After a record breaking 2015, agtech funding pulled back a bit in 2016, though deal volume was strong. This year is shaping up as another active one, with big deals for such companies as Plenty and Impossible Foods. The reason is obvious. Digital technologies once focused on targets such as e-commerce and enterprise SaaS are […]
It’s been a tough few years for cleantech as venture investing in the sector, which includes solar, energy-efficiency, battery-storage, water and related technologies, has decline from the heyday of a decade ago. But entrepreneurs Michael Patterson and Porter Harris, co-founders of Romeo Power, are, well, energized about their two-year-old battery-pack startup. The company, which sports a […]
Investments in virtual reality appear to be slowing their slower pace, with just four deals in the sector so far in the third quarter, according to preliminary data from Thomson Reuters. Equity invested has ticked up slightly since the previous quarter, with the sector receiving $52 million so far, up from $38.10 million in Q2. […]
By Alex Derber. VCJ Correspondent For Mangrove Capital Partners, one deal in particular helped to put it on the map. “By chance we invested in Skype, which became a massive success, probably the biggest exit in Europe, and it made the firm,” says Michael Jackson, a partner at Mangrove. Jackson was chief operating officer of […]
Funds from Union Square Ventures, Ampersand Ventures and Technology Crossover Ventures are at the head of a portfolio of maturing ventures funds at the University of Texas Investment Management Company. The portfolio is made up of 2003 to 2005 vintage funds and favors mid-sized capital pools with a mix of early and late-stage approaches to […]
Katerina Schneider, founder and chief executive of vitamin maker Ritual, set out to make the perfect daily vitamin for women when she launched the company in 2015. But Ritual — which in early August announced a $10.5 million Series A round from lead investor Founders Fund and returning investors Forerunner Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Upfront […]
Funds from Battery Ventures, Union Square Ventures and Technology Crossover Ventures lead a late-decade portfolio of venture funds from Washington State Investment Board’s Pathway and Invesco holdings. The portfolio is made up of 2008 to 2010 vintage funds and favors mid-sized and larger capital pools with a multi-stage approach to investing. Nearly half of the […]
K9 Ventures has raised a $42 million third pre-seed venture fund with a vow to continue its strategy of investing “frighteningly early” in emerging technology companies. The new fund was oversubscribed and held a single close on Aug. 8. It is similar in size to the firm’s $40-million 2012-vintage second fund, despite the pressure of […]
Venture investors turned noticeably more upbeat this year with valuations rising across most, if not all, stages, according to two new studies. The surveys, from Fenwick & West and PitchBook, confirm what Cooley reported earlier this month. Companies, particularly in technology, are being valued more richly. The Fenwick report found up rounds exceeded down rounds […]
After closing the beach-access gate near his coastal California property, Vinod Khosla must open it to the public, a state appeals court has ruled. The First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Aug, 9 ruled 3-0 that closing the gate at his property near Martin’s Beach south of Half Moon Bay, which the previous […]