Bain Capital Ventures

Why Today Is a Very Good Day to Update Java on Your Computer

Arik Hesseldahl in Enterprise on December 2, 2011 at 5:45 am PT

A nasty security vulnerability in Java is likely to cause headaches at large companies with lots of PCs, because installing a fix takes a lot of time.

Payments Provider Dynamics Raises Even More Capital Than Square! (Just Kidding.)

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on June 28, 2011 at 9:01 pm PT

Pittsburgh-based Dynamics is announcing a $35 million round of financing that it will use to make a more intelligent credit card that it hopes will compete against others in the space, including Square and Google Wallet. It thought it was one of the biggest rounds raised this year by a payments company, and it was for about 20 minutes until Square announced it had raised $100 million.

TellApart Raises $13 Million to Help Online Retailers Nab Waffling Customers

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on June 13, 2011 at 7:00 am PT

Burlingame, Calif.-based TellApart has raised $13 million in a second round of funding to help online retailers get customers to make purchases even after they’ve left the page.

Rent the Runway Gets $15 Million From Kleiner Perkins to Be the Netflix of Fashion

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 23, 2011 at 7:45 am PT

Rent the Runway is a New York-based start-up that lets you look like a million bucks while spending much less. Instead, women rent dresses for much less and then send them back in prepaid envelopes–no dry cleaning necessary.

Zynga Continues Growth by Acquisition With Purchase of DNA Games

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 18, 2011 at 10:00 am PT

Zynga, the social games maker which is supplementing aggressive hiring with acquisitions, has purchased DNA Games — its 14th acquisition in 12 months.

Clovr Raises More Cash for New Ad Units That Link Coupons to Credit Cards

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on March 10, 2011 at 2:26 pm PT

Clovr Media has raised $8.3 million in funding to compete in a burgeoning new category of coupon and loyalty programs that link a user’s credit card to an offer that is then redeemed automatically at a register.

Groupon and the Clone Wars

Tomio Geron, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on September 17, 2010 at 7:55 am PT

Thanks to the overwhelming popularity of its local-discount offers, Groupon Inc. now generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, commands a valuation north of $1 billion, and has attracted some $170 million in venture capital–all in less than three years.

Lala’s Fire Sale That Wasn’t: What Apple Really Paid

Peter Kafka in Media on December 7, 2009 at 10:49 am PT

On Friday, I reported that Apple was buying Lala at a fire-sale price, which meant that investors in the music service wouldn’t get their money. I was wrong. Apple ended up paying around $80 million for the company, according to multiple sources. That’s less than half what investors valued the company at in 2008, but it’s more than the $35 million the company raised throughout its life. Which means that some investors could get their money back and more.

Softie Ad Exec Siebrecht to Join AdReady Start-Up

Kara Swisher in News on September 12, 2009 at 1:04 pm PT

Apparently, not everyone leaves Yahoo to join Microsoft. On Friday, sources said, it was announced internally at Microsoft that Karl Siebrecht, the former president of Atlas at aQuantive, is joining AdReady at the end of the month as president and COO. AdReady, based in Seattle, bills itself as an “advertising technology company focused on making online display advertising accessible and effective for advertisers of all sizes.”

SurveyMonkey's Dave Goldberg Speaks! (Plus a Tour of His New Planet of the Apes Lair in Silicon Valley)

Kara Swisher in News on August 17, 2009 at 6:09 am PT

BoomTown was as surprised as anyone when longtime Silicon Valley Web music entrepreneur Dave Goldberg said in May that his next move was going to be investing in and running an online survey company with the unusual name of SurveyMonkey. Most expected the former Yahoo music head to land at an entertainment or media giant, running its digital operations. But it is at SurveyMonkey where Goldberg has swung himself and he has now made good on his promise to open a Silicon Valley office of the Portland-based start-up.