Wink.com has been acquired by Reunion.com.  Wink.com is a search engine focused on individuals.  Reunion.com is both a social network and a search engine.  Both Wink and Reunion will be merging and launching a new website.  The new site will be launching in early 2009.

Reunion.com first partnered with Wink.com in April 2007.  Wink’s people profiles became available to Reunion’s members.  Last year Reunion.com acquired ZoomInfo.  Reunion.com was started with $1.4 million in angel funding and raised $25 million Series A from Oak Investment Partners.

Wink’s original investors was Reid Hoffman and Peter Thiel.  Cambrian Ventures and Greylock invested $6.2 million Series A in Wink around January 2005.

Demand Media Inc. is a Santa Monica, Calif. based company that was founded by Richard Rosenblatt. Roseblatt was the former President of Intermix Media, parent company of MySpace. News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media became the part company of MySpace when they acquired Intermix.

The company has raised a 3rd round of funding at $100 million by investment banking company, Goldman-Sachs. The previous investors include 3i Group, Generation Partners, Oak Investment Partners, and Spectrum Equity Partners [Source: alarm:clock]. Demand Media has raised a total of $320 million as of now.

So what does Demand Media actually do?

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Today Microsoft made an announcement that they would be acquiring Parlano. Parlano is a Chicago, Ill. based company that developed software called MindAlign, an enterprise group chat messaging system. Microsoft is expecting to implement Parlano software as a part of Microsoft Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator. Microsoft Office Communicator is an internal messaging system that works similar to Windows Live Messenger, commonly used among major corporations.

“Parlano has been successful in meeting the rigorous communications needs of companies in financial services and other vertical markets,” stated Gurdeep Singh Pall, the corporate vice president of the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft. “Parlano’s expertise and technology, added to Microsoft’s unified communications offering, will deliver customers the most complete presence, instant messaging and group chat solution on the market.”

Financial terms for the acquisition were not disclosed. Parlano is a spin-off from UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) and has 50 employees. Parlano’s investors include Longworth Venture Partners and Oak Investment Partners.

“Parlano has helped many organizations enhance operations, improve service delivery and increase sales through more effective ongoing group communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing,” stated Nick Fera, the chairman and CEO of Parlano. “The resulting competitive advantage will be further enhanced as we bring Parlano technology together with Microsoft Office Communications Server and Office Communicator.”

iCrossing is a digital marketing company founded in 1998. The company has raised $62 million in a fifth round of investment that brings their total round of funding to $110 million. The $62 million investment was received from Goldman-Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) and several other investors.

“iCrossing is at the forefront of developing search and social media strategies that engage – not alienate – users,” stated Richard Rosenblatt, the chairman of iCrossing. “The market is responding and iCrossing has seized a leadership position in the digital space. With CEO Jeff Herzog’s vision for the future, there are sure to be even bigger things to come^.”

What does iCrossing actually do? An example of their work includes developing a solution to make PR Newswire mobile. PR Newswire is a press release website. Essentially, this would benefit journalists all over the world. Other major clients include Coca-Cola, Colgate, GM, Office Depot, and Travelocity.

Investors in iCrossing include:
1.) Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS): Goldman Sachs is a global investment and securities firm based in New York. Goldman Sachs focuses on investment banking, asset management, and trading and principal investments. Some of Goldman Sachs’ case studies are available at: http://www2.goldmansachs.com/insight/case_studies/.
2.) Oak Investment Partners: is a venture capital firm with $8.4 billion in committed capital. Some of the consumer Internet investments that Oak participated in includes aQuantive (acquired by Microsoft for $6 billion), Connexus Corporation, Fastclick, Inc. (acquired by ValueClick), and Shop.com
3.) RRE Ventures: RRE is a venture capital firm that manages $850 million in assets. Some of the companies that RRE has invested in includes WeddingChannel.com, Stockback (acquired by Vesdia), SmarterKids.com, Pinnacor (acquired by MarketWatch), and eMachines.
4.) StarVest Partners L.P.: is a private equity company that has $150 million in assets. Companies that StarVest invested in include Tibersoft Corporation, Newgistics Inc., NetSuite Inc., Connected Corporation (acquired by Iron Mountain Inc.), and Insurance.com

References:
[1] iCrossing press release: Goldman Sachs and Oak Investment Partners Lead Investment in Digital Marketing Leader iCrossing

For further details, refer to iCrossing’s website: www.icrossing.com

MobiTV of Emeryville, CA has recently raised another $30 million as part of its Series C, according to GigaOM. On July 12, 2006, MobiTV had also raised $70 million from other investors led by Oak Investment Partners. The current $30 million in funding comes from corporations, Hearst Corporation and Adobe Systems. Throughout MobiTV’s inception in 1999, they have accumulated over $125 million.

With this new investment, MobiTV plans on expanding their services and increasing a customer base. Hearst Corporation is a major player in media investments. For example, on the Hearst Corporation homepage, there is press release entitled, “Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Hearst Corporation Lead $30M Series C Financing for Fast Growing Free Directory Assistance Provider Jingle Networks” from October 23, 2006. And we all know that Adobe Flash is being heavily used by video sharing conglomerates YouTube, Soapbox, and Google Video. So this is a clear-cut choice of investment for both Hearst and Adobe.

MobiTV offers services for cellphones, Palm products, Windows Mobile devices, and laptops. What is MobiTV? According to the About Us page on the MobiTV website:
MobiTV, Inc. is the first mobile television and digital radio service provider for cellular, WiFi and broadband enabled devices worldwide. The MobiTV® service is available in the US through Sprint, Cingular, Alltel; in the United Kingdom through 3 and Orange UK; and to Canadian customers through Bell Canada, Rogers and TELUS Mobility; and other regional carriers around the world.

MobiTV was founded by Dr. Phillip Alveda and Paul Scanlan. Alveda (current CEO and Chairman of MobiTV) was also the founding CEO and CTO of The MicroDisplay Corporation and was also a developer of spacecraft software systems and hardware at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Scanlan (COO of MobiTV) was a previous Executive VP and Managing Partner with Enterprise IG.