Dan Primack

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.

Cleantech startup BioFuelBox has ceased operations, after being unable to reach agreeement on a new round of funding with its investors. The San Jose, Calif.-based company had developed a technology whereby it could convert waste fats and greases from wastewater into "road-grade" biodiesel fuel. It had begun generating revenue from its conversion facility in Idaho, and had raised a $9 million Series A round in 2007 from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Element Partners. "We were chugging right along, trying to help ease America's dependence on foreign oil," says Marc Privitera, the company's vice president of engineering. "I had no idea we were going to be shut down, but I guess that's common at venture capital-backed companies."

Following last night's House passage of the landmark healthcare reform bill, we asked some healthcare VCs (and a healthcare PE pro) for their thoughts on the bill and what it might mean for healthcare investing. Get their answers after the jump...

More than 800 peHUB readers have bought tickets to our upcoming shindigs in Boston (3/31) and San Francisco (4/14). Be sure to join us, by getting yours today: Boston: http://bostonshindig.eventbrite.com San Francisco: http://sfshindig.eventbrite.com Tickets cost just $10, with proceeds going to a local charity to be voted on by event attendees (nominate one upon purchase). We look forward to seeing you there...

Atomico Ventures, a European VC fund run by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, today announced that it has closed its second fund -- and first institutional one -- with $165 million in capital commitments. So we spent some time on the phone this morning with Zennström, in order to learn more about the fundraise and the state of European venture capital. Last May, Atomico said in an SEC filing that it was looking to raise up to $266 million. Why did you close on so much less? I wouldn't say we closed on much less. The thing our lawyers told was was that we needed to set a limit in the SEC filing, because if we went above it we'd have to do another filing. So we basically put a high number with a really big buffer. The reality is that, with the kind of investments we’re looking at, you don’t want to have too big of a fund.

Sam Pullara is leaving Yahoo Inc. in order to become an entrepreneur-in-residence with VC firm Benchmark Capital, as first reported by All Things D. He had been the Internet company’s chief technologist. The move becomes official on April 1. UPDATE: We’ve also been told that current Benchmark EIR Marten Mickos is leaving the firm to […]

Last month, I wrote about how venture capitalist Giri Sekhar had been indicted for trying to blackmail a New York public pension official. The alleged story is that Sekhar threatened to disclose an extra-marital affair, unless the official helped secure a $25 million LP commitment to a new fund being raised by Sekhar’s fund. Sekhar’s case hasn’t progressed much since then, with the only available paperwork being the original three-page indictment. A rep from the Albany County DA’s office would only say that the case is “ongoing,” while Sekhar didn’t reply to email requests for comment. But I was curious as to what all this scumdrudgery means for FA Technology Ventures, the firm at which Sekhar had been a partner (he officially left in late December, just as the fan began to stink). A firm spokesman declined to comment, so let’s move onto anonymous sourcing:

When Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion, we knew that the video sharing site's investors had hit a home run. Now we know exactly how far it went, thanks to documents released today as part of Viacom's copyright infringment suit against Google. Sequoia Capital invested a total of $9 million over two funding rounds in 2005 and 2006, and ultimately received $516 million worth of Google stock. This is higher than prior reports of a $442 million payout. If Sequoia held onto its shares, they would now be worth an additional $68 million. Artis Capital, a hedge fund with ties to Sequoia, invested around $3 million in YouTube's Series B round and received $85 million in Google stock. It would be worth another $11 million or so on today's market.

When Financial Engines shot up 44% Tuesday in its first day of trading, media reports termed it a "home run" and lauded the "best IPO performance in months." In response, Benchmark Capital’s Bill Gurley wondered via Twitter if a better characterization would have been that the Financial Engines IPO was “poorly executed/priced.” Leaving aside the fact that Gurley portfolio company OpenTable jumped nearly 60% on its first day of trading, the comment reminded me that we still don’t have a near-perfect way of judging IPO success.

The NCAA tourney begins in just a couple of hours, and more than 450 peHUB readers have already filled out their brackets for our annual pool. The top finisher to receive three prizes: (1) Premium Membership to peHUB, which includes one year of complimentary access to our editorial archive; (2) A complementary one-year online subscription to Buyouts or Venture Capital Journal; and (3) The opportunity to write a lead column for peHUB Wire, which could mean anything from an essay to a company advertisement to a plea for work. Oh, and bragging rights. Just ask last year's winner, Dan Doman. Get details on how to play after the jump...