Avalon Ventures

Simulmedia Raises $6 Million More for Web-Like TV Ads

Peter Kafka in Media on April 30 at 9:26 am PT

After raising $27 million, Web ad pioneer Dave Morgan says his take on targeted TV ads is “very close” to profitable.

Zynga’s Valuation Withers 30 Percent Since February

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on December 2, 2011 at 4:34 pm PT

Zynga’s initial public offering remains on track to raise $1 billion, but the social games company may not be worth as much as it was hoping for.

Roadshow: CEO Pincus Not Selling Shares in Upcoming Zynga IPO

Kara Swisher in News on November 29, 2011 at 10:01 pm PT

While he has recently been portrayed as Mr. Potter of Silicon Valley, it looks like the online gaming leader will not get greedy in the IPO.

Exclusive: Backupify Closes $5 Million in Round Led by Avalon Ventures

Arik Hesseldahl in News on September 8, 2011 at 5:20 am PT

Even in the cloud, data gets deleted by mistake. Backupify aims to have your back.

The Zynga IPO: Who Owns What, Who Makes What

Arik Hesseldahl in Social on July 1, 2011 at 1:10 pm PT

There are lots of pieces to the Zynga IPO pie. Of course, it’s pretty big pie. Bonus factoid: What other role does Mark Pincus play at Zynga besides founder, CEO and biggest shareholder? Landlord.

Web Ad Pioneer Dave Morgan Adapts Simulmedia To TV's Reality

Peter Kafka in Media on May 17, 2011 at 7:57 am PT

The guy behind Tacoda and Real Media figured the TV industry was staffed by Luddites, and ready for disruption. Turns out he’s the one changing plans.

I Can Has $30M: LOLcats Become Funny Business

Liz Gannes in Social on January 17, 2011 at 9:00 pm PT

Would the thought of investing $30 million in a set of WordPress blogs and tools for captioning pictures of cats make you laugh out loud?

Voices

Venture Firms Ride The Winds Of Social Gaming Co. Zynga

Laura Kreutzer and Sabrina Willmer, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on September 9, 2010 at 1:09 pm PT

Raising a venture capital fund these days is no easy feat. But a small number of firms appear to have the wind at their backs, and that wind may have a name: Zynga Game Network Inc.

Zynga's Mark Pincus Talks About Big Funding, "Offer Ad" Controversies and More!

Kara Swisher in News on December 18, 2009 at 3:32 am PT

Just days after selling $180 million in private stock to a group of investors, including Facebook investor Digital Sky Technologies of Russia, Zynga’s Mark Pincus came to visit the BoomTown Worldwide HQ for a video interview. Zynga, the San Francisco-based social-gaming company, took the money, Pincus explained to me, so it would not have to do what everyone thought it was set to do soon: Go public.

A Web Ad Guy’s Third Act: Better TV Ads for TV Shows

Peter Kafka in Media on March 6, 2009 at 3:00 am PT

Dave Morgan made his reputation, and fortune, by building RealMedia and Tacoda–two pioneering Web advertising technology companies. So it’s no surprise to see him launch another ad start-up. But it is surprising to hear about the market he’s targeting: TV ads for TV shows.