Online auction marketplace Reply.com has inked a $10 million investment from Saints Capital. The company also acquired mobile application developer adHUBs. Financial terms of the acquisition were not released. As part of the deal adHUBs co-founder Reza Hajebi joins Reply.com as chief technology officer. Reply.com is based in San Ramon, Calif. San Francisco-based Saints Capital acquired its stake from existing shareholders, the company said.
2 min read · 04 February 2011
Atlanta-based Twitpay has inked an undisclosed amount in financing from TomorrowVentures and CompuCredit Holdings Corp. Formed in 2008, Twitpay develops social media payment software. Currently its software is designed to help nonprofits raise funds over Twitter, help social gaming developers offer virtual currency, and help retailers facilitate social commerce. The company will use the new money to expand its services.
3 min read · 04 February 2011
Instagram, the maker of a photo-sharing application, has raised $7 million in a round led by Menlo Park, Calif.-based firm Benchmark Capital. Early investor Baseline Ventures also participated in the round, as did individuals including form Facebook CTO Adam D'Angelo; Twitter inventor Jack Dorsey; and Lowercase Capital founder Chris Sacca.
4 min read · 03 February 2011
On demand social music service Rdio has raised $17.5 million in venture capital from investors including Mangrove Capital Partners, venture fund Atomico, Skype and other investors including company co-founder Janus Friis. Rdio will use this infusion of cash to expand its footprint to new platforms, and also to expanding its team. Rdio is based in San Francisco.
3 min read · 03 February 2011
Munich-based energy company Entelios AG has raised an undisclosed amount in Series A financing. The company is backed by Yellow&Blue Investment Management, a Dutch clean energy investor, and High-Tech Gründerfonds, a German venture capital investor. Formed in 2010, Entelios will use the funding continue development of its capital efficient, green technology designed reduce pressure on the existing power grid.
3 min read · 03 February 2011
Path, a San Fransisco-based start-up developing an online personal network, said today that it’s closed on $8.65 million from venture investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Index Ventures. The Series A round will help the company with its continued development. Kleiner Perkins’ Chi-Hua Chien and Index Ventures’ Mike Volpi join the company’s board as a result of the financing.
3 min read · 02 February 2011
Offermobi, the developer of a performance marketing network for mobile advertising, has raised $1 million in financing led by New York-based ARC Angel Fund. The new money will help Offermobi with continued development of its mobile marketing technology. As a result of the round, ARC Angel Fund Chairman Joseph Saviano joins the company’s board.
4 min read · 02 February 2011
Mobestream Media, the developer of technology that allows consumers to access store loyalty cards on their smart phones, has closed on $1.75 million in Series A financing from Austin Ventures. The Dallas-based company will use the money to expand its team, hiring 10 new employees. Texas-based Austin Ventures has $3.9 billion under management.
3 min read · 02 February 2011
For the past month we've been doing M&A Case Studies on MBA Mondays. It's time to go back to the basics of M&A. I laid them out in this post. For the next few weeks, I am going to discuss each of the key issues in detail. First up is the integration plan. The integration plan is the way the buyer plans to operate your business post acquisition. You should get this figured out before you sign the Purchase Agreement. You are going to have to live with the results of the integration and you had better buy into it before you sign your company away to someone else. There are two primary ways a buyer can "integrate" an acquisition. The first way is they mostly leave your company alone. Examples of this are Google's acquisition of YouTube, eBay's acquisition of Skype, and The Washington Post Company's acquisition of Kaplan (one of my favorite M&A cases).
4 min read · 01 February 2011
Toronto-based search marketing startup Chango has raised $4.25 million in Series B financing. Rho Canada, a division of NY-based Rho Capital Partners, led the round, which included participation from iNovia Capital, Metamorphic Ventures, Extreme Venture Partners and 24/7 Media co-founder Geoff Judge. As a result of the funding, Rho Canada’s Roger Chabra will join the Chango board.
4 min read · 01 February 2011
