Luisa Beltran
Mobile Spinach said Monday that it has raised $1 million in VC funding led by Blumberg Capital. Quest Ventures and Launch Capital also participated. San Francisco-based Mobile Spinach is a web-based platform embedded in third-party mobile smartphone apps and websites.
It’s a slow week and with many people on vacation, I thought I’d break out my interview with Michael Schwamm, an attorney with Duane Morris.
I met Schwamm last week at an ACG conference. I asked this seemingly mild-mannered attorney about the registration requirements PE firms are facing and the near government shutdown.
“The best thing that would've happen with a government shutdown is that they would shut down the SEC,” Schwamm said.
Apparently, we haven’t heard the last from the Winklevoss twins.
Yesterday, we asked you if the twins would continue to pursue their case against Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week ruled that the Winklevoss twins can’t undo their $65 million settlement with Facebook. The twins have claimed the settlement was unfair because Facebook hid information about the company’s true value (Faceook is currently valued at more than $50 billion on second market exchanges).
Google has finally completed its $700 million buy of ITA Software, according to a statement Wednesday from Battery Ventures Wednesday. The sale of ITA had been held up by regulators. The DOJ recently approved the transaction. ITA’s investors include Battery Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, PAR Investment Partners, Sequoia Capital and Spectrum Equity Investors.
Just-Eat Canada, which is part of the Just-Eat Group, has acquired YummyWeb. Financial terms weren't announced. Just-Eat, a takeaway ordering service, raised $48 million in March in a round led by Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures. YummyWeb is an online food ordering service in British Columbia.
VC fundraising may have surged in first quarter, but there isn’t much hope this will be a long-lasting trend.
Yesterday, we asked you if you thought the VC fundraising market was back. Our optimism was high after Q1 saw 38 U.S. VC funds raise $6.6 billion, the most since third quarter 2008.
Come one, come all to peHUB's shindig.
In just three weeks, we’ll be hosting the Buyouts New York Conference on April 26th & 27th at The Plaza Hotel.
The night before, on April 25th, we'll be holding the traditional pre-game event, or Shindig. Festivities will occur at Connolly’s Pub & Restaurant on West 45th St. between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. Golub Capital is the event’s sponsor.
LivingSocial’s recent $400 million fundraising is causing some to wonder if there is a bubble in the daily deals sectors.
Ben Choi, a principal with Maveron, doesn’t think there is one when you are referring to market leaders Groupon or LivingSocial. “There is fundamental value in these businesses which have strong cash flow,” he said. Choi was speaking Wednesday at the first ever Daily Deal Summit in New York.
LivingSocial confirmed Wednesday that it has secured an additional $400 million in funding. It did not name investors. So far, the daily deal site has raised more than $600 million.
Preqin came out with its first quarter fundraising numbers and there weren’t any surprises.
Globally, there were 92 funds that reached a final close in first quarter, raising $42.3 billion. The totals are the lowest amounts since 2003, according to data from Preqin.
U.S. funds raised the most capital during the time period. Forty-five U.S. funds collected $25.9 billion in first quarter, while 24 European-focused pools totaled $6.5 billion. Another 24 funds, focused on Asia and the rest of the world, gathered $9.9 billion.
Fundraising in the U.S. is going up, according to Buyouts, our sister publication. In first quarter, 43 funds raised $18.3 billion. This compares to 49 funds that collected $10.2 billion in first quarter 2010. However the Buyouts data covers only U.S. buyout and mezzanine funds, both interim and final closings.