fund

Bitly, a tech company known for URL shortening, looks like it's heading toward greener pastures and making more user products. The New York-based company is said to have raised about $20 million in funding, according to tech news site The Verge, citing multiple sources. This is double the amount the company raised in its previous round of funding.

"The link shortening has always been a bit of a Trojan Horse," investor Joshua Stylman told The Verge. "Bitly is really an analytics tool for tracking content across the open, distributed web, and doing it at a massive, … Read more

In order for venture-capital firms to invest in startups, they need funding from institutional investors. In many cases, such investors are happy to drop some cash in a fund. But a new study warns that doing so might not be the best idea.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, an organization that promotes entrepreneurship by investing in venture-capital funds, found things might not be as bright as some firms would have investors believe. In fact, the organization found that over the last 10 years, the vast majority of venture-capital funds have failed to outperfom the public stock market. In the last … Read more

Evernote has raised yet another funding round, $70 million on top of the $96 million it previously raised in several rounds. CEO Phil Libin confirms that the funding puts Evernote at a $1 billion valuation and prepares the company for IPO.

In a blog post announcing the funding, Libin reiterates his goal to build a "hundred year startup that can be everyone's second brain." He says the funding will be used for expansion, acquisitions, increasing the pace of product improvements, and international expansion. It's "not because we need the money to fund operations," he … Read more

AVOS Systems, the Internet venture started by YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, has closed a Series A venture capital financing round with some help from old friends.

Google Ventures led the Series A round, along with New Enterprise Associates, according to AVOS. Madrone Capital and China-based Innovation Works also participated in the financing. AVOS did not divulge how much it raised in the round.

Hurley and Chen made a name for themselves in the Web community back in 2006 when they sold YouTube to Google for $1.65 billion. In their new role as leaders of AVOS, they've bought social-bookmarking site Delicious from Yahoo. … Read more

Square has once again hit the road to woo investors and raise some cash, according to a new report.

According to All Things Digital, citing unnamed sources, the payments company is attempting to raise new capital at valuation as high as $4 billion. The publication didn't say how much cash Square wants to raise, but if the ATD report is correct, the startup's valuation has skyrocketed in the last year.

Back in June, Square raised $100 million on a $1 billion valuation. In November, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson gave Square even more cash, though the company did … Read more

Now we know why Facebook didn't build a good mobile app. It didn't have to. It could afford to pay $1 billion for a 14-person company, Instagram, that managed to figure out the secret sauce for winning over smartphone picture-takers. So, clearly, Path is next, right?

Not exactly. Path has a lot going for it, but it's lacking some key elements. It's a valuable company, but arguably over-valued given its recent funding news: A $40 million funding round from Redpoint Ventures (source: AllThingsD). Update 5:24 p.m.: Path said it has raised $30 million in … Read more

Third Point LLC, the hedge fund that owns 5.8 percent of Yahoo, is taking its case against the company's current strategy to the shareholders. Specifically, the fund is asking shareholders to vote in an alternate slate of directors in an attempt to oversee new CEO Scott Thompson as he struggles to turn the company around.

Yahoo snagged Thompson from eBay in January following last September's ouster of former CEO Carol Bartz. Co-founder Jerry Yang resigned shortly afterwards, while several board members announced that they would not seek re-election this year.

But those changes weren't enough to … Read more

U2 frontman Bono is embarking on a solo tour but it doesn't involve music. A private equity firm co-founded by the musician is hitting the road to search for more money, according to Reuters.

Elevation Partners, which has invested heavily in social networking, is now looking to dig up $1 billion for a second fund, reports Reuters. The company's largest investment to date has been in Facebook, to the tune of $270 million, which came in three installments and valued the social networking site at $16 billion at the time. (The company is now estimated to be worth $… Read more

Three companies have combined forces to take a look at the state of angel round investing.

The Angel Resource Institute, Silicon Valley Bank, and CB Insights have revealed in their first Halo Report, a study on the current state of early-stage investment across the U.S., that California is, as many might expect, the top destination for entrepreneurs looking to raise cash.

According to the study, 21 percent of all investments were secured last year in California. The Great Lakes region, including Ohio and Wisconsin, among other states, accounted for 15.9 percent of all angel investing in 2011. New … Read more