Benchmark Capital

Josh James Start-Up Domo Says Arigato to IVP in $20 Million Funding Round

Arik Hesseldahl in News on January 31 at 8:59 pm PT

Utah-based Domo Technologies has now raised $63 million. So what’s it going to use all that money for? Maybe, just maybe, an acquisition or two?

Akamai Confirms the Rumors, Nabs Cotendo for $268 Million

Arik Hesseldahl in Enterprise on December 22, 2011 at 5:19 am PT

Akamai confirms the rumors, and nabs Israeli content-distribution start-up Cotendo, apparently outbidding Juniper in the process.

Reid Hoffman and Matt Cohler Team Up to Give Edmodo $15M

Liz Gannes in Social on December 8, 2011 at 4:30 am PT

Edmodo, which helps K-12 teachers and schools create private social networks for their classrooms, has raised $15 million.

News Byte

Uber Gets Uber-Large Round of Funding for Mobile Car Service

Liz Gannes in News on December 7, 2011 at 8:31 am PT

Uber today announced it had raised $32 million in Series B funding from Menlo Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Bezos Expeditions, Benchmark Capital and others, and it also launched in its first European city, Paris. The 18-month-old company says it wants to be a “global transportation and logistics brand.” For now, it helps users hire and pay private luxury cars to drive them around.

Former Palm and Twitter Techie Mike Abbott Jumps From EIR at Benchmark to Kleiner Partner

Kara Swisher in News on December 1, 2011 at 11:00 am PT

Well, that didn’t last long, Mike, but maybe the food was better at 2750 Sand Hill Road than at 2480 Sand Hill Road.

News Byte

Spark Capital Funds Academia.edu to Make Research Social

Liz Gannes in Social on November 30, 2011 at 12:00 pm PT

Academic research operates on an entirely different calendar than the rest of the world, but maybe the pace would be sped up if researchers could more easily follow and share with one another. That’s the premise of Academia.edu, a social network that has three million monthly visitors and gets 3,000 new academic papers per day. It has now raised $4.5 million in funding, led by Bijan Sabet at Spark Capital. Competitors include the Benchmark-funded ResearchGate.

Akamai, Juniper Said to Be Contending for Israeli Start-Up Cotendo

Arik Hesseldahl in Enterprise on November 28, 2011 at 5:57 am PT

If the reports of a deal are true, it would be the biggest exit for an Israeli start-up in a decade. And it wouldn’t be so bad for a bunch of U.S.-based venture capital firms, either.

News Byte

Benchmark Leads Investment in Online Stationery Site Minted

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on November 15, 2011 at 6:00 am PT

Online stationery store Minted has secured $5.5 million in a second round of venture funding today. The round was led by Peter Fenton of Benchmark Capital, with IDG Ventures and Menlo Ventures, Marissa Mayer of Google and Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp also participating. The capital will be used for recruiting and for new product lines. Minted is focused on printing custom greeting cards, wedding cards and other paper products, sourced from a community of independent graphic designers.

Fatdoor Founder Sues Benchmark Capital, Saying It Stole His Idea for Nextdoor

Liz Gannes in News on November 11, 2011 at 3:52 pm PT

Fatdoor founder Raj Abhyanker on Thursday filed a complaint against Benchmark Capital for interference, fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets after seeing the Silicon Valley venture firm fund Nextdoor, the local social network launched last month.

Asana Launches to Public — Finally Moving Out of Private Beta

Kara Swisher in Enterprise on November 2, 2011 at 6:00 am PT

In Sanskrit, “asana” means “sitting down” and refers to strong but relaxed postures in yoga, presumably so frustrated workers can achieve a digital form of nirvana.