Index Ventures

Content (Recommendation) Doesn’t Come Cheap: Outbrain Raises Another $35 Million

Peter Kafka in Media on December 14, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

You know those “recommended” links at the bottom of this post? Turns out that’s a huge business.

Kaggle Solves Big Data Problems With Contests — And Now Has Big Funders and $11M on Board

Liz Gannes in News on November 3, 2011 at 12:00 am PT

What if the Netflix Prize model — solving hard problems about big data sets using contests — could be applied to all sorts of other things? A remarkable start-up called Kaggle is doing just that.

SoundCloud Lands on the iPad, Waits for Other Music Services to Join It There

Peter Kafka in Media on October 27, 2011 at 5:28 am PT

SoundCloud, the buzzy music-sharing service/utility, has arrived on the iPad, via a new free app. But other music services haven’t found much use for the tablet so far.

API Marketplace Mashape Raises Funding

Liz Gannes in News on September 6, 2011 at 11:53 am PT

Mashape, an up-and-coming marketplace for APIs, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding — which, given some of the names backing it, seems like a pretty small amount.

Mind Candy’s Moshi Monsters Roar to Life Through Toys “R” Us Deal

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on June 13, 2011 at 7:01 pm PT

Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith chated last week at E3 about how he believes he can leverage the company’s gaming roots to build a Facebook alternative for kids while also creating an entertainment brand worth billions.

Exclusive: Flipboard Confirms $50 Million Funding at $200 Million Valuation

Kara Swisher in News on April 14, 2011 at 1:23 pm PT

Late last month, BoomTown posted about a huge venture funding effort by the high-profile and even more highly designed social media reading app for the Apple iPad, Flipboard. Today, its co-founder and CEO Mike McCue confirmed a $50 million round at an eye-popping $200 million valuation, in a wide-ranging interview at the start-up’s Palo Alto, Calif., HQ.

Former Yahoo, AOL, HuffPo Sales Dude Greg Coleman Lands Again

Kara Swisher in News on April 7, 2011 at 6:00 am PT

Greg Coleman, the online advertising sales exec who keeps making bank after bouncing from top Web jobs, has a new one. The former Yahoo, AOL and Huffington Post sales leader has just taken a job as president of Criteo, a “personalized retargeting” company.

Seven More Questions for Gil Elbaz, CEO of the Data Mercenary Factual

Arik Hesseldahl in Enterprise on April 1, 2011 at 7:00 am PT

Four months after landing $25 million in venture capital funding, Factual’s CEO talks about solving the problem of data “haves” and “have-nots.”

Pretty Flipboard Fundraising at an Even Prettier $200 Million Valuation

Kara Swisher in News on March 23, 2011 at 7:15 am PT

Flipboard, the high-profile and highly designed social media reading app for the Apple iPad, is out raising another round of funding at an eye-popping $200 million valuation, according to numerous sources close to the situation. The Palo Alto, CA, company declined to comment on its new funding efforts, which sources said had recently accelerated.

News Byte

Spanish Private-Sales Site Privalia Expands to Germany Via Acquisition

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on March 7, 2011 at 3:46 pm PT

The online private-sales retailer Privalia, which operates in Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico, is buying Germany’s Dress for Less. Reuters said that according to its sources, Privalia paid between $210 million and $280 million. On Monday, Privalia raised roughly $123 million from private equity firms General Atlantic, Highland Capital Partners, Index Ventures and Insight Venture Partners to fund the transaction, which also included debt and shares. Together, Privalia is forecasting that they will achieve triple-digit revenue growth this year to around 400 million euros. In December, eBay purchased Germany-based brands4friends for $200 million.