By Mike Smerklo, co-founder and managing director, Next Coast Ventures Jeff Bezos has sparked a mini “arms race” where cities across North America are looking to stockpile credibility as to why Amazon should select them as its home away from home. Game on. Austin, Texas has been included in nearly every “Best Cities” list published […]
Menlo Ventures said Greg Yap has joined the firm as a partner to lead investments in life science companies. Yap was most recently an entrepreneur in residence at Illumina Ventures, where he focused on genomics investments, and he was a co-founder of PyrAmes, a digital-health company. He previously was a co-founder of Biodesy, a protein-analysis company. […]
Funds from Menlo Ventures, Technology Crossover Ventures and Polaris Venture Partners lead a late-decade portfolio of venture funds at the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System. The portfolio is made up of 2008 to 2010 vintages with a focus on mid-tier funds and an early-stage approach to investing. More than half the funds are between $300 […]
By Alex Derber, VCJ Correspondent Israel has a great reputation for innovation, but also a less enviable one for losing some of its brightest companies to foreign buyers. This isn’t so surprising given that the country’s prodigious technology output has a limited domestic market to sell into, forcing startups to find customers quickly in the […]
Venture fundraising slowed to a four-year low in the third quarter, reflecting a sharp pullback from earlier this year and last year, when money flowed into firm coffers. Forty-seven funds raised more than $4.4 billion during Q3, according to preliminary data from Thomson Reuters. That’s a stark retreat from $12.8 billion in the second quarter, […]
There’s a boom in baby investments, with VCs going gaga over startups that cater to infants. Deal activity in baby and kids tech grew 48 percent from 2013 to 2016, peaking at 176 deals in 2016, according to research firm CB Insights. And 2017 is on track to exceed that number, with 185 deals expected […]
Fintech investing is showing renewed strength this year, boosted by strong second and third quarters, with corporates stepping up and venture investors continuing to show interest. So far this year, investors have thrown $2.55 billion into U.S.-based startups, almost topping all of last year with one more quarter to go. While the pace of funding […]
Two GPs, each with a product background, have teamed up to form the latest new fund focused on pre-seed investing. Afore Capital said Oct. 2 that it raised $47 million in commitments, about 18 percent more than the $40 million it was targeting. The San Francisco firm is led by Anamitra Banerji, formerly a partner at […]
When it comes to SoftBank’s $93 billion Vision Fund, the venture industry is of two minds. The fund has early-stage VCs rejoicing over an abundance of capital for growth companies and for cashing out initial investors. But the largest private-equity fund ever raised could send shockwaves through late-stage dealmaking and upset the game plans of […]
SoftBank’s new Vision Fund may unsettle venture investing in the United States and elsewhere. It also represents a decisive shift for SoftBank’s own investing. Not many years ago, SoftBank followed a somewhat traditional corporate venture capitalist strategy, supporting rounds in young companies it hoped would grow into powerhouses. It took stakes in businesses, such as […]