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- Graphicly Nabs $3M in Venture Financing
Boulder, Colo.-based Graphicly, a provider of online comic books, has raised $3 million in Series A funding. DFJ Mercury led the round, which included participation from 500 Startups, Dundee VC, Ludlow Ventures and undisclosed angel investors. The company will use the money to develop and expand its online entertainment platform, which will include audio commentaries, video, music and interactive components.
- Foodspotting Chomps Down $3 Mln Round
Foodspotting has raised $3 million in Series A funding. Blue Run Ventures has led the round. Jay Jamison, a Blue Run venture partner, will join Foodspotting’s board. Several early stage VCs from Foodspotting seed round also invested, said Alexa Andrzejewski, Foodspotting’s CEO. “We see great market potential in having the Foodspotting service provide guides, recommendations and information to people to help them figure out what they should eat,” Jamison said in a statement.
- Ecommerce Bounces Back
It was another monster year for the Internet, thanks in large measure to the growth of Groupon and other social shopping sites
- Viki Receives $4.3 Mln in Funding
ViKi said Wednesday that it has received $4.3 million in series A funding from investors including Greylock Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, and Neoteny Labs. Viki, based in Palo Alto and Singapore, provides subtitled TV and movies in over 100 languages.
- Week In Review
My take on some notable PE and VC-related events and news in the past week. Questioning the Fanboy Fascination with Andreessen Horowitz In the last few weeks, I’ve friended an employee at Andreessen Horowitz http://a16z.com/ who I consider a smart guy and someone worth knowing and who always has smart tweets. By no fault of his own, he may be working at an overhyped firm. Or, at the very least, it’s a firm that has not yet generated the cash-on-cash returns that justify the amount of attention it has been getting. At least that was my takeaway from reading a story about the firm /88003/fanboy-fascination-is-andreessen-horowitz-overhyped/ from my colleague Connie Loizos, who took a look at the media frenzy surrounding Andreessen Horowitz since it was launched in mid-2009 with a $300 million fund. Connie talked to social psychologist Amy Cuddy of Harvard Business School http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=ovr&facId=491042 who recently produced research suggesting that people are likely to see someone as competent if they’ve demonstrated expertise in just one area, even if they later display incompetence elsewhere. So whereas Andreessen and Horowitz are great technologists, the jury is still out on whether they’re investment geniuses. You be the judge on whether they’re overhyped. The post drew 17 responses, most of them in agreement with Connie's assessment. Reader Eric wrote: "Nice balanced article, Connie. It’s good to have at least one rational voice out there willing to do their own thinking, rather than simply serving up the pre-packaged PR flak that we seem to be getting from others. Kudos to Andreessen Horowitz for the savvy to tap the LP’s while they are enthusiastic for the unproven product, rather than waiting for the (possibly good, possibly bad) performance to manifest itself."
- 500 Startups Invests in Tokyo-based Peer-to-Peer Lender
Venture fund 500 Startups has put an undisclosed amount into Japanese peer-to-peer lending service Exchange Corporation. Tokyo-based Exchange Corporation, whose service AQUSH allows people to borrow money at lower rates than they would get from traditional banks, will use the funding to expand its business. Mountain View, Calif.-based 500 Startups is an early stage investor and incubator formed by Silicon Valley investor Dave McClure.