Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » BlueRun Ventures

Kabbage Raises $17 Million

Riley Kennysmith — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:27:06 +0000

Kabbage, an online merchant lending startup, has raised $17 million in new funding. The investors include Mohr Davidow Ventures, BlueRun Ventures, David Bonderman, Warren Stephens, the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Jim McKelvey and others. Kabbage lends money to online merchants using PayPal’s Adaptive Payments API. [TechCrunch]

Architecture Directory Social Network OpenBuildings.com Raises $2 Million Series A

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 06:30:24 +0000

OpenBuildings.com has raised $2 million in a series A round of funding led by BlueRun Ventures and Index Ventures. John Malloy (BlueRun) will be joining the board of directors at OpenBuildings.

“OpenBuildings aims to promote the sharing of architectural knowledge and gives a platform for discourse between professionals and the general public. What I find exciting is that OpenBuildings allows people to discover buildings and then share and discuss them in a completely new way. I think this is going to really stimulate people’s interaction with architecture.” stated OpenBuildings co-founder and CEO Adel Zakout.

OpenBuildings has over 50,000 registered users and stores information about over 40,000 buildings. OpenBuildings also has an iPhone application that has been downloaded over 250,000 times.

Topsy Raises $15 Million In Third Round

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:50:49 +0000

Topsy is a real-time search engine that has raised $15 million in a third round of funding. Topsy allows users to search for real-time content on Facebook and Twitter. Topsy recently launched Topsy Social Modules, which lets publishers add real-time content to their websites. Social Modules are being used by websites such as Discovery Communications and The Huffington Post. Western Technology Investments, BlueRun Ventures, Ignition Partners, Founders Fund, and Scott Banister invested in this round. This puts Topsy at a total of $30 million in funding. [VentureBeat]

Online Merchant Investment Company Kabbage Raises $6.65 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:18:01 +0000

Kabbage is a service that enables merchants to get capital to start their own online stores. The idea behind the company was so attractive that they have raised $6.65 million in a new round of funding led by BlueRun Ventures. David Bonderman, Warren Stephens, and the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund also participated in this round of funding.

Kabbage assesses the merchants’ sales and credit history, customer reviews, prices, and inventory as part of the process to fund them. Kabbage then make cash advances available to eBay and other online marketplaces sellers quickly using PayPal’s Adaptive Payments API.

Kabbage makes money from the fees that they charge to merchants for working capital. The fees depend on how long merchants keep the capital. They are allowed a 6 month maximum to keep it. The rates range from 6-16% of the original advancement amount. Kabbage is now planning on using this funding to expand their model to Amazon.com and Etsy sellers.

Foodspotting Raises $3 Million From BlueRun Ventures

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 02:28:22 +0000

Foodspotting is a location based food discovery and recommendation application company that has raised $3 million in series A funding from BlueRun Ventures. Angel investors previously put in $750,000 in Foodspotting. Foodspotting plans on expanding their team from 7 people to 14.

“We’re really exciting about expanding Foodspotting’s audience beyond foodies, to continue investing in our business development efforts, and being the place where people go on their mobile phones for food content,” said Foodspotting CEO Alexa Andrzejewski.

[TechCrunch]

Payvment Raises $6 Million In Series B

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 01:14:47 +0000

Payvment is a start-up company that lets you create and operate virtual stores through Facebook. Payvment has raised $6 million in Series B funding led by Sierra Ventures with participation from BlueRun Ventures. Payvment has raised a total of $8 million in funding thus far.

You can sell products through Payvment and import photos through the application. Once you set up a virtual shop on Facebook, it will appear as a separate tab on your personal profile. Payvment launched in November 2009 and over 40,000 people and businesses have sold goods on Facebook. About 500,000 people on Facebook have shopped for products through Payvment. The company recently announced ability for businesses to provide instant discounts and coupons through the Payvment application to Facebook Fans. Payvment users can also review items within stores. Payvment plans to use the funding to hire engineering and community support employees.

[TechCrunch]

Mobile Publishing Company Verve Wireless Raises $7 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:36:51 +0000

Verve Wireless is a mobile startup company that serves as an advertising platform for local media companies. Verve has raised $7 million in a funding round led by BlueRun Ventures.

Verve Connect works with about 750 customers and includes publishers such as Associated Press and Belo Interactive. Verve reported 14 million users and 150 million mobile web pages in July. So far the company has served over a billion mobile ad impressions. Verve plans to use the funding to expand publishing and advertising services.

Verve has raised a total of $9.5 million total. The Associated Press also participated in this round and the previous round.

[VentureBeat]

Payvment Raises $1.5 Million In Series A

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:55:35 +0000

Payvment is a company that helps people set up retail storefronts on Facebook through a Facebook App. Payvment has raised $1.5 million in Series A funding, led by BlueRun Ventures and several angel investors.

Payvment started in November and has signed up over 20,000 businesses and individuals. The company was founded by Christian Taylor. [TechCrunch]

iPhone App Review Service Chomp Raises $2 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:34:22 +0000

Chomp.com is an iPhone application recommendation service that has about 300,000 users that left about 1.5 million reviews. Now Chomp has raised about $2 million in funding.

Chomp also has an iPhone application that allows users to click Like or Dislike for applications. Based on your reviews Chomp puts together a list of other apps you might like.

The $2 million in funding is from Bluerun Ventures, David Lee, and Brian Pokomy. Chomp previously raised $556,000 from Ron Conway, Auren Hoffman, Aydin Senkut. [VentureBeat]

Zivity Spinning Off Funds and Employees Into Mediocre Celebrity Site TopFans.com

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:24:06 +0000

Zivity is a San Francisco start-up company founded by Scott (husband) and Cyan (wife) Banister. Zivity’s business model was to sell a subscription fee of $10 per month to people that wanted to look at provocative pictures of women. I always had my doubts about this company because they were essentially competing against all image search services and image websites. Why would someone pay to use Zivity when you can find such content free?

Around October 2008, Zivity fired about one third of their staff and now they are splitting the company. Zivity launched a new website called TopFans.com and it looks… for lack of a better word.. mediocre. Celebrity websites are found all over the Internet, but TopFans just looks bland compared to all the rest.

When Zivity first launched, the company received plenty of media coverage which may be the reason how they raised $8 million in two rounds. The company today has $4 million of cash left. Zivity will retain $2 million and $2 million will be given to TopFans.com. Thats unfortunate considering that the design of TopFans looks very cheap. If you gave me $2 million, I could probably build the next Google.

Cyan will remain with Zivity, but CEO Jon Elvekrog will become the head of TopFans. Remaining employees will be dispersed between the two.

BlueRun Ventures and Founders Fund will have ownership in TopFans.com now. Will they see a return on their investment? Unlikely.