Elevation Partners related stories
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peHUB Wire: Friday, March 26, 2010Has Elevation Crashed?
- The Year's Largest VC Deals (So Far)
Had a few free minutes, so figured I'd put together a list of the year's largest venture capital deals (so far). Fairly liberal with the term "venture capital," but that's why this is an interim list rather than an official/final list. Of note: Half of the ten companies could fall under the cleantech category. None of them are healthcare. Take a look after the jump...
- Stage1 Ventures Into "DST Deals"
Stage1 Ventures is raising $250 million for a new platform that will invest in hybrid venture deals, with a first close is expected to occur by the end of June. Hybrid venture deals typically include both a primary and secondary investment. The former is used for working capital and other corporate purposes, while the latter is used to provide liquidity to early company employees and/or shareholders. Such transactions have been dubbed "DST deals," after Digital Sky Technologies, the Russian investment house that has used the model for later-stage investments in Facebook and Zynga. Earlier practitioners included Advanced Equities and Technology Crossover Ventures, while Elevation Partners recently got in on the action with its $100 million deal for Yelp ($25m primary, $75m secondary). David Baum, who co-founded Stage1 four years ago as an early-stage investor, says that the past year's liquidity crunch caused his firm to become inundated with direct secondary dealflow. Its $25 million debut fund, however, had neither the capital nor strategic flexibility to pursue such deals. The result was a new barbell strategy, in which Stage1 Ventures will be complimented by the platform, called S1 Capital Partners (yes, the "S1" is supposed to reference an IPO filing).
- Yelp Gets Sued for "Extortion"
Last December, we published a post titled Whoever Buys Yelp Will Inherit the Lawsuits /58696/whoever-buys-yelp-will-inherit-the-lawsuits/ At the time, Yelp was in talks to be acquired by Google, although it later opted for a $100 million investment from Elevation Partners (including $75m in secondary liquidity). It also was the subject of several defamation-related lawsuits from local business owners. As we wrote: Yelp generates extremely strong feelings among business owners, especially in San Francisco where it started. Some love the review service. But, for awhile, there was a steady drumbeat of negative media stories about Yelp that were usually generated by disgruntled business owners who would call reporters and complain, often anonymously because, they said, they feared backlash from Yelp. Accusations that Yelp would allow business owners to pay Yelp to manipulate their reviews and put the good ones on top were never proven, but some business owners were convinced that it was happening, and it was never clear from the outside exactly how Yelp operated. The company has an algorithm to sort and cull reviews that it says it is constantly working to improve. Well, now there is a class action lawsuit http://yelpclassaction.wordpress.com/ directly addressing the "extortion" complaint. It was filed yesterday in Los Angeles, by law firms Beck & Lee (Miami) and The Weston Firm (San Diego). The plaintiff is a Long Beach, Calif.-based veterinary hospital that claims
- Confidence is up among Silicon Valley VCs
The quarterly Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index reports that 33 Silicon Valley venture capitalists are showing a modest uptick of confidence
- Elevation Announces Yelp Investment
Elevation Partners has agreed to invest up to $100 million into Yelp, a San Francisco-based local search and review site. This includes an initial investment of $25 million in Series E stock, with the remainder to come via a planned purchase of shares from vested employees and other shareholders. Yelp previously raised around $31 million, from firms like Benchmark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and DAG Ventures.
- Executive moves, week of Jan. 18, 2010
Hires and promotions at Elevation, Macquarie and other VC and PE firms
- peHUB Wire: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
peHUB Returns to New York City