeal with the European Union today over the October approval of Microsoft’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype.

Cisco, along with Italian VoIP provider Messagenet SpA, is challenging the decision to approve the merger …

Flexible screens, here we come! C3Nano raises $6.7M for next-gen displays

C3Nano, a company that makes the technology behind some of those transparent, flexible screens y’all are so crazy about, has just announced a $6.7 million round of funding.

The young company’s carbon hybrid-based ink and film is currently under evaluation …

Engagio goes from the comment section to a $540K seed investment

Engagio, a Toronto startup founded by William Mougayar that helps people keep track of the conversations they are having in comment threads across the web, has raised $540,000 in a seed round led by Rho Canada and New York investor …

Alibaba may be taking Yahoo’s ball and going home — to the tune of $17B

Due to deal talks breaking down, Yahoo may be losing $17 billion worth of Asian asset sales.

Yahoo, which owns significant stakes in Chinese powerhouse Alibaba and Japan’s SoftBank (as well as Yahoo Japan, natch) was attempting to sell those …

Introducing ZigMail, an elegant box for your “transactional” email

Email is a ball and chain. We’re locked to it, and it sucks. So anything that makes it easier to deal with, well, we’re going to try it out, right?

ZigMail is a nifty new email service that gives you …

What the heck is an interest graph? Pearltrees raises $6.6M to show us

Social curation startup Pearltrees has just sealed a deal for €5 million (around $6.6 million), all in the name of creating a better interest graph.

Much is being made in current social media circles of the “interest graph” concept, which …

Instant messenger app IM+ raises $10M

Shape, the company behind online instant messenger service IM+, announced Monday it has raised $10 million from Russian brokerage firm Finam.

IM+ is an online instant messenger and mobile app that connects with multiple instant messaging services including Aol instant …

U.S. says Google’s acquisition of Motorola is a go

Google headquarters must be all high-fives today. Just hours after the European Commission cleared the company’s proposed acquisition of Motorola, the U.S. Department of Justice has given its approval on the deal as well.

“The division concluded that the specific …

Bridgelux raises $25M to replace your old lightbulbs with LEDs

Bridgelux, a company that produces low-cost LED light bulbs, announced today it has raised $25 million in funding from Chinese lighting company Kaistar Lighting.

“We want people to think about lightbulbs and the innovation behind them, we want you to …

Google’s Motorola acquisition clears EU regulators’ hurdles; U.S. is next

Google’s planned acquisition of Motorola Mobility has just officially passed muster in the European Union.

Regulators had put the deal on hold in both the U.S. and EU pending investigation for possible antitrust issues.

“We’re happy that today the European …

Ad startup Marin Software takes a late-stage $30M

Marin Software, a San Franisco startup focusing on online advertising, has just announced a $30 million round of venture funding.

This is the company’s sixth round of funding in as many years.

Marin offers an all-in-one platform for managing display, …

Crowdtilt launches to group fund anything (and it means anything)

Crowdtilt, a new group-funding site backed by startup incubator Y Combinator, has launched today to help you fund anything. The site lets you group fund any project or goal you can come up with, from trips across the country to …

Shopping site Sneakpeeq raises $2.67M

Social daily deals and shopping website Sneakpeeq announced Friday is has raised $2.67 million in funding.

Sneakpeeq is attempting to replicate the shopping experience you’d have in a physical store. What type of experience? Well, think about walking into a …

Silver Lake buys stake in Conduit, giving Israeli investors 200x return

Yozma Venture Capital is in talks to sell its share of Conduit, an Israel-based company that creates user engagement tools, for more than $200 million, Globes reported Thursday.

A source tells VentureBeat the buyer is Silver Lake, a U.S. private …

Stripe attracts $18M in funding at $100M valuation

Stripe, an online-payment system company going after PayPal, is said to have raised $18 million at a $100 million valuation from Sequoia Capital and other investors, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The deal has not been finalized but a few unnamed sources …

Stealth-mode app TimeRazor helps you find time for your favorite events, raises $3.4M

TimeRazor is a mobile application launching in March that will help you find events and offers near you. The company announced today it has raised $3.4 million from private investors.

TimeRazor is tackling the “fear of missing out” or FOMO …