fund

Peter Thiel's Founders Fund reportedly raising $600 million fund

Founders Fund, the venture firm started by Peter Thiel that has backed such companies as Facebook and Spotify, is raising up to $600 million for its fourth fund, according to Bloomberg, which is citing anonymous sources.

Bloomberg says that the San Francisco firm is raising the money to invest in both early stage and more established startups. Founders Fund plans to close the fund this month. It comes after the slowest quarter for venture capital in eight years.

This fund would dwarf the previous Founders Fund, which closed in July and raised $250 million to invest in Internet and engineering … Read more

Sprint opens the door to funding Clearwire

Sprint Nextel inched closer to potentially providing funding to cash-strapped Clearwire in its latest debt offering.

The company said today that it plans to offer a private placement of debt due in 2018 and 2021. The uses include general expenses, network upgrades, and the repayment of existing debt. The most interesting, of course, is the potential funding of 4G WiMax provider Clearwire, which Sprint has so far been mum on.

"Securing the capital to fund those items while maintaining a solid cash balance in the case that Clearwire needs funding is important for Sprint's future," said Walter … Read more

Zaarly finally announces funding

When I first talked with Zaarly CEO Bo Fishback (see Zaarly: Not nearly as crazy as it appears), he told me he had $1 million in "announced" funding, wink wink. "There's more?" I asked? Yes, he said, he had millions of dollars "waiting at the door" for his peer-to-peer commerce startup. But he was keeping it a secret. Even from his employees.

Fishback is a big personality. He's a passionate, aggressive guy. This could have been just bluster. Certainly I've heard this kind of BS from entrepreneurs before, sometimes just weeks … Read more

Grockit gets $7M to keep boosting SAT scores

Social learning startup Grockit has raised an additional $7 million in venture funding to expand its online test-preparation services.

Although not related to the funding, Grockit also recently launched a new service called Grockit Answers that can turn any YouTube video into a Q&A session. (Here's a company-supplied example on the credit crisis.)

Grockit's tools draw on social networking and online gaming to personalize learning outside of the classroom--ideally, to help students conquer their academic weaknesses and ace test preparation. The company's tag line is "Test Prep Made Fun." Grockit claims one million … Read more

VC funding: Don't believe the WSJ's naysayers

If you read the Wall Street Journal, you could be forgiven for thinking that the venture-capital market is starting to crack at the seams. It's a striking premise, all right. Just one problem: it's wrong.

Earlier today, the WSJ reported that argued startups are now having more trouble raising cash than in the not-so distant past. The Journal pointed to Naval Ravikant, an entrepreneur and operator of AngelList, a site that lets nascent companies ask VCs for capital, who said that even though 50 to 100 startups are applying for funding each day, "only one to two … Read more

Quench laps up $30 million in funding

Philadelphia-based Quench has garnered $30 million in funding for expansion, the company announced Thursday.

Quench makes water coolers with built-in filtration systems that tap into a building's existing water supply instead of using water in five-gallon plastic jugs that need to be regularly delivered and replaced. The company makes free-standing and countertop water coolers and ice makers.

The coolers use a reverse osmosis water filtration system that includes a sediment filter, an antimicrobial filter for killing microorganisms, a carbon filter that removes things like chlorine that might change water flavor, and a lead filter for reducing heavy metal content. … Read more

Leaked Airbnb e-mail gives glimpse of Valley money, methods

After backing out of a new funding round for Airbnb, a former Facebook employee and current venture capitalist says he's back in, following an embarrassing leaked e-mail involving the deal.

On Saturday, an e-mail from former Facebooker Chamath Palihapitiya to Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky appeared on AllThingsD after being leaked to ATD reporter Kara Swisher.

In the e-mail, Palihapitiya objected to how the $112 million deal, announced in July but not yet finalized, was structured--with the company's founders enjoying a large cash-out (in the form of a $21 million dividend), and other employees getting relatively little:… Read more

Intel creates $300 million Ultrabook Fund

What's an Ultrabook? According to Intel, it's a superthin MacBook Air-like laptop with great battery life and a solid-state drive, which is less than .8 inch thick. Most people couldn't tell you that, though. It's not surprising then, perhaps, that Intel Capital has created a $300 million Ultrabook Fund to drive continuing growth in the category. It is, however, significant news.

According to the press release sent today, Intel's Ultrabook Fund will "invest in companies building hardware and software technologies focused on enhancing how people interact with Ultrabooks such as through sensors and touch, … Read more

Quid pros land $10 million in funding

New Zealander and former decathlete Sean Gourley says it's only a matter of time before his company Quid will know more than the United States government. "How much is information worth?" he asked rhetorically during at a recent lunch meeting with CNET, as he showed off Quid's software that uses data, math, and visualizations to help clients make billion-dollar decisions.

Based on today's news from the company, the answer to Gourley's question is "a lot." Quid announced it has secured $10 million in series C funding from some heavyweights in the Silicon … Read more