500startups

Dave McClure's 500 Startups raising $50M fund

Dave McClure, one of the most active early stage investors in Silicon Valley, is trying to add to his arsenal.

McClure's incubator and seed fund, 500 Startups, revealed today in an SEC filing that it's raising a new fund. The target size for the new fund: $50 million fund. That's not a lot for a VC fund, but for a fund like McClure's it represents a lot of investments. He plows an average of $50,000 into about two startups a week. To date, 500 Startups has made about 260 investments, including Twillio, Hipster and Udemy.… Read more

Startups at SXSW: Lots of buzz, little substance

For all the hype that Highlight received during SXSW Interactive, the app pretty much went silent when it came to the music part of the conference. Awareness of Highlight among techies was high, but it just never made it to the outside world. I'd like to say that this is surprising, but really, it's not.

Buzz apps seldom achieve osmosis between the tech world and the real world. Those that do sometimes find fame and fortune, but the majority just swirl around the industry vacuum before pivoting into oblivion. It's a problem.

One of the most basic … 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

Startup SpringCoin aims to help those in debt

If one Y Combinator startup is successful, it might have just gotten a bit easier to get out of debt.

SpringCoin (formerly DebtEye), opens its online doors this morning with the noble intention of helping you, or possibly someone you know, get out of debt. No, SpringCoin won't pay your bills for you, but through a combination of its "smart-learning software" and human expertise, it will provide a detailed plan to get yourself out of debt.

SpringCoin isn't without competition, though. ReadyForZero, a fellow Y Combinator alum that also boasts an investment from Dave McClure of … Read more

KitchIt brings Airbnb simplicity to hiring a party chef

Who needs to go to a restaurant to have a great meal when you could have one made for you at home?

That's the idea behind KitchIt, a Silicon Valley startup that is hoping to use technology, smart and easy design, and good culinary industry connections to offer everyday people custom restaurant-quality meals at home at affordable prices.

The concept is simple: To use KitchIt, you go to its Web site, enter your city, the date and type of the dinner you're planning, how many people are in your party, and the price range per diner.

Once you'… Read more

Startup mania: Dave McClure on rapid-fire funding, opportunities

There's a fierce debate going on in Silicon Valley about the state of startup funding. Some are screaming that valuations are way too high. Others are arguing early stage startups are facing a cash crunch and are unable to raise their first real money, known as the Series A.

Longtime venture capitalist Bill Gurley of Benchmark Capital said recently that every day he gets five to 10 introductions to startups that need Series A money--up from one to five a year ago--but that there just isn't enough capital to invest.

Whatever the reality--and TechCrunch just crunched some numbers … Read more

Instructional portal Udemy raises $3 million

Udemy, a site that lets anyone create and upload courses, today announced it has raised $3 million in a funding round.

Udemy is trying to democratize education by creating a central place for anyone to teach and learn online. The San Francisco-based startup, which launched in May 2010, now offers more than 6,000 courses on everything from how to develop iPhone apps to how to speak Serbian. So far, the most popular courses are in technology, but that's changing as more people from different fields join the site.

Lightbank, an investment firm started by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkosfky … Read more

Will Call frees you from the tyranny of choice

Planning ahead? For wimps. If you're out on the town and want to see a show, there's a new service coming, Will Call, that will show you a small selection of events starting later that day, with guaranteed open seats--and with those seats available at a nice discount.

Like the other poor planner's friend, Hotel Tonight (story), Will Call is a smart yield management play. As founder Donnie Dinch said during his pitch at the 500 Startups event on Tuesday, 40 percent of all event tickets go unsold. At the last minute, Will Call puts warm bodies … Read more

LaunchRock sets up site launch placeholders

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Thirty-one early stage entrepreneurs pitched 31 start-ups today at the 500 Startups event. (See news of previous 500 Startups launches.) The company I was most interested to see pitch: LaunchRock. It's a service that enables small companies to quickly put up "coming soon" pages. It collects e-mails and looks professional.

It's a fine service. But, really, from the outside it looks like just a feature. Is it a company?

I talked with co-founder Thomas Knoll about the venture, and there is, thankfully, more behind it. In addition to sending e-mail addresses to customers, … Read more