64 posts and columns on Spark Capital

News Byte

Zynga General Manager Nabeel Hyatt Joins Spark as Venture Partner

in Commerce on February 9 at 10:46 am PT

Nabeel Hyatt, the founder of Zynga’s Boston office, which led the development of Adventure World, has joined Spark Capital as a venture partner. Hyatt joined Zynga a little less than two years ago through the acquisition of Conduit Labs, where he was CEO and founder. Hyatt will help Spark’s investments with product design, and consult on consumer Web, social and mobile projects.

News Byte

Spark Capital Funds Academia.edu to Make Research Social

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.

News Byte

RunKeeper Raises $10M for Health App Platform

in Social on November 21, 2011 at 7:00 am PT

This summer, RunKeeper tried to transition from being a fitness app maker to a platform for data sharing between apps that track users’ personal health. Now it has gotten some VCs to buy into that broader vision, with $10 million in new funding from Spark Capital, OATV and Revolution Ventures.

Exclusive: Aviary Launches iPad Extensions Today, Keeps on Pivoting

in Mobile on October 10, 2011 at 10:00 am PT

In the next move of a massive pivot away from Flash, Aviary, the New York-based media editing start-up, released a new SDK for iPad developers today.
Aviary iPad

News Byte

Another $85 Million for Tumblr

in Media on September 26, 2011 at 4:55 am PT

Tumblr, the booming blogging platform that has yet to spend much time generating revenue, now has even more time before it has to get down to business. The four-year-old company has raised an $85 million round led by Greylock Partners and Insight Venture Partners, along with new money from Peter Chernin and Richard Branson. Earlier investors Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures and Sequoia Capital re-upped as well.

Twitter Shakes Things Up Again: Fred Wilson, Bijan Sabet Leaving Board

in Social on September 16, 2011 at 7:52 am PT

Twitter’s is reshaping itself yet again, this time at a corporate level, as two prominent and early investors leave the company’s board at the end of the month. Sources say Twitter won’t fill their seats.
fred wilson

Take the Money and Run? Twitter Shareholders Now Mulling Cash-Out Offer From DST.

in Social on August 31, 2011 at 10:13 am PT

To sell or not to sell any of their shares is the question facing Twitter stakeholders right now, as the second $400 million part of the company’s funding by Russia’s DST Global nears completion.
take_the_money

Twitter Poised to Close a Two-Stage $800M Funding, With Half Used to Cash Out Investors and Employees

in Social on July 20, 2011 at 12:42 pm PT

In a move reminiscent of one done by Facebook in 2009, Twitter is zeroing in on a complex $800 million funding deal, which includes a tasty $400 million payout for its current investors and also employees.
payday

Online Home Furnishings Retailer CSN Stores Raises $165 Million

in Commerce on June 22, 2011 at 10:00 am PT

CSN Stores, an online retailer of housewares and home furnishings, has raised capital for the first time ever in its nine-year history — and it’s a whopper of a round.
wayfair_logo_sm

Txteagle Has 2.1 Billion Phone Numbers and $8.5 Million Dollars

in Social on April 5, 2011 at 12:28 am PT

Txteagle, which conducts surveys via text message in emerging markets, has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding from Spark Capital and seed investors RBC Venture Partners, Flywheel Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures.

If You Want to Be a CEO, Work at Microsoft Instead of Google, Says Top Prospect*

in Social, April 4, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

Former DoubleClick Execs Create Groupon Competitor, But It's Not Exactly A Clone

in Commerce, March 9, 2011 at 4:00 am PT

Roll ’Em Up! Video Back-End Company KIT Digital Buys KickApps, Kyte, Kewego

in Media, January 31, 2011 at 4:43 am PT

OMGPOP Wins a $10 Million Round for Social Games From Rho, Softbank

in Media, January 6, 2011 at 11:17 am PT

Do You Want To Save Your Web Ads? AdKeeper Bets $35 Million That You Will

in Media, January 2, 2011 at 9:01 pm PT

The Men and No Women of Web 2.0 Boards (BoomTown's Talking to You: Twitter, Facebook, Zynga, Groupon and Foursquare)

in News, December 21, 2010 at 2:44 pm PT

Tumblr Counts Its Money–$30 Million of New Funding

Q: Why No Twitter Board Seat for Kleiner's John Doerr? A: His Google Board Seat (Plus, Is the Star VC Looking at Spotify and Groupon Next?)

in News, December 16, 2010 at 5:14 am PT

Exclusive: Twitter Raises $200 Million at a $3.7 Billion Valuation; Adds McCue and Rosenblatt to Board

in News, December 15, 2010 at 12:15 pm PT

Exclusive: Silicon Valley Go-To Guy Peter Currie Joining Twitter Board

in News, December 1, 2010 at 3:53 am PT

The Anti-EBay? Yardsellr Closes $5 Million Series A Round

in News, November 22, 2010 at 7:00 am PT

Svpply Is a Social Shopping Site With a Funny Name, Good Buzz and a New Funding Round

in Media, November 22, 2010 at 4:00 am PT

Tumblr Falls Into a Really Big Pile of Money

in Media, November 19, 2010 at 10:39 am PT

Boxee Goes Hunting for Big Bucks

in Media, November 8, 2010 at 4:00 am PT

Casual Games Start-Up OMGPOP Raising a Serious Funding Round

in Media, November 2, 2010 at 1:55 pm PT