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New Book Demystifies the Cloud
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I have avoided that whole “cloud” computing thing as a topic of research, reporting and reading, writing it off as little more than yet-another hyped-up Silicon Valley meme.
But a new book out in May by Charles Babcock pokes through the fuzziness of “the cloud” to bring back some real actionable intelligence. No book about databases and computer processing is going to be fun, yet Babcock, an editor at InformationWeek, does an admirable job of making the thing readable. How well I relate to the hypothetical executive he describes: Read more »
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Sam Pullara is leaving Yahoo Inc. in order to become an entrepreneur-in-residence with VC firm Benchmark Capital, as first reported by All Things D. He had been the Internet company’s chief technologist. The move becomes official on April 1. UPDATE: We’ve also been told that current Benchmark EIR Marten Mickos is leaving the firm to become CEO of Benchmark portfolio company Eucalyptus Systems, which is developing an open-source private cloud platform. Expect a formal announcement later today. In the meantime, Benchmark has now issued the following press release on Sam Pullara: Read more »
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Facebook Addiction Up for the Young and Blasé
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 * 55% of the survey’s respondents over the age of 25 check Facebook at least once a day. Apparently, email inspires similar fee...
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Emerald Technology Ventures, a Zurich-based VC firm focused on cleantech investments, is nearing a first close on its third fund, according to Green Energy Reporter. The fund is being marketed with a €150 million target, after having raised €135 million for its second vehicle. www.emerald-ventures.com Read more »
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One Partner Down: The Future of FA Technology Ventures
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 Sekhar’s case hasn’t progressed much since then, with the only available paperwork being the original three-page indictment. A rep from the Albany County DA’s office would only say that the case is “ongoing,” while Sekhar didn’t reply to email requests for comment. But I was curious as to what all this scumdrudgery means for FA Technology Ventures, the firm at which Sekhar had been a partner (he officially left in late December, just as the fan began to stink). A firm spokesman declined to comment, so let’s move onto anonymous sourcing: Read more »
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Keeping Score with Quantcast
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 “We’re well capitalized but are always open-minded to ways we might accelerate our business and better serve the market,” said co-founder and CEO, Konrad Feldman, when we chatted briefly yesterday. How Quantcast is accelerating its growth is a well-guarded secret from a technical perspective, although its large-scale analysis models seem to be working. The four-year-old company is reluctant to share details about how it creates its rich data sets about Web users and their online behavior. But it claims that millions of Web destinations use its service, including two-thirds of Online Publishers Association members, and that it is measuring millions more Websites, games, and widgets. Last week, Quantcast began a push for much stronger customer adoption abroad, too. Read more »
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UPDATE: We goofed on this one. Ankeena’s filing of a $16 million raise refers to its total funding to date, not a new round. The company had reported back in 2008 that it had secured $8.5 million of a $9.4 million Series A round, and this new filing is actually an amendment. The company later announced a $6.5m extension in the summer of 2009, although did not submit an SEC filing. The new report says that the securities were first sold in 2008, and we should have caught it. Our er
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Easton Capital is raising a pair of new funds, according to VentureWire. One will be a traditional biotech VC fund with a target of between $100 million and $200 million. The other will be focused on biotech companies that can produce returns within three-to-five years, and comes with a $50 million to $75 million target. www.eastoncapital.com Read more »
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Chomp, a San Francisco-based provider of iPhone app reviews and recommendations, has raised $2 million in VC funding. Backers include Bluerun Ventures, Ron Conway, Brian Pokorny and David Lee. www.chomp.com Read more »
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Plastic Jungle, a Mountain View, Calif.-based operator of an online gift card marketplace, has raised $7.4 million in Series B funding. Redpoint Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital and Bay Partners. The company previously raised $4.8 million. Read more »
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Aureon Laboratories, a New York-based developer of analytics focused on predictive cancer treatment options, has called down $7 million of an $18 million funding round, according to a regulatory filing. Return backers include Atlas Venture, New Leaf Venture Partners and Pfizer Inc. The company previously raised around $62 million. www.aureon.com Read more »
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Panvidea, a New York-based provider of on-demand video preparation and distribution solutions, has raised around $2 million in Series A funding. DFJ Gotham Ventures led the round, and was joined by Contour Venture Partners, eValue, NYCSeed and Wider Wake Network. Panvidea previously raised $1 million in seed funding. Read more »
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(Reuters) - Ironplanet Inc filed with U.S. regulators on Thursday to raise up to $92 million in an initial public offering.
The Pleasanton, California-based company told the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission in a preliminary prospectus that J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank Securities, Cowen and Co, Piper Jaffray and Needham & Co LLC were underwriting the IPO. “If the opportunity arises, we may use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to acquire or invest in businesses, products or technologies that are complementary to our own,” the company said. Ironplanet provides online marketplace for used heavy equipment. It posted revenue of $54.7 mill
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Viacom Discloses YouTube Investor Payouts
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 Sequoia Capital invested a total of $9 million over two funding rounds in 2005 and 2006, and ultimately received $516 million worth of Google stock. This is higher than prior reports of a $442 million payout. If Sequoia held onto its shares, they would now be worth an additional $68 million. Artis Capital, a hedge fund with ties to Sequoia, invested around $3 million in YouTube's Series B round and received $85 million in Google stock. It would be worth another $11 million or so on today's market. Read more »
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Adam Dell *Is* Padma’s Baby Daddy, and He Wants to See His Daughter
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 Recently, the New York Post and other outlets began speculating that it might be venture capitalist Adam Dell, you-know-who’s brother. Turns out they were right, and he may want to spend more time with one-month-old Krishna than her mom would like. So says the Post, which reported yesterday: Read more »
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How Should We Judge VC-Backed IPOs?
