VC Deals

Tumblr, a New York-based social networking and online publishing platform, has raised $4.5 million in Series B Financing. The round was led by Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital. PRESS RELEASE Tumblr, a defining new platform that is closing the gap between social networks and online publishing, announced today that it has closed a Series […]

SnapMyLife, a photo sharing site based in Needham, Mass., has raised $5 million led by current investors North Bridge Venture Partners and Carmel Ventures. The company is owneed by Mobicious, Inc. Press release: SnapMyLife, the leading mobile photo-sharing site, today announced it has raised a new $5 million round of funding, led by current investors […]

Embotics Corporation, a “virtual sprawl” cost managing company based in Ottawa, Canada, raised $4 million in Series B financing led by Covington Capital Corporation. The round will advance product development for server virtualization technology. Read more. OTTAWA, Dec 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Embotics, the Virtualization Lifecycle Management(TM) Company, today announced the completion of an […]

Diagnoplex, a Swiss molecular cancer diagnostics developer, closed Series A financing worth $8.3 million. The A-round was led by Novartis Venture Fund and NeoMed, with Initiative Capital Romandie acting as co-investor. The Novartis Venture Fund was also a seed investor in the company. BCCC Avocats acted as counsel to the investors and BMP Associes acted […]

10. Grumpy public market investors actually make VCs almost seem cheerful.   9. Liquidity of your vested shares is now just about equal whether you’re public or private.   8. Admit it – that flat price you got on your last round is looking like your best-performing investment of the year.   7. There’s at least a chance that […]

Jerry Yang is out as CEO of Yahoo, though will remain at the company to ensure a smooth transition to his successor, according to reports.

Adeo Ressi, founder and proprietor of TheFunded.com, made waves this week, after the PowerPoint slides of a private presentation he gave was leaked to bloggers. peHUB has asked Adeo to expand on the presentation, and to give a fuller understanding of what his slides were intended to present. We thank him for the contribution: "The Canary is Dead" presentation was delivered to a group of Harvard Business School professors to encourage classroom dialogue about better models for venture capital, before students graduate and enter the workforce with bad training. The Model is Broken Investing in growing companies has proven to be economically and socially rewarding to a broader society. However, the venture capital model of delivering preferred equity investments in the $1 to $15 MM range is broken for three specific reasons. First, over 90% of companies that require investment in this range do not receive the capital they need, because they are rejected by the model, discouraged by the process or unaware of the rules. Second, the process of raising the capital has anecdotally proven to destroy shareholder value through enormous time commitments, significant legal fees and deteriorated morale. Lastly, the venture investment model, in its current form, does not generate returns for any of the stakeholders when examined in aggregate or on average. Despite this broken framework, the venture capital model has resisted change. More and more money has flowed into venture capital, and partnerships continue to receive the same management fees and economic rewards. The bursting of the Internet bubble eight years ago was an obvious

Roku, the Saratoga, Calif.-based maker of the Netflix Player by Roku, has received Series C funding from Menlo Ventures. Press release: Roku Inc., a leading innovator in digital media technology and maker of the popular Netflix Player by Roku, today announced it has received Series C financing from Menlo Ventures. This round follows a Series […]

Promosome, a biotechnology company based in New York, has completed a Series B round of funding worth $9.6 million, from an undisclosed group of investors. The round was oversubscribed by $2.1 million. Press release: Promosome LLC, a biotechnology company specializing in innovative technologies related to the regulation of protein synthesis, today announced the successful completion […]

Glassdoor.com, an online career and workplace community operated in Sausalito, Calif., has secured $6.5 million in Series B funding led by Sutter Hill Ventures, with follow-on investments from Benchmark Capital. SAUSALITO, Calif., Oct 28, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Glassdoor.com, the leading online career and workplace community, today announced it has secured $6.5 million in […]