Alastair Goldfisher
Elon Musk and his hyperloop, ma and pa could have an affinity for PE and Simon Cowell hates the number 13.
Second Opinion kicks off this week with how iPhone 6 is sure to sell, the BlackBerry company is up for sale, Ashton Kutcher answers on Quora about his role as Steve Jobs, and photographic proof Usain Bolt is literally lightning fast.
Venture-backed Pluralsight, a provider of online training resources to developers, has made its second acquisition in less than a month, announcing today it has acquired Chicago-based TrainSignal for $23.6 million. In late July, Pluralsight bought Seattle-based PeepCode for an undisclosed amount. Pluralsight raised $27.5 million in Series A funding from Insight Venture Partners in January.
Earlybird Venture Capital closed its fourth early-stage fund with $200 million in commitments. The Berlin-based firm -- which has invested in Auctionata, Carpooling.com, Versus.IO and EyeEm, among others -- says the fund was oversubscribed.
Accel Partners announced that Kobie Fuller--an Internet executive and a founding member of OpenView Venture Partners--has joined the firm as principal. Accel also promoted growth capital investor John Locke to principal. Locke had been with the firm since 2009.
Venture-backed Veeva Systems quietly filed registration papers for its IPO this week, as has been rumored.
Rent the Runway, which provides rentals of designer clothes, has acquired VC-backed Go try It On, which operates a mobile app for users to share photos and solicit feedback on the clothes they wear. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Go Try It On had raised about $3 million in funding from Index Ventures and other investors.
Early-stage investor Hyde Park Venture Partners announced this morning that it has wrapped up its inaugural fund with $25 million in commitments. The firm, which did not disclose LPs, was founded in late 2011 by a team of area angel investors to invest in early-stage technology companies in the Midwest, with a focus on Chicago. The firm aims to back tech-enabled business, consumer services and healthcare IT companies that are raising a first or second round of institutional capital. Hyde Park list seven companies in its portfolio.
Bloomberg, the provider of financial news and data, has launched a $75 million early-stage fund called Bloomberg Beta. Bloomberg is the sole LP in the fund. In announcing the fund, Bloomberg Beta has disclosed it has already invested in Newsle, Nodejitsu, Codecademy, Errplane and ProsperWorks. Bloomberg Beta will operate in offices on both coasts with Roy Bahat, an entrepreneur and former board member of Flixster, leading the firm from the San Francisco-based locale.
Bessemer Venture Partners promoted Aviad Ariel and Sunil Nagaraj each to vice president. Ariel and Nagaraj will seek opportunities in a mix of sectors, geographies and stages. Ariel, based in Herzliya, Israel, joined the firm in 2011 and has focused primarily on Internet, wireless and semiconductors. Nagaraj, who works out of Menlo Park, Calif., also joined the firm in 2011. He focuses on mobile, developer tools and security investments.