Index Ventures infuses biotech and cleantech with $438.8M
Index Ventures just announced the closure of a $438.8 million fund intended to finance young biotechnology and cleantech portfolio companies. This is the sixth seed and early-stage fund the London-based firm has raised. Perhaps best know for its prescient investments in technologies like Skype, MySQL (sold to Sun Microsystems for $1 billion) and Betfair, Index has been relatively insulated from the economic downturn and is looking to expand its reach in the health care and… Continue Reading
Speed-dating site WooMe raises $12.5M more, enjoys $41M valuation
WooMe, a video speed-dating site whose claim to fame is a speedy, no-frills interface and the ability to attract people who would never touch a traditional dating site (it calls itself an “introductions platform”), has raised a fresh round of capital to continue expanding.
NewTeeVee had the scoop on the funding news, however its report said the company was valued at $30 million after the money, and had a deal with MTV, both of which… Continue Reading
Roundup: Rumor mill churns on Plaxo, Bebo, Google Phone, and more
1. Google buying contact organizer Plaxo?
2. Bebo raising new round of capital at $1B+ value?
3. Facebook en espanol
4. Chip maker to show off Google phone Monday
5. Surprise! Record industry wants filtering on your PC
6. Apple splashing production orders due to low demand
7. U. of Wisconsin sues Intel for Core 2 Duo infringement
8. BBC to launch download of iPlayer sometime this year
9. OpenID interesting concept, but will anyone use it?
10. Real Goods Solar files for $57M… Continue Reading
WooMe, an innovative new take on online dating, launches to public
The much-anticipated dating and meeting site WooMe is launching to the public today, with some new features and plans. We first wrote about the company during its alpha launch, at the TechCrunch40 conference.
Dating is both one of the more challenging and more lucrative niches on the internet. From eHarmony to HotorNot, iminlikewithyou to Match.com, sites have struggled to overcome the social stigma of internet dating and the difficulty of getting people to show off their… Continue Reading
Mint wins Techcrunch. Latest start-ups: mEgo, Wixi, Xtr3D, Flowplay
This just in: The winner of the Techcrunch40 event is Mint, the personal finance company (see our coverage here).
Meanwhile, below is the last batch of Techcrunch companies, from Tuesday’s afternoon session. After hitting VentureBeat readers with 40 start-ups over the past two days, we’re going to try our best fast on Web 2.0 for at least a day. Frankly, this latest batch wasn’t that impressive. Here’s the ranking: WooMe, Zivity, mEgo, Wixi, Xtr3D, Metaplace, Flowplay,… Continue Reading
WooMe, searching for the needle in the dating haystack
If you had a minute to speak with someone over a live video connection, could you decide whether you would date them? That’s the question for WooMe, a startup aiming to bring the world of speed dating online.
It launches a testing version today, but will open for all in a couple of months.
Unlike most other dating sites, users don’t have to answer dozens of questions or fill out an application form. Nor will they be… Continue Reading