PEI Staff

Once you’ve signed up for  Zipcar or RelayRides or some other neighbor-to-neighbor car sharing startup that is quickly pulling out of the garage with venture funding, do you know where to park? Streetline Networks says it can help find that spot. Using ultra low-powered sensors buried city streets networked with a 1.99-cent iPhone app named […]

The February issue of Venture Capital Journal features an interview with Peter Wagner, who leads Accel Partners’ cleantech effort. While other firms seem to be pulling back from the once-heated space, Accel is ramping up its effort. VCJ Senior Editor Mark Boslet spoke to Wagner (pictured) to find out why Accel appears to be taking […]

I’ve been thinking for a while now that there will not be one social graph to rule them all (Facebook) but that we will eventually have a multitude of web/mobile services in our lives, each with a social graph we curate specifically for that service. That’s been my gut instinct as I do not believe […]

Gary Halliwell was joined in constructing this piece by MIT associate professor of comparative media studies Ian Condry. The proposed “do not track” bill being considered by the Washington lawmakers marks what could be a dramatic turning point in the legislation of the internet. High-profile privacy issues with Google and Facebook in the past year […]

Healthcare has always been an area of focus in venture capital. In particular, over the last several years, healthcare IT has received a lot of public attention. The recent J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco – focusing on public companies – offers a timely snapshot to compare the healthcare interests of public markets versus […]

Despite the sheer size of the transportation and logistics market, there has been limited technology innovation to streamline the process of moving goods from point A to point B. Given that the industry generates $1.3 trillion in business, representing 11% of GDP, companies looking to improve efficiency and reduce cost will continue to drive development […]

Apple has again turned iPhone buzz into gold. Despite all the talk of possible bells and whistles, Verizon Wireless looks to be offering the iconic smartphone on roughly the same terms as AT&T. The only clear winners will be Apple’s masters of hype. Sure, some AT&T customers would be delighted to say goodbye to the […]

Traditional venture capital firms are struggling to remain relevant to new company formation, the development of new technologies, and the capability of bringing new medical device technologies to market. Although my comments are specific to medical device venture investing, my friends in Silicon Valley will agree, if even only in a quiet moment of reflection, that the same applies in biotechnology and general technology investing.

Goldman Sachs’ old-school Facebook deal brings a new set of challenges. The bank is raising up to $1.5 billion from clients to invest in the social network while putting in $450 million itself. Like Morgan Stanley’s reported deal with online coupon service Groupon, it looks like classic merchant banking. With hot firms in the driver’s seat, however, the banks could find themselves in for a wild ride. Internet darlings, with their growth, profitability and cash, face little pressure to go public yet still have some use for what a fundraising can provide. So instead of an IPO, they rely on so-called D-rounds. This allows them to raise money at favorable valuations for internal use, while buying stock back from employees or early-round investors who want to cash out. It’s a calculated pay-to-play on the banks’ part.

Although online tracking and data collection has largely been a self-regulated industry in the United States, recent developments suggest lawmakers are re-evaluating consumers’ right to privacy with respect to their personal information. New policy initiatives will drastically impact the way advertisers collect, use and disclose consumer information. All companies with a web presence should be […]