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 In response, Benchmark Capital’s Bill Gurley wondered via Twitter if a better characterization would have been that the Financial Engines IPO was “poorly executed/priced.” Leaving aside the fact that Gurley portfolio company OpenTable jumped nearly 60% on its first day of trading, the comment reminded me that we still don’t have a near-perfect way of judging IPO success. Read more »
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Last Chance To Join peHUB’s March Madness Extravaganza
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 The top finisher to receive three prizes: (1) Premium Membership to peHUB, which includes one year of complimentary access to our editorial archive; (2) A complementary one-year online subscription to Buyouts or Venture Capital Journal; and (3) The opportunity to write a lead column for peHUB Wire, which could mean anything from an essay to a company advertisement to a plea for work. Oh, and bragging rights. Just ask last year's winner, Dan Doman. Get details on how to play after the jump... Read more »
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Smartling, a New York-based provider of real-time transalation via the Web, has raised $4 million in Series A funding. Venrock led the round, and was joined by First Round Capital, U.S. Venture Partners and individual angels. www.smartling.com Read more »
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Videoplaza, a Swedish provider of video ad serving solutions for publishers, has raised €3.5 million in VC funding from Creandum and Northzone Ventures. www.videoplaza.com Read more »
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Rob Solomon has joined Chicago-based social commerce website Groupon as president and chief operating officer. He previously was a venture partner with Technology Crossover Ventures and, before that, was president and CEO of travel search site SideStep. Groupon has raised nearly $35 million in VC funding from firms like Accel Partners and New Enterprise Associates. Read more »
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Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT) has agreed to acquire Raysat Antenna Systems, a Vienna, Va.-based. The deal is valued at around $25 million in cash, and is expected to close within the next six months. Raysat has raised around $37 million in VC funding from Benchmark Capital, Apax Partners and Israel Seed Partners. Read more »
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Prometheus Laboratories Inc., a San Diego-based drug and diagnostics company, has signed an oncology research collaboration and license agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma AG. The deal could be worth upwards of $160 million in up-front and milestone payments.
Prometheus is in registration for a $100 million IPO, and has raised around $73 million in VC funding from DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (21.4% stake), Split Rock Partners (17.4%), New Leaf Ventures (12.5%), Apax Partners (11%) , Wachovia Capital Partners (11%) and Brentwood Venture Capital (7.5%). Read more »
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Second Porch, a Portland, Ore.-based social vacation home marketplace, has raised $1 million in Series A funding led by the Oregon Angel Fund. Read more »
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CircleControl, a London-based outsourced manager of IT infrastructures, has raised £6 million in VC funding from Scottish Equity Partners. Read more »
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Energy Micro, an Oslo, Norway-based developer of "energy-friendly" microcontrollers, has raised $13 million in first-round funding from Northzone Ventures and Investinor. Read more »
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Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) has agreed to acquire Citizen Sports, a San Francisco-based operator of a virtual market for professional athlete futures. No financial terms were disclosed. Citizen Sports had raised over $25 million in VC funding from firms like Northgate Capital and Radar Partners. Read more »
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OriGene Technologies, a Rockville, Md.-based developer of monoclonal antibodies, has raised $16 million in Series B funding. New backers included IDG-Accel, SBI & TH Venture Capital Enterprise and Zero2IPO. Return participants were Morningside Venture Investments and President International Development Corp. The company also has operations in China. Read more »
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AOL Inc. has launched a venture capital fund focused on "hyper-local" Internet startups, as part of a larger strategic focus on expanding the company's local content. PaidContent reports that the fund size is $10 million. Read more »
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peHUB First Read
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 * John Terrill: The moral imperative of investment banking * Larry Cheng: The tension between an optimistic CEO and a conservative CFO * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares slip on banks, the Nikkei loses 1% and tightening fears drop China and Hong Hong shares. * Micropayments and Subscriptions: How business models for startups are shifting * The men's NCAA tourney begins in just a few hours, and we've got our own pool going on (with prizes, of course). Get the sign-up info here. * Speaking of basketball, the hedgies crushed the PE pros in their annual charity game * Biz Insider goes beyond the NYC vs. Silicon Valley pissing match, and lists the 20 NYC startups you need to watch. * Scott Shane: America may benefit from policies that make it easier for certain immigrants to start businesses in this country (i.e., Startup Visa Act), but the basis should not be perceived differences in entrepreneurial aptitude between immigrants and the native-born. (as an aside: Has anyone seen a cogent argument against Startup Visa? I haven't) Read more »
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Trada Opens Up To The Crowd, Announces VC Funding
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 The Boulder, Colo.-based company is focused on the paid search optimization space, and has created a crowd-sourced marketplace in which small and mid-sized businesses can get certified search experts to help improve their keyword campains. Read more »
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