Venture debt appears to be gaining in prominence this year as companies such as Atlassian, Box and HubSpot raise final rounds of traditional equity financing before launching IPOs.

(Reuters) – Foursquare has raised $41 million in debt financing from Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures, Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley wrote in a blog.

SV Angel is in the market for a fresh $40 million, according to a new SEC filing.

Foursquare Business Development Vice President Tristan Walker said on his blog that he has joined the firm. It’s a “spot where I can work with a blank slate, people are encouraged to think big and the opportunities are endless,” he wrote.

In 2009, SXSW helped launch Foursquare–but are startups today going to have a tougher time trying to cut through the din in Austin?

Expect Facebook to “supersize” its acquisition strategy after it goes public.

New York-based Timehop has closed a seed round of $1.1 million. The investment was led by Bryce Roberts of OATV (O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures) which focuses on seed and early stage investments among technology early adopters. Also in the round is Spark Capital represented by Andrew Parker. Several angel investors also participated in the round including [...]

With Facebook preparing what could be one of the nation’s largest-ever IPOs, the company appears to be bulking up its technology arsenal by acquiring location-based startup Gowalla and hiring thousands of new workers. The news of the acquisition was reported late Friday by CNN Money, which said most of the small Austin-based company’s staff would [...]

Union Square Ventures has closed on more than half of a new, $200 million early stage fund, raising $116.5 million of fresh capital, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Rumors of the close began to spread last week, with two sources close to the company confirming the commitments. The SEC filing says another $83.5 million of the firm’s third early stage fund remains to be spoken for, though one source said it too has been sold. Sources say Union Square drew its capital from existing LPs with few if any new investors invited.

The apparent ease of the fundraising isn’t surprising given the success of Union Square’s first two early stage funds. Those funds invested in a number of notable Internet companies, including Twitter …

David Cameron, the U.K.’s prime minister, has joined LinkedIn and Foursquare, according to a blog from the PM’s office. The social media move is part of the PM’s effort to “engage further with with citizens and businesses using digital communications.” According to the blog, Downing Street will use LinkedIn to connect with people and businesses that the prime minster meets regarding UK business, enterprise and manufacturing.