venture capital

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Joe Montana Really Likes Backing Weed Companies

Retired NFL star has found success investing in the legal marijuana industry

(Newser) - NFL great Joe Montana has found a lucrative way to stretch his retirement savings, and dabbling in legal marijuana probably wasn't the first thing to come to mind for the former 49ers golden-boy quarterback. Nonetheless, SFGate reports that his venture capital firm, Liquid 2 Ventures, made some moves in...

Jawbone Is Latest 'Death by Overfunding'

Too much venture capital may have been responsible for company's demise

(Newser) - With $41 billion pumped into startups by venture capitalists last year alone, some experts argue that big-money failures are "inevitable." But Jawbone's recent collapse is so monumental that only the Solyndra bankruptcy of 2011 tops it, reports Reuters . And some argue that all the money pumped into...

Venture Capitalist Offers Startups ... $37

And competition is fierce, to prove a point

(Newser) - A hot new startup fund is drawing dozens of applications from would-be companies hoping to be the next big thing, reports Wired . And what will the six winning applicants get from the Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Fund? All of $37. The idea by former Yahoo engineer Maciej Ceglowski is no joke....

Goldman Loot Staves Off Facebook IPO

By delaying, Facebook keeps secrets, avoids regulation

(Newser) - The $500 million Goldman Sachs and other investors just dropped on Facebook will stave off its long-awaited IPO for a good while longer, the New York Times observes. Until recently, tech companies would jump to go public as soon as possible, but Facebook has so far decided it’s not...

Profit, Schmofit: Twitter Valued at $3.7B

Latest round of fundraising quadruples value

(Newser) - Who says a business needs to make money? Not Twitter; the microblogging service has secured a new round of funding valuing the company at $3.7 billion, it announced yesterday, nearly quadruple what it was valued last year. That valuation comes despite the company’s inability, so far, to actually...

Another Tech Bubble Might Be Getting Ready to Pop

Venture capitalists are pouring money into social networking startups

(Newser) - The New York Times makes the rounds of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs and hears worry that another dangerous bubble is forming with tech startups. Because relatively young companies such as Groupon, Twitter, and Zynga have billion-dollar values, nobody wants to miss out on the next big thing—hence the flood...

7 Dumbest VC Investments Ever
7 Dumbest VC
Investments Ever
Aug 13, 2010 9:29 AM CDT

7 Dumbest VC Investments Ever

(Newser) - So much to choose from; such a short list. Weighing in as the heavyweight champion of all time among venture capitalist bombs—Webvan, the brain-dead effort to use the Internet and a series of high-tech warehouses to deliver low-margin groceries. But at least there was a there there.

Critics Lash Gore's Green 'Profiteering'

Investment profits go back into his nonprofit, counters ex-VP

(Newser) - Al Gore is going to become the world's first "carbon billionaire" thanks to investments in firms that will profit from policies he advocates, his critics say. The ex-VP is a partner in a venture capital firm that stands to make huge profits from investments in green technology, causing accusations...

Twitter Hits $1B Valuation
 Twitter Hits $1B Valuation 

Sep 17, 2009 9:16 AM CDT

Twitter Hits $1B Valuation

Company will raise $50 million this round

(Newser) - Twitter soared to $1 billion in valuation in its most recent round of venture capital funding, TechCrunch reports—up from $250 million in a round earlier this year. CEO Evan Williams shared the results with Twitter employees during a recent meeting. Sources say the company will raise about $50 million;...

No Wedding Gifts, Please; Just Fund My Startup

(Newser) - A Silicon Valley couple has forsaken a traditional wedding registry for venture capital, Gawker reports. “The World's First Start-up Wedding Registry” doesn’t ask guests for appliances or candlesticks; instead, they can give enough to “feed an outsourced engineer for a day” or pay a month’s worth...

