Kleiner Perkins related stories
All articles and analysis
peHUB Wire: Thursday, April 1, 2010Random Ramblings
Investors Show Love for Wound CareVCs have invested $200M in wound-healing technologies, hoping to grab market share from an entrenched incumbent
The VCJ 20 Most Promising StartupsCloudera tops Venture Capital Journal’s inaugural list of the most promising companies financed in the past year
- Kleiner Perkins Doubles iFund Size
Kleiner Perkins is about to begin its double-secret meeting about "developments in the mobile content revolution." Specifically, it seems that the Silicon Valley-based venture firm is doubling the size of its iFund to $200 million. It also will expand its focus from iPhones to also include iPads. Not really worthy of a press conference, is it? On the other hand, the double-secret meeting strategy has gotten the technorati to cover the news, so it works from a pure PR level. Kleiner partner Matt Murphy signaled that such a move could be coming, in a VCJ story from April 2008 http://www.vcjnews.com/story.asp?sectioncode=29&storycode=44087 : “There’s no hard cap on this,” says Matt Murphy, a KP partner and lead investor for the iFund. “If we see opportunities beyond the $100 million, we’ll increase the allocation.” Worth noting that the original iFund was a carveout of an existing KP fund, rather than money specifically raised for Apple-related purposes. Our assumption is the same is true here, which makes us wonder what sector is getting deemphasized. Could it be cleantech?
- peHUB First Read
* PIK toggles are back http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/03/30/armed-and-dangerous-pik-toggles-are-back No, this is not a premature April Fool's story. * Theresia Gouw Ranzetta: Rx for Silicon Valley success http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/03/30/rx-for-silicon-valley-success-vc-advice/ * Kim Masters: Bill Clinton's $20 million breakup with Ron Burkle http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-03-29/bill-clintons-20-million-breakup/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsL1 * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62025220100331 London rises early http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE62U0MA20100331 European shares climb http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE62U15J20100331 and the Nikkei flattens http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62U05520100331 * IBM has a plan to woo software startups http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/i-b-ms-bid-to-woo-software-startups/?dbk * Ethan Epstein: Postal service cutbacks could affect Netflix's bottom line * Kleiner Perkins has a media briefing set for 10:30am PT, to discuss * PE Council puts out study http://www.privateequitycouncil.org/press-releases/2010/03/31/private-equity-backed-companies-weathered-%e2%80%9cgreat-recession%e2%80%9d-better-than-peers-new-pec-study-finds/ claiming that PE-backed companies "weathered the Great Recession better than their peers." Maybe, but that big debt cloud is not yet close to clearing... * Kleiner Perkins has a media briefing set http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/03/30/kleiner-perkins-sets-briefing-on-mobile-content-revolution/ for 10:30am PT, to discuss "developments in the mobile content revolution." An iPad fund? Something totally unrelated? And John Doerr will be there, taking a break from his cleantech focus (a return to his place of former glories?). We'll have someone there, and let you know what they say (along with the rest of the blogosphere).
- peHUB Wire: Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Random Ramblings
- peHUB Wire: Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Random Ramblings
- Kwedit Founder Danny Shader on Why His Highly Hyped Company Isn't What You Think
If there’s one point that Kwedit founder Danny Shader would like to communicate above all else, it is that his one year-old company -- which already has been excoriated by Stephen Colbert http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/265469/march-02-2010/the-word---kid-owe and favorably reviewed in the NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/business/07digi.html -- is a serious operation with two potentially lucrative ways to change how we pay for things. Shader's message may be hard to stick. Kwedit, which went live on February 3, has received attention mostly for one aspect of its business: Kwedit Promises. The feature allows anyone over age 13 to pay for digital goods online by extending them small amounts of credit. Later, using the company's Kwedit Direct system, he or she can pay back what was borrowed using Mom or Dad's credit card; by sending in cash through a Kwedit-supplied envelope; or by printing up a barcode that can be scanned at a nearby 7-Eleven, which accepts cash payments, then alerts Kwedit that a particular “promise” has been kept.
- Ten Most Active VC Firms of 2010 (So Far...)
We're still a few weeks away from Q3 venture capital deal data, but fired up the old database to see which firms have been the most active so far. It's mostly the usual suspects, although Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures moved into the Top 10 with much faster investment paces than they exhibited last year. What follows after the jump is based on our VentureXpert database, based on global investment pace (the MoneyTree numbers, on the other hand, are only for investments in U.S. companies). Per usual, just a reminder that money in doesn't always correlate to money out.