Lawrence Aragon

The University of Texas Investment Management Co. is among the many limited partners burned by early stage, tech-focused venture capital funds launched during the dot-com bubble. But UTIMCO didn’t let that negative experience sour it on such funds – and it is now reaping the rewards. Since 2005, the LP has backed seven early stage […]

After two strong quarters, initial public offerings tanked in the third quarter following the August market correction and continued concerns about economies around the globe. IPO proceeds in the third quarter totaled $3.1 billion as of Sept. 27, down from $11.9 billion $12.3 billion in the second quarter, according to IPO Watch, a quarterly and annual […]

The fundraising market remains difficult for venture firms, but not for those who are well connected. For example, Razor’s Edge Ventures, a firm run by the CEO and two other executives of defense contractor Blackbird Technologies Inc., has closed on $43.8 million of a targeted $50 million fund, according to a regulatory filing. The firm, based […]

Menlo Ventures today filed an amended SEC document showing it has added a seventh partner and has raised slightly more than $400 million for its 11th fund. Fund XI has raised a total of $402,777,778.00, according to the filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The document also lists Shervin Pishevar as a partner. He joined Menlo in […]

Four months after peHUB reported that Shasta Ventures was in the market for a third fund, the Silicon Valley venture firm announced today that it has raised $265 million for Shasta Ventures III LP. Thanks to positive IRRs on its first two funds, Shasta came in above target on its third vehicle despite a difficult fundraising environment. Shasta said in a July 15 regulatory filing that it planned to raise $200 million. In an apparent bid to capture the attention of technology entrepreneurs, the early stage tech firm broke the fundraising news on TechCrunch, a popular technology blog. Shasta, based in Menlo Park, Calif., did not issue a press release. Tod Francis -- co-founder of the firm and one of ...

Marc Andreessen was great at browsers, but when it came to social networks, he was no Mark Zuckerberg. The Netscape founder-turned VC has sold Ning, the social networking company he co-founded, to Glam Media at a price that is reportedly about 20% of what the company was valued at just three years ago. Andreessen’s prior […]

The Michael Arrington/AOL saga appears to be over, with AOL announcing today that the founder of TechCrunch has left the popular tech blog and AOL (which acquired TechCrunch earlier this year) to focus on his new venture fund. The announcement came more than two weeks after Arrington and AOL announced that he had raised a […]

After tech blogger extraordinaire Michael Arrington announced yesterday that he launched a new venture fund, the blogosphere exploded with questions about conflict of interest. Specifically, how could Arrington remain editor of TechCrunch and write impartially about companies that he had backed with his new $20 million CrunchFund? AOL CEO Tim Armstrong initially dismissed the concern, […]

Despite a few large acquisitions, foreign investment in Italy has dropped