Tech Employees Want to Cash in Early

(Newser) - Facebook’s recent deal to let employees sell some of their stock to private investors has sent Silicon Valley scrambling, as workers at other start-ups ask for similar deals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Start-ups rely on the promise of future stock sales to lure and retain talent, but with...

Netscape Pioneer Forms Venture Cap Fund

(Newser) - Marc Andreessen, the tech pioneer who co-founded Netscape, launched a boutique venture capital firm today, intent on investing in “anything that involves chips and computers.” Though Andreessen and business partner Ben Horowitz have been dropping angel investments around Silicon Valley for years, they’ll now have much more...

Gore, Righties Bond Over Non-Embryonic Stem Cells
Gore, Righties Bond Over Non-Embryonic Stem Cells
ANALYSIS
Apr 20, 2009 3:52 PM CDT

Gore, Righties Bond Over Non-Embryonic Stem Cells

(Newser) - Some conservatives see recent investments by Al Gore’s venture-capital group into stem-cell research involving a non-embryonic variety as a tacit denial of that more invasive method, the New Scientist reports. Gore’s company has put $20 million into a project researching treatment with induced pluripotent stem cells, which do...

Venture Capitalists Start to Regain Their Nerve

Confidence gradually rebounding with stimulus plan

(Newser) - Venture capitalists are starting to get their confidence back after an exceptionally timid year, the New York Times reports. A key index shows the administration's efforts to stabilize the economy have given investors glimmers of hope. "There is some degree of stability in the financial markets and that allows...

Google Launches $100M Venture Capital Fund

Investments will be in non-Internet fields

(Newser) - Google will launch a venture capital fund next year with an initial capitalization of about $100 million, reports the Wall Street Journal. Unlike other corporate funds that back companies in their own industries, Google Ventures will look beyond the Internet to also invest in biotech, health care, and environmental technology....

Twitter Snags $35M in Venture Capital

Site will keep growing as it figures out how to make money

(Newser) - Venture capital partners have poured another $35 million into Twitter, reports Bloomberg. The microblogging site said it still has money in the bank from its last round of financing, but the offer was too good to turn down. Twitter—which has grown ninefold in the last year but still lacks...

Bjork Banks on Girl Power to Save Iceland

Singer promotes venture-capital fund run by women

(Newser) - Quirky Icelandic singer Bjork is promoting a venture-capital fund run by women that will invest in socially and environmentally sustainable companies and, she hopes, help rebuild her economically stricken country. "Instead of talking about the problems we have, she is on a mission to build a sustainable Iceland that's...

Biotech Boom Finally Fizzles
 Biotech Boom Finally Fizzles 
Glossies
Jan 21, 2009 7:00 AM CST

Biotech Boom Finally Fizzles

Riskiest sector hit by downturn

(Newser) - In the bullish market, biotechnology was flush with investment, even though one drug might take many as 15 years and as much as a billion dollars to produce—but those days are over for the riskiest technology sector. Portfolio reports that 45% of publicly traded biotech companies will run out...

HuffPo Worth $200M? Em, More Like $2M
HuffPo Worth $200M?
Em, More Like $2M
OPINION
Jan 5, 2009 1:41 PM CST

HuffPo Worth $200M? Em, More Like $2M

Comparing site to Salon's performance deflates the hype

(Newser) - The Huffington Post stunned the media world when it scooped up $25 million last month from Oak Investment Partners for an undisclosed stake, but industry tongue-waggers who put the uberblog's value between $100 million and $200 million are full of it, writes Simon Dumenco in AdAge. To "anybody with...

Startups Seek Ways Around Venture Capital

Twitter, others explore other revenue streams to avoid investors' raised demands

(Newser) - While Wall Street investors have taken advantage of the tanking economy to nab low-priced stocks, Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists have likewise enjoyed a buyer’s market, demanding larger ownership stakes in startup outfits in exchange for their coveted funds. Companies like Twitter—initially funded with $22 million in venture...

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