The 20 biggest private exits of 2012 (for the top 20 VC firms of the year)

February 19, 2013 11:18 PM John Koetsier
John Koetsier

Private company research firm Privco has ranked the top 20 merger and acquisitions of the top 20 technology VC firms of 2012, including Ancestry.com's $1.6 billion sale to private equity firm Permira and other top tech acquisitions such as Yammer, Meebo, Instagram, and NextG networks.

Ad giant Interpublic invests in mobile-rewards startup Kiip

January 16, 2013 4:00 AM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Kiip has formed a strategic partnership with one of the biggest holding companies for ad agencies in the world.

Hardware hacker startup grabs $3.65M for computer/Lego hybrid toy

July 18, 2012 4:00 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

LittleBits is a maker/hacker startup through and through, and it’s just taken a sizable round of venture funding from a few of the bigger names in Silicon Valley.

Its product is half building block, half circuit board, and it’s intended …

Loggly rejects notion of ‘bumps on a log,’ raises $5.7M

July 17, 2012 12:23 PM Rebecca Grant
Rebecca Grant

Online log management company Loggly announced today that it’s secured $5.7 million in a second round of investment.

For those of you unfamiliar with “log management,” it is a method of organizing large volumes of data. Logs are basically a …

Kiip raises $11M to reward users for everyday life

July 17, 2012 4:00 AM Rebecca Grant
Rebecca Grant

Editor's Pick

Rewards network Kiip announced today that it closed $11 million in a second round of investment. The funding will go towards expanding Kiip’s rewards system beyond gaming, infusing ‘moments of happiness’ into everyday life.

Kiip works with game developers, brands, …

Betable’s potential jackpot: Bringing real gambling to social casino games

July 9, 2012 9:00 AM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Editor's Pick Betable hopes to disrupt social casino games by enabling real-money online gambling in social gaming titles.

Good week for startups: Two huge VC firms collectively raise over $500M

June 6, 2012 12:38 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

If your startup is about to go public, Facebook’s less than pleasing debut is probably raining on your parade. But for those still looking for funding, it’s been a good week and an even better month.

Today, venture capital firm …

Flickr co-founder announces newest startup & newest funding

February 16, 2012 5:42 PM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Caterina Fake (pictured), who previously co-founded photo-sharing megalith Flickr, has just taken the wraps off Pinwheel, her brand-new app.

Pinwheel is currently in private beta; Fake says it’s a way to “find and leave notes all over the world… A …

Mystery music app TastemakerX nails down a $1.8M funding round pre-launch

February 8, 2012 3:00 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

It hasn’t even launched yet, but TastemakerX has already sealed a reasonable deal to lock in funding from Silicon Valley investors.

Now that’s what we call rock n’ roll.

The social-mobile-music app raised a $1.8 million chunk of change for …

Groupon acquires e-commerce ‘big data’ startup Adku

February 6, 2012 3:07 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Group deals company Groupon has acquired e-commerce data firm Adku for an undisclosed price, the startup announced today.

Adku provides a service that attempts to “optimize” a person’s shopping experience by providing product suggestions on sites like Zappos, eBay, and …

Sifteo launches intelligent blocks as a new form of entertainment

August 10, 2011 3:15 PM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Sifteo, a table-top game startup, is announcing today that it has begun selling intelligent blocks known as Sifteo Cubes. These devices are like little dominoes with displays on one side.

The cubes are wireless, motion-aware 1.5-inch blocks with full-color screens …