Venture Capital

Airtime, the video startup founded by Napster duo Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning, announced today that it had closed a second round of funding and had purchased another startup.

The mysterious company raised $25 million, according to a TechCrunch report. The startup also announced the acquisition of Erly, a company founded in 2011 that claims to provide a "new social platform for organizing and sharing your personal content." Terms of the deal were not revealed.

Erly was founded by CEO Eric Feng, a former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which led Airtime's round of financing. … Read more

A female junior partner has sued the venerable Silicon Valley VC firm Kleiner Perkins for alleged gender discrimination, saying she suffered retaliation for rebuffing sexual advances. (See the full complaint below.)

In a complaint filed May 10 in the Superior Court of California, Ellen Pao outlined more than five years of such behavior on the part of the firm's senior partners. Pao, a San Francisco resident, is alleging the company discriminated against her and other female employees when it came to promotions and pay.

According to the complaint, Pao lists 20 other female employees, known as Jane Does throughout … Read more

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has closed its 15th traditional fund at $525 million, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm announced this evening.

Best known for backing companies such as Google and Amazon, Kleiner Perkins said the fund will focus on investing in digital consumer, digital enterprise, green tech, and life sciences startups. The fund, dubbed Fund XV, will be led by 10 of Kleiner Perkins' partners, the company said.

"Portfolio companies in KPCB 15 will benefit from the firm's holistic approach to company building that we pioneered more than a decade ago," Ted Schlein, a partner … Read more

Commentary: Facebook isn't your typical company, so why should its IPO be any different?

In one week, Mark Zuckerberg and friends will ring the NASDAQ bell, and we will witness the largest Internet IPO in history. Facebook will likely raise more than $10 billion at a valuation I suspect will skyrocket past $100 billion.

The best part: all of this will happen under the direction of a 27-year-old CEO with absolute control over his company. Some investors are complaining about his nonchalant attitude towards the IPO (oh no, Zuck isn't wearing a suit!), but there is no shortage … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--If there's one thing that technology investors would like to have an easier time doing, it's poaching highly skilled engineering talent.

That much was clear at the AngelList Hackathon, an event held here today at the offices of AngelList, a company built around connecting early-stage startups with investors. But unlike many hackathons, during which entrepreneurs build new products meant for the world at large, these hackers were showing off new tools aimed solely at the large AngelList community of startups seeking funding.

In about 90 minutes, AngelList team members showed off 10 tools all meant to add … Read more

The rush to replace paper loyalty cards with app equivalents is on, and one of the hottest in the race -- Chicago-based Belly -- has just won a big nod of support.

Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz is investing $10 million in Belly, which the company will use to conquer new markets and keep up its pace of signing on more than 100 local merchants per week. Belly, which is currently available in six cities, today is launching in New York and Boston.

The $10 million investment, a series B round, comes with some star power. Andreessen Horowitz partner Jeff Jordan, … Read more

When it comes to courting investors, especially venture capitalists, for your startup, the recipe is simple: stop worrying and start focusing.

Most investors have a singular goal -- to fund a startup that eventually becomes a large, independent, defensible company. Finding an Evernote, Airbnb, or Instagram provides the kind of return that makes or breaks a venture capital firm.

But how do VCs find a company that is going to become big? It's not an easy task, but there are a few clues investors look for in order to determine your chance at hitting the jackpot. Here are a … Read more

The latest job title for the Winklevoss twins -- the Olympian duo made famous for their role in the founding of Facebook -- should come as little surprise. What, after all, do you do when you have more money than you know what to do with and you're just 30 years old?

Naturally, you become a venture capitalist. Or, in the case of Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, just hang out a VC shingle and become Winklevoss Capital. Remember, these Harvard alums gave up their long legal battle with Mark Zuckerberg last June and agreed to a $65 million settlement. … Read more

Jumping on the philanthropic bandwagon that counts people like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, and others as members, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz says its leaders will give to charity at least half of their lifetime VC earnings.

According to a Wall Street Journal report today, the six Andreessen Horowitz general partners said their giving will begin right away.

The partners plan to donate $1 million immediately to six nonprofits in the Valley, including the Second Harvest Food Bank and The Shelter Network, which focuses on homelessness issues, according to the Journal. The partners are: Marc … Read more