Kaitlyn Landgraf Bartley
The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained an emergency asset freeze to stop an initial coin offering fraud, the agency said December 4. The ICO falsely promised investors a 13-fold profit in less than a month and had raised as much as US$15 million since August, a news release from the agency said. The commission has filed charges against “recidivist Québec securities law violator” Dominic Lacroix and his PlexCorps company in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, according to the release. The complaint alleges that Lacroix marketed and sold securities called PlexCoin on the internet to investors in the United States and elsewhere. The charges are the first filed by the SEC’s cyber unit, which was created in September.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency asset freeze to stop an initial coin offering fraud, the agency announced Dec. 4. The ICO falsely promised investors a 13-fold profit in less than a month and had raised as much as $15 million since August, according to a news release.
Russian venture investing into U.S.-based companies has risen in the past decade, according to a VCJ report last week, but the picture is much grimmer for U.S. firms investing in Russian companies. In the past two years, not a single U.S. venture firm has invested in a Russian company, Thomson Reuters data shows. And the dearth of VC […]
A judge has ruled in favor of the National Venture Capital Association’s legal challenge against the Department of Homeland Security’s plans to delay the International Entrepreneur Rule. DHS is now required to begin accepting applications of foreign entrepreneurs who wish to build their companies in the U.S., according to a release sent by the NVCA.
LRI Vision Partners is raising a first fund targeted at $50 million, according to a regulatory filing. The firm, which does not appear to have a website, is led by Andy Liu, Pingle Reddy, and Ahmad Imam and is based in Seattle, according to the filing. The minimum investment accepted is $50,000, and the filing lists no investors.
Greenspring Associates is raising a second micro fund targeted at $100 million, according to a regulatory filing. The firm, based in Owings Mills, Maryland, and Palo Alto, California, is led by Ashton Newhall, James Lim and Eric Thompson.
Mike Arrington announced today the launch of Arrington XRP Capital, a new $100 million cryptocurrency hedge fund denominated in XRP, the digital currency developed by enterprise blockchain global payments company Ripple. Arrington, the founder of startup news site TechCrunch and venture firm CrunchFund, announced the fund in a blog post and at the Consensus Invest conference in New York.
Govtech Fund has raised $20.75 million toward a targeted $25 million second fund, according to a regulatory filing. The San Francisco-based firm invests in startups in the global government software and IT market, according to its website, and is led by Ron Bouganim. Thus far, 29 investors have committed to the fund.
Russian venture investments in U.S.-based startups have climbed in the past decade, despite heightened political tensions between the two countries. Since 2007, firms with offices in Russia have invested $1.7 billion in nearly 270 deals, according to VCJ’s analysis of Thomson Reuters data. Equity invested by firms with Russian offices into U.S. companies spiked from […]
Space Capital Partners has raised $5.7 million of a targeted $50 million for its inaugural venture fund, according to a regulatory filing. The New York firm invests in the commercial space industry, according to its website, and is led by Chad Anderson and Joseph Landon. The filing also lists Tom Ingersoll as a general partner, and he confirmed his new role to VCJ. Thus far, 16 investors have committed to the fund, according to the filing.