Ancestry.com launches DNA testing, gets $300M investment
updated
The Generations Network, operator of Ancestry.com has just received $300 million from Spectrum Equity Investors, a Silicon Valley buyout firm, which will take a majority stake in the company.
Ancestry.com has also just launched DNA testing of its 5 billion records, so that family members can resolve mysteries about their ancestors, i.e., find out for sure who they are and are not related to. This is smart, because it exploits peoples’ keen interest in their own… Continue Reading
Roundup: Virtual sex bed suit, Geni, Gay.com, Netvibes, Helio and more
Here’s the latest (ahem) action:
Second Life avatar sues another avatar, over virtual sex bed — We should have predicted this. Second Life entrepreneur Kevin Alderman has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Second Life resident Volkov Catteneo. This is apparently the first time an avatar has sued another avatar in the virtual world. Alderman, who has made money before in Second Life by selling a virtual island for $50,000 (real money), says his avatar, Stroker Serpentine… Continue Reading
Geni raises $10M at whopper valuation, to let you create family tree
Geni, the fast-growing Web site that allows people to create family trees, has raised $10 million second round of financing, led by Charles River Ventures. The Los Angeles company says the company company is valued, after the investment, at $100 million, a significant jump from the $10 million valuation of the company after it raised money in June. Some 100,000 users have input about 2 million people on the site. See our initial reference to… Continue Reading
Roundup: USA Today stiffs Google, and Google gossip, Reuters, Geni, Rockyou…
Updated
Here’s the latest action:
USA Today launches new social networking features, but stiffs Google — The newspaper has offered an array of new features, letting registered readers have their own profile pages, where they can recommend articles, solicit comments — and there’s more. Alas, the new content of all these users won’t be tracked by Google or found in Google’s search results, because USA today has used Javascript technology to defy it. That hurts USA Today’s traffic…. Continue Reading
Geni aims to build family tree for whole world
Geni, a new start-up in Los Angeles, wants to do for families what LinkedIn does for business contacts: Create one giant tree that shows you who is connected to who.
The world may be getting smaller; Geni, if successful, will make it tinier still.
Geni has just launched, and we found it easy to use. The company is led by co-founder David Sacks, a former chief operating officer at PayPal, who more recently started Room 9 Entertainment,… Continue Reading
SOMA’s return, Google’s smokescreen and copying, iTunes flatlining?
Roundup of the latest tech action in Silicon Valley:
Young start-ups pouring into the South of Market (SOMA) area in San Francisco. Deja-vu? — The region’s real estate prices are lower, at least where large companies like Looksmart are able to sublet expensive buildings to new copycat video sites like Cuts. With the territory comes late-night sleepovers, punching bags and yoga. See story in WSJ. Deja-vu, the same thing happened during boom #1.
Yahoo’s assumptions on Facebook — Techcrunch… Continue Reading