Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Silicon Valley Bank

Former Google China Head Kai-Fu Lee Raises $180 Million For Innovation Works Incubator

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:53:13 +0000

Kai-Fu Lee is the former head of Google China. Lee has raised $180 million for his startup incubator company founded two years ago known as Innovation Works. Innovation Works is an early-stage accelerator company.

Innovation Works provides funding, advisors, and support for start-up companies. “Our unique ‘incubation-plus-investment’ model has not only produced a pipeline of high-quality projects but also enabled local early-stage startup teams to grow quickly with the help of our 360-degree mentoring services, in effect creating the entrepreneurial academy for Chinese startups,” stated Lee. Innovation Works incubated 34 companies thus far. Nine of the companies secured additional rounds of funding from third-party venture capital firms.

Investors in this round include WI Harper, Silicon Valley Bank, Sequoia Capital, IDG-Accel, Foundation Capital, Foxconn, SAP, Bertelsmann, Motorola, Autodesk, and pension funds in the U.S. and Canada. Ron Conway and Yuri Milner was also in this round of funding. Executives from Google, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon.com, and Yahoo! also participated in this round. The incubator previously raised $115 million.

[TechCrunch]

Amazon Invests in ParAccel Analytic Databases

Riley Kennysmith — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:45:00 +0000

GigaOm reports that Amazon.com has invested in ParAccel, an analytic database company. ParAccel hasn’t released the funding total from their last round of investments, but have revealed a total of $73 million in funding since their first round in 2005. Investors include Amazon, Menlo Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Bay Partners, Walden International, Tao Venture Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. The company expects around $20 million in revenue for 2011.

Ping Identity Raises $21 Million for Secure Cloud Sign-Ins

Riley Kennysmith — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:42:50 +0000

Ping Identity has gained investors Triangle Peak Partners and Silicon Valley Bank, raising $21 million for their secure sign-in platforms. According to TechCrunch, the new investors join Appian Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, General Catalyst Partners, SAP Ventures and Volition Capital.

Ping Identity’s products allow users to sign in with a single cloud identity. The $21 million they have raised will be used to develop new products and boost their sales and marketing. Ping Identity currently serves more than 600 customers, providing a secure single sign-in for many cloud applications.

Adconion Raises $34 Million In Funding

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 13 May 2011 02:38:14 +0000

Adconion is an Internet advertising network that has raised $34 million in funding from Silicon Valley Bank’s London office. Adconion’s major operations are based in Los Angeles, California and they said that the funding will go towards acquisitions and working capital requirements. Adconion is also known for acquiring Joost. [SoCalTech]

Color.com Raises $41 Million For Building Location Photo- and Video-Sharing Social Network

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:30:35 +0000

Color.com is a service that came out of nowhere this week and shocked the press. The company has developed an application for smartphones that automatically lets you share photos with the people around you. Essentially they are calling it photo sharing with an “implied social network.”

What sets this service apart from Facebook is that people are interested in those around them that they have not met yet. Twitter, Foursquare, and Gowalla have proven this. Three major investors have put $41 million in Series A funding into Color.com. Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank have all put money into this round.

The team behind the company has an impeccable record as well. Color.com CEO Bill Nguyen recently sold Lala to Apple for $40 million. And co-founder Peter Pham is best known for launching BillShrink and Photobucket. DJ Patil, former chief scientist at LinkedIn had created how to benchmark and compare data accurately using location. “We have no interest whatsoever in being acquired,” stated Nguyen. “This is purely what we need to operate. There are real data needs and real capital costs.”

The homepage of Color.com states “simultaneously use multiple iPhones and Androids to capture photos, videos, and conversations into a group album. There’s no attaching, uploading, or friending to do.”

[ReadWriteWeb]

Auditude Raises $11 Million In Second Round Of Funding

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:13:03 +0000

Auditude is a company that helps large websites manage online video ads. Auditude has raised $11 million in a second round of funding led by Granite Ventures with participation from Silicon Valley Bank, Redpoint Ventures, and Greylock Partners. They plan on using the new funding for expansion and looking into mobile video. Auditude also hired Jeremy Helfand, the former CEO of United Online’s media group. According to paidContent, Auditude manages “billions” of monthly video impressions. Some of their clients include Comcast, DailyMotion, Fox News, MLB, and Sony. Auditude raised $10 million two years ago from Redpoint Ventures and Greylock Partners.

Transpera Rings In $8.25 Million Series B

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:28:37 +0000

Transpera is a mobile web video company that is based in Santa Monica, California. The company is led by Frank Barbieri, former President at Viva Vision and former Group Product Manager at Microsoft. Transpera has raised their second round of funding at $8.25 million from Flybridge Capital Partners, Intel Capital, and First Round Capital. Transpera also received debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank.

“Transpera is demonstrating true leadership in the mobile video market by building an ever-expanding network of premium content partners and delivering innovative, game-changing advertising opportunities,” stated Jeff Bussgang general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners. “We continue to be pleased with their progress in setting a new standard within the mobile video landscape.”

Transpera will be using the money for expanding their product line and service customers. Transpera already helps monetize video for AccuWeather, Associated Press, Break.com, Revision3, ManiaTV, Fox, MTV, etc.

Transpera has also hired Brian Monnin as Chief Product Officer. Monnin is former VP of Publishing Products as Brightcove.