[mer-i-tok-ruh-see]: An elite group of people whose progress is based on ability and talent rather than on class privilege or wealth.

It’s a meritocracy. I have no doubt that there are pockets of issues. I can only speak about Sequoia, we have quite a few women partners.

– Sequoia Capital partner Greg McAdoo, answering a panel questions at TechCrunch Disrupt about whether there’s sexism in the venture capital industry

Security Firm AnchorFree Lands $52 Million From Goldman Sachs

AnchorFree, maker of a popular VPN application, raises some serious capital.
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News Byte

Kleiner Perkins Refills Wallet With $525M for Early-Stage Companies

Sand Hill venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has closed its 15th fund today, at $525 million. As had been previously reported, the fund will not be managed by KPCB’s Brook Byers, Bill Joy, Ray Lane and Aileen Lee (who is now doing a seed fund), though those partners will continue to be involved in ongoing investments. What’s new about the fund is a renewed emphasis on digital enterprise companies, in addition to digital consumer, green tech and life sciences.

Exclusive: Japan’s Rakuten Wins the Heart of Pinterest in $100M Funding Race With $1.5B Valuation

The largest e-commerce site in Japan is about to get pinned by Ben Silbermann in massive funding round.
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News Byte

Viddy Raises $30 Million in Series B Financing Round

Social video application Viddy has raised $30 million in venture capital in a Series B round of financing, the company announced on Friday morning. Investors in the round include NEA Ventures, Battery Ventures, Goldman Sachs and Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures. The additional funds come after an initial $6 million Series A raised in February, which was led by Battery Ventures and included Qualcomm and Greycroft Ventures.

Exclusive: Workday Picks Its Bankers for a Fall 2012 IPO

Having started a search for bankers in December, Workday has settled on four who will take it through the IPO process, starting with an S-1 filing expected in mid-July.
Aneel Bhusri

Voices

Venture-Capital Firm NEA Raises $2.1 Billion

In the venture-capital industry’s most significant fundraising this year, New Enterprise Associates has closed on $2.08 billion for a fund that could grow in size to become one of the largest ever raised.

News Byte

Foursquare Biz Dev Tristan Walker Checks Out, Heads to Andreessen Horowitz

Foursquare employee Tristan Walker announced on Wednesday that he’ll be leaving the social check-in start-up for a gig at Andreessen Horowitz, where his new title will be Entrepreneur in Residence. Walker leaves Foursquare after two-and-a-half years as VP of Business Development, and was one of the company’s earliest employees.

News Byte

DataSift Raises $7.2 Million in Venture Funding

Social analytics company DataSift announced another round of venture capital funding Wednesday, adding $7.2 million in a follow-on Series A round. The company — which aggregates data from social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to package and sell to corporate customers — raised $6 million from IA Ventures and GRP Partners last year; the additional funds came from the same firms.

Greylock Partners Names Dev Ittycheria as Partner

The former CEO of BladeLogic argues that the enterprise is back.
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The “B” Word