This week, when Okta floats shares to the public, several big-name venture firms stand to benefit. The IPO will be the second, sizable enterprise-cloud offering this year, following MuleSoft’s debut in mid-March. Okta has indicated it will sell shares between $13 and $15 in a deal that could raise it about $160 million in proceeds. […]
A fund from the Column Group has risen to the top of a solidly performing portfolio of small and mid-tier venture funds at the University of California. The mid-decade portfolio is made up of funds with vintages of 2003 to 2006 and is evenly split between early and later-stage strategies. Also included are two fund […]
Investments in cyber security companies appear to have slipped in the first quarter to their lowest level in a year, according to data from Thomson Reuters. Security investing has been an active spot for venture firms over the past several years as high-profile computer break-ins and identify thefts focused public attention on the protection of […]
Last year as venture investing around the globe slipped, capital chasing artificial intelligence companies moved in the opposite direction: it rose 60 percent. Big dollars rewarded promising startups, such as Israeli ride startup Gett, cyber security company StackPath, and life science startup Zymergen, and poured into another 655 other deals, bringing the young companies $5 […]
There are good reasons to view artificial intelligence as the disruptive force of the next decade. Just look at the evidence. Autonomous cars already run in tests from California to Germany, chatbots, such as Amazon’s Alexa, answer questions for consumers, and Facebook uses AI to track offensive material in video streams. Not to be overlooked, […]
By Alex Derber, VCJ Correspondent London-based Atomico has jumped to the top of Europe’s venture capital pile with a new fund that dwarfs those of its nearest rivals. Two of Europe’s other big investors, Index Ventures and Accel Partners, last year closed $550 million and $500 million, respectively, for their flagship vehicles. They’ve since seen […]
Good news for startups in the Texas capital: More than $200 million in net new venture funds are being raised in Austin. A Feb. 27 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows Silverton Partners is seeking to raise $100 million. (The firm declined comment on the fund.) Meanwhile, NextCoast Ventures, co-founded by former Austin Ventures General […]
Avrio Capital is seeing a lucrative payout on money invested in Farmers Edge following the precision agriculture company’s refinancing earlier this year. Farmers Edge, provider of a digital platform to help farmers boost crop production, in December announced an investment by Fairfax Financial, the holding company of Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa. As part of the deal, Fairfax bought out stakes held by Silicon Valley heavyweight Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Aviro, a Calgary agricultural tech venture firm and one of Farmers Edge’s earliest backers.
By Clint Korver, Ulu Ventures When AppDynamics was acquired by Cisco just before its planned IPO, reports credited early investor Greylock Partners with a return of 100x on its investment in the San Francisco-based enterprise software company. That report was soon amended to reflect that Greylock’s return was closer to 25x, returning an excellent $590 […]
By Alex Derber, VCJ Correspondent Since Project A launched in late 2011, the early-stage venture firm has grown in step with its home city, Berlin. The technology and e-commerce investor raised €80 million ($85 million) for its debut fund and recently finalized a second at €140 million ($148 million). In addition, it’s closing on €40 […]