New VC Marc Andreessen joins HP board

New VC Marc Andreessen joins HP board

Entrepreneur and angel investor Marc Andreessen, who recently became a fully-fledged venture capitalist with the launch of his firm Andreessen Horowitz, has joined the board of directors at computer maker Hewlett Packard.

HP likes to stay connected with the venture and startup communities, so Andreessen isn’t… Continue Reading

First Andreessen Horowitz investment, Apptio, raises $14M

First Andreessen Horowitz investment, Apptio, raises $14M

Andreessen Horowitz, the much-hyped $300 million fund founded by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen and his Opsware co-founder Ben Horowitz, has chosen its inaugural investment: Apptio, maker of software that makes information technology management more transparent and cost-efficient. It co-led the company’s $14 million second-round of… Continue Reading

Andreessen gets back into browsers with RockMelt?

Andreessen gets back into browsers with RockMelt?

Netscape founder turned investor Marc Andreessen seems to be returning to his browser roots with his newly christened venture fund. According to ReadWriteWeb, he’s backing a stealth Facebook browser called RockMelt.

Andreessen’s not new to the social networking scene either. He previously helped found build-your-own-social-network company… Continue Reading

Report: Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz raise $300M venture fund

Report: Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz raise $300M venture fund

Well-known angel investing partners Marc Andreessen (pictured) and Ben Horowitz have finished raising money for what has become a $300 million venture fund, according to an article in BoomTown that cites “numerous sources close to the situation.”

Andreessen, who co-founded Netscape and build-your-own-social-network startup Ning, first… Continue Reading

ExtraHop raises $5.1M to manage your network

ExtraHop raises $5.1M to manage your network

ExtraHop, a company that makes devices for application and network management, has raised $5.1 million in a first round of venture funding from Madrona Venture Partners, as well as well-known angel investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.

The Seattle company describes itself as “Google Earth for… Continue Reading

Metaplace raises more funding to be the MySpace of virtual worlds

Metaplace raises more funding to be the MySpace of virtual worlds

Metaplace, a company that will allow anybody to build their own virtual world and access it through through an ordinary web browser, has taken $6.7 million in funding as it nears a public release.

There hasn’t been much hype around Metaplace yet, probably because of the… Continue Reading

Facebook confirms Andreessen as its newest board member

Facebook confirms Andreessen as its newest board member

Marc Andreessen, early web technology pioneer and veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, has officially joined Facebook’s board of directors, according to a rather interesting press release just put out by the company.

Andreessen, as many of our readers already know, is currently the co-founder of a create-your-own… Continue Reading

Iminlikewithyou raises $1.5M for social gaming site

Iminlikewithyou, a startup that began as something close to a dating site and has become closer to a casual game portal and social network over time, has raised a $1.5 million second round tor expansion.

The New York-based company only features its own games on the… Continue Reading

Stealth search company Blekko gets $3M

Stealth search company Blekko gets $3M

Blekko, a stealth search company started by Topix co-founder Rich Skrenta, has raised $3 million in a second round of funding, according to TechCrunch.

Little is known about the company, and right now its website contains nothing more than a photo of, um, a puppet (see… Continue Reading

Rumor: Marc Andreessen may be about to join Facebook’s board of directors

Rumor: Marc Andreessen may be about to join Facebook’s board of directors

Netscape, Opsware and Ning founder Marc Andreessen may soon join Facebook’s board of directors. He’s already verbally accepted the position, Kara Swisher hears.

One obvious question here — and I have an email out to Andreessen for comment — is that Ning’s do-it-yourself social network creator… Continue Reading

SocialMedia raises $3.5M to sell ads across social networks

SocialMedia raises $3.5M to sell ads across social networks

SocialMedia, a company that lets small Facebook applications get exposure by bidding on ad links within Facebook popular applications, has just raised $3.5 million in financing.

Using the marketplace offered by SocialMedia, a Mill Valley, Calif., company, less popular Facebook applications bid to get ads placed… Continue Reading

Twitter, popular messaging service, gets cash

Twitter, popular messaging service, gets cash

[Update 12/11: Twitter filed regulatory papers saying it had raised $4.8 million in a second round of funding, and that it possibly raise a total of $5.4 million]

Confirming what we first reported earlier this week, the fast-growing Twitter messaging service has raised a new round… Continue Reading

Opsware sells to HP for $1.6 billion, in happy ending

Opsware sells to HP for $1.6 billion, in happy ending

Opsware, a provider of software that automates processes in corporate data centers — such as setting up and managing complex server configurations — has been purchased by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion in cash.

This is a happy ending for a company that went through a very… Continue Reading

Roundup: Facebook IPO talk, the video firehose, Ning’s ridiculous valuation & more

Roundup: Facebook IPO talk, the video firehose, Ning’s ridiculous valuation & more

Here’s the latest action (updated):

Airborne mash-up: lawn chair travels 193 miles –Oregon resident Kent Couch tried to fly to Idaho last weekend — in an apparatus made out of his lawn chair carried by 105 large helium balloons. He carried instruments to measure altitude and… Continue Reading

Roundup: Andreessen’s tips, Revver’s shakeup, Xing’s move, Yigg.de and much more

Roundup: Andreessen’s tips, Revver’s shakeup, Xing’s move, Yigg.de and much more

Here’s the (updated) latest action:

Marc Andreessen getting taste of what it’s like to be a blogger – The Netscape co-founder launched a blog last week. The NYT ran a story about one of his earliest posts. Then he did a good piece about how to… Continue Reading

CastTV raises $3.1M to launch better video search

CastTV raises $3.1M to launch better video search

Corrected: Motwani is merely an advisor

San Francisco’s CastTV, a site that says it can search video better than leading players like Yahoo and Google by turning up Javascript-hidden files and other information, has raised $3.1 million from well-known venture capitalists.

Video search is a huge potential… Continue Reading

Cisco’s love affair for Web 2.0 continues, buys Tribe assets

Cisco’s love affair for Web 2.0 continues, buys Tribe assets

(Updated with comment from Cisco)

Cisco Systems, the giant supplier of Internet equipment which is falling hard consumer Internet, has bought the assets of Tribe.net, an early social networking player.

The New York Times reported the story first here.

Cisco’s acquisition of the small San Francisco-based Tribe’s technology… Continue Reading

Your social network at Ning, join the thousands

Your social network at Ning, join the thousands

Ning, the Palo Alto start-up, has relaunched to let you build your own full-fledged social network.

Ning announced the launch three days ago, and since then, users have created 5,000 new networks, chief executive Gina Bianchini tells us — though is difficult to know how many… Continue Reading

Will Outside.in nail the community Web site? Maybe

Will Outside.in nail the community Web site? Maybe

Updated with full list of names of angel investors

How do you build the perfect local community Web site — with news, events, comments and more?

If you manage to, it will be a grand slam. It becomes the talk of the town, people spend more time… Continue Reading