funding round

Glympse Shares Its Location: The Bank

Ina Fried in News on June 22, 2011 at 9:37 am PT

The start-up, which allows users to briefly share their location with selected friends, said Wednesday that it had raised $7.5 million in Series B funding. Glympse also announced it has passed the 1 million user mark for the iPhone and Android service.

Former Forbes.com Publisher Jim Spanfeller Has VC Money; New Sites on the Way

Peter Kafka in Media on June 29, 2010 at 3:00 am PT

Former Forbes.com publisher Jim Spanfeller has a new gig: A venture-backed Web publishing start-up. Spanfeller Media Group, which plans to launch a series of new sites, is close to finishing a funding round that I’m told will total around $2 million. Backers include RRE Ventures, Greenhill SAVP, SoftBank and Lerer Media Ventures.

Venmo Wants You to Pay Your Pal, Over the Phone. What Will the Carriers Think?

Peter Kafka in Media on March 2, 2010 at 7:48 am PT

Here’s an interesting take on mobile payments: What if you could send money to a friend simply by tapping out a message on your phone? That’s the premise behind Venmo, a stealthy but buzzy start-up that just closed its first funding round. The four-man team gathered up something in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, I’m told. Investors include Betaworks, Lerer Media Ventures, and–oddly, given that it’s a modest angel funding round–RRE Ventures.

Twitter’s Ad Plan: Copy Google

Peter Kafka in Media on February 26, 2010 at 9:04 am PT

What will Twitter’s long-awaited ad platform look like? Something like Google’s. That’s the general description of Twitter’s plan, according to people who have been briefed by the company.

With Google Gone, Elevation Invests in Yelp–Just as It Wanted To

Peter Kafka in Media on January 27, 2010 at 9:15 pm PT

Whatever happened between Google and Yelp is now officially kaput: Instead of selling the entire company to the search giant, Yelp’s owners will be taking up to $100 million in funding from private equity shop Elevation Partners–who had been trying to get a deal done with the local reviews site for months.

Yelp Is Gone–For Now–But Google Has Plenty of Fish Left to Fry

Peter Kafka in Media on December 21, 2009 at 7:38 pm PT

The Google/Yelp deal, which seemed close just a few days ago, is indeed gone, at least for now. But even if that one doesn’t go through, no need to worry. Google has plenty more in the hopper. M&A types say Eric Schmidt and crew have been unusually clear about the companies they want to buy, and that the list is a long one.

Hot Potato Is Ready to Eat: Do Twitter, Facebook Users Want Another Real-Time Chatter Service?

Peter Kafka in Media on November 25, 2009 at 7:25 am PT

Last month I told you about Hot Potato, one of the buzziest start-ups in the very buzzy “real time” sector. Now you can check out the service yourself. Or at least you can get a glimpse of it in this video.

Done Deal: MySpace Buys Imeem for Up to $10 Million

Peter Kafka in Media on November 18, 2009 at 7:12 pm PT

It’s official: MySpace has closed on its acquisition of Imeem, the streaming music service. It is paying a fire-sale price of $1 million, sources familiar with the situation tell me, and could pay up to $7 million to $9 million in earn-outs for key employees, who will likely include CEO Dalton Caldwell. Investors like Sequoia and Warner Music Group had pumped at least $25 million into the venture.