venture

VC funding slumps in Q1, but get ready for 'Instagram effect'

People looking for signs of a slowdown in tech funding could find ample evidence in the data for the first quarter. CB Insights, which tracks investments of venture capital firms and some big angel investors, reports that VCs plowed $5.9 billion into startups in Q1 -- a 22 percent drop from the last quarter of 2011 and the lowest amount since the second quarter of 2010.

But not so fast. That's not the sound of a bubble popping. Deal volume was huge in the first quarter, and lack of any mega-deals dampened the sheer dollar amount. (Yammer, the … Read more

Luminary investors dig into deep pockets: Path gets $30M

The hot mobile startup Path said today it raised more than $30 million from a roster of well-known investors, including Richard Branson, Facebook backer Yuri Milner, and Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus. The round was led by venture firm Redpoint Ventures.

It's a lot of money for the mobile social network, although earlier reports put the amount raised at $40 million.

Dave Morin, who co-created the Facebook Platform, said in a statement that Path would use the money to help with "international growth and expansion as well as user adoption." Currently, Path claims 2 million users. … Read more

Report: Path nets $40 million in funding, $250 million valuation

Path, the popular photo-sharing social network, is about to announce it has closed a $40 million round of funding that values the San Francisco startup at $250 million, according to sources who spoke to All Things D. Update 5:24 p.m.: Path said it has raised $30 million in a funding round.

The report, which came out late last night, said that the new round was led by Redpoint Ventures and could be announced as early as today.

The company, which was founded by Dave Morin, who co-created the Facebook Platform, and Shawn Fanning, the co-founder of Napster, has … Read more

Who says Silicon Valley forgets you if you're over 40?

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--It's nearly 10 a.m. in the City Council chambers here, and 43 people are waiting for their turn to speak.

These are not citizens with civic matters on their minds; divided into two lines that stretch out from either side of the podium in the center of the room, these veterans of Google, Cisco, NASA, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, Microsoft, Boeing, Sun, and others, are here looking for a new lease on their professional lives.

One by one, they lean into the microphone to introduce themselves. They mention where they've worked in the past, list their skills, … Read more

Y Combinator: Disneyland for investors

Y Combinator is one of the most influential organizations in Silicon Valley. But thanks to the incubator's most recent demo day, it has become a Disneyland for investors, where startups are the attractions that VCs and angels are willing to pay to ride.

On Wednesday, YC graduated 65 startups from its program, its largest class yet. The room was wowed by pitch after pitch from companies like Sonalight, 99dresses, Ark and Socialcam. There were plenty of graphs depicting skyrocketing user growth and revenue, and investors (as they typically do at YC demo day) ate it up.

This demo day … Read more

Holy market mania: Millennial Media shares soar on first day

Understandably, some people are making comparisons to 1999.

Millennial Media, a giant mobile advertising platform that rose up to take on the likes of Google and Apple, saw its stock nearly double on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares were priced last night at $13 each, and closed at $25.

The company, which helps create ads for smartphones and tablets, is the largest independent player in this booming market. Its revenue rose 117 percent in 2011 to $103.7 million, although the company is still losing money. Such a stock debut is sure to … Read more

The sound of crickets: VC offices on Y Combinator Demo Day

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--If you 're an entrepreneur looking for money today on the famous Silicon Valley venture capital row known as Sand Hill Road, yes, that is the sound of crickets you hear.

That's because today is Y Combinator Demo Day, and the lion's share of the biggest tech-oriented VCs in the Valley are packed into one auditorium here, listening to 65 early-stage companies pitch their wares.

The list is a veritable who's who of investors: Ron Conway, Tim Draper, Jeff Clavier, Mike Arrington, Stewart Alsop, and many, many others. And they've got their checkbooks … Read more

Join top Silicon Valley investors, hear their fund-raising secrets

See that giant building above? That's the headquarters of CBS Interactive, home to CNET, in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood. And if you've ever wondered what's inside--keep reading out-of-towners, this is for you too--now's your chance to find out.

On Thursday, March 29 at 6 p.m. PT, CNET will host three of the biggest names in venture investing to talk about how you--yes, you, guy with the messenger bag walking past our office--can fund your entrepreneurial dreams.

In addition to the staples--wine, beer, and light grub--we'll have three longtime Valley players--Dave McClure of … Read more

Virgin Mobile taking preorders for $99 Venture

Virgin Mobile has begun taking preorders for its next smartphone, the Gingerbread-powered PCD Venture.

The Venture is an affordable option for customers looking to scoop up their first Android device; it features a 2.8-inch display, a 600MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and microSD expansion slot (for cards up to a 2GB). Taking a peek at the user manual reveals that the internal storage is 512MB and the digital camera 2 megapixels. While seasoned users might not get excited over the hardware, I suspect that both will matter little to the target user base.

Additional details for the Venture include … Read more