andreessen-horowitz

Shapeways, the Etsy of 3D printing, raises $30M

The 3D printing movement is well under way -- albeit with some hype built in -- and Shapeways, a marketplace where people can design, create, and sell their own products, is leading the charge.

Shapeways, sometimes known as the Etsy for 3D printing, now has 10,000 "shop owners" -- people who have designed products, from iPhone cases to jewelry and shoes, that they print out and sell via Shapeways. The New York-based company is building out its recently opened 3D printing factory in the Queens borough of New York City, where its printers are cranking out roughly … Read more

Escaping the Iron Curtain for Silicon Valley

The one thing everyone wants to know about Christian Gheorghe's life is the one thing he won't talk about.

In Silicon Valley, where the top talent at the hottest companies -- the Zuckerbergs, the Brins, the Cooks, and so forth -- are household names and paparazzi bait, Gheorghe's name isn't in play. Though he is a Silicon Valley CEO, his company, Tidemark, makes enterprise-focused performance and financial management applications, certainly not the sexiest of products.

But to a category of people who matter a lot in Valley -- the VCs -- Gheorghe is a bona-fide hero, … Read more

Andreessen Horowitz holds on to Facebook shares in long-term gamble

Andreessen Horowitz, the famed venture-capital firm run by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, is not selling the Facebook shares it acquired through direct investment.

Reports surfaced yesterday saying that Andreessen Horowitz, one of the earliest and biggest investors in Facebook, was offloading some shares it directly acquired through investment in the social network following a mandatory lockup period. However, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing has revealed that only Marc Andreessen himself has personally offloaded some shares. According to TechCrunch, which was first to report on the news, a spokesperson from Andreessen's firm said that the sales will only … Read more

Udacity snags $15M to continue its assault on higher education

Few industries are under greater assault by technology than higher education -- and few companies are doing more to upend the way people learn the world over than Udacity, the young Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup that's brought computer science classes online and watched hundreds of thousands of students enroll. For single classes.

The startup is led by Sebastian Thrun, a former Google VP and fellow who led the development of Google's self-driving car and Google Glasses. And those are just some of his accomplishments. It was while he was a professor at Stanford University that he stumbled … Read more

The 404 1,143: Where Justin spent way too much on dinner (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Fat fingers to blame for upping mobile ad clicks.

- Andreessen Horowitz invests $15 million in Web site Rap Genius.

- San Francisco's Weiner tries to ban exposed genitals.

- How New Yorkers can beat Time Warner's bullish modem rental fee.

Look who showed up at the Justin Bieber concert! (courtesy of The 404 SubReddit)… Read more

Andreessen Horowitz drops $15M on Web-annotation startup

Looking to help jump-start a new era in annotating Web text, leading venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz today said that it's investing $15 million in RapGenius, a startup that enables such annotations.

RapGenius was founded on the idea that rap lyrics needed explanation. And given that Andreessen Horowitz partner Ben Horowitz is a well-known rap devotee, there's an obvious hook that would attract the VC firm to help fund the startup.

"Given that RapGenius is a Web site where people explain rap lyrics, and given that my partner Ben is a noted rap fanatic, your first reaction … Read more

Facebook: We're 'very focused' on putting ads in newsfeeds

NEW YORK -- Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and investor Marc Andreessen again made the case for the social networking giant's opportunity in the mobile market, saying advertising on smartphones and tablets is the company's primary focus.

The two, speaking today during an interview with Charlie Rose at an advertising conference in New York, dismissed concerns that Facebook is struggling and said it's making strides in mobile.

"This is word of mouth at scale, and it's made possible through real identity ... on mobile devices we haven't seen before," Sandberg said. "… Read more

Ben Horowitz: Fueling the tech boom and learning from hip-hop

Never mind the slew of economic concerns -- hell, make that catastrophic concerns -- hanging over the world. Silicon Valley is riding high. And no venture firm is leading the charge harder than Andreessen Horowitz.

The company started three years ago this month by longtime business partners Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz (first Netscape, then LoudCloud and Opsware). They've since raised $2.7 billion and have backed 150 companies, including newly-public Facebook, Zynga and Groupon, as well as hot private companies such as Pinterest and AirBnb. Earlier this month, Andreessen Horowitz made a $100 million bet on GitHub, a … Read more

Pet sitter finding service DogVacay gets more funding

DogVacay, a startup that matches people who need a dog sitter with people who are interested in caring for dogs in their homes, is getting additional first round venture capital funding, the company was set to announce on Thursday.

The site, which reminds me of an Airbnb for boarding dogs, has received an undisclosed amount from Andreessen Horowitz, a VC firm that led a $112 million investment in Airbnb almost a year ago and has also invested in Facebook, Twitter and Zynga. DogVacay raised more than $1 million in a seed round of funding in March from First Round Capital, … Read more