More cash for Facebook?

Accel Partners, a longtime investor in social network Facebook, has created two new funds that add up to just over $1 billion, according to The New York Times.

One of the funds, totaling $525 million, will be used to invest in European start-ups.

But the interesting part, at least where juicy tech gossip is concerned, is the other $480 million, which is going toward a new late-stage venture fund. A few speculative bloggers have connected the dots and taken this to mean that Accel may be looking to pump more cash into Facebook.

The firm first invested in Facebook in 2005, and partner Jim Breyer sits on the social network's board of directors. With the recession starting to hit social-network ad spending, and some critics expressing concern about whether Facebook's revenue can keep pace with its wild growth, there's a legitimate question as to how effectively Facebook has battened down the hatches for the economic storm.

Raising more money would be an obvious solution, given the social network's repeated insistence that it's more important for the company to focus on expansion rather than profits for the next few years.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently confirmed speculation that his chief financial officer, former YouTube exec Gideon Yu, has been attempting to drum up interest in more venture cash.

Accel has also invested in Glam Media, Metacafe, Etsy, BitTorrent, Trulia, Wetpaint, and a whole host of others. But Facebook, unsurprisingly, is front and center right now.

[DavidKirkpatrick]

Caroline-- From all that I can tell, Carlson, whose post is receiving far more attention than it deserves, was connecting dots that mostly weren't there.

I'm curious, since you're a professional journalist who I respect: Why do posts like that receive so much attention these days? Is it merely because they are sensationally citing supposedly new information? Do you yourself actually think it possibly true that, as Carlson says, "Facebook needs a hero. And it's gotta be soon." ?

[humanssssss]

Doubt it if facebook valuation is at $15B. The company has no revenue model that's sustainable. Facebook is fad. I use tagged.com nowaday.

[skoaljohn]

Facebook should go foward and conquer with more cash if investors are willing.

[metaprinter]

What are facebook's costs and revenues?

[hminaya]

When will facebook actually make more money than it spends...