Medium’s Ev Williams Discusses Buying New York MagazineMedium, the publishing website run by Twitter Inc. co-founder Ev Williams, expressed interest in buying New York Magazine and other media properties, according to people familiar with the situation. Williams discussed the topic with Pam Wasserstein, chief executive officer of the magazine’s parent company, New York Media, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The talks were preliminary and unlikely to progress, one of the people said. [ Bloomberg ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. Crypto suffers a black eye after a buzzy $130 million project crumblesThe cryptocurrency industry has had a wild, peak-to-valley year. Case in point: The news today that Basis — one of Silicon Valley’s buzziest attempts to create an alternative to traditional currency — is shutting down. Basis said it raised $133 million just this April from blue-chip venture capitalists like Andreessen Horowitz and Alphabet’s GV. That shocking amount of dough was meant to build a “stablecoin” — or a currency that would be insulated from inflation — and to try and prevent the price sensitivity that has bedeviled other cryptocurrencies. [ Recode ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. A day in the life of a VC investment directorWe have a big portfolio, with 84 companies in there, which is bigger than most funds, and that definitely takes up a big chunk of time. Some will be getting on brilliantly and won’t need any support or intervention, but others do. We don’t sit on 84 boards, thankfully, but collectively we do spend a lot of time with management and companies to support and help them progress. [ PitchBook ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. TransferGo scores $17.6M Series BTransferGo, the London-based international money transfer startup, has raised just over $17.6 million in Series B funding, including an earlier tranche of funding closed in May. The round is led by Vostok Emerging Finance, and Silicon Valley’s Hard Yaka, with participation from Revo Capital, U-Start Club, and Practica Capital. The figure also includes around $830,000 in equity crowdfunding via Seedrs. [ Tech Crunch ] How Mic, a digital media darling that raised $60 million, wound up firing all its staff and selling for $5 million The millennial media darling Mic was sold recently for a fraction of its onetime presumed value. Mic's cofounder Chris Altchek blamed Facebook for the company's failure to continue as a business. But Mic's leadership team built the company on an unwavering faith in Facebook that investors funded again and again. Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. Minted lands $208M Series E from Permira and T. Rowe PriceMinted, a company we’ve been covering on this site for a decade-plus, plans to double down on its wholesale and licensing business, which helps larger retailers sell stationery, art and home decor designed by its community of independent artists. Work-Bench Announces $47M Fund II to Help Enterprise Founders Sell into the Fortune 500We are thrilled to announce Work-Bench Fund II, a $47M fund to invest in the next era of enterprise founders selling into the Fortune 500. This fundraise is a particularly special one for us,
as it validates a thesis we have put so much work into testing and perfecting: that the enterprise VC model — when flipped — can completely reimagine how we identify, back, and support world-class startups. [ Medium ] Reducing Page Load Times by 90% : Tomasz TunguzOver the last month, I’ve been modernizing this site with one goal in mind: speed. The net result from that effort is a 90% reduction in page load time from 5 seconds to about 500 milliseconds. At Google, I learned page load time is highly correlated to engagement metrics including bounce rate and time on site. I’ve been focused on it ever since. [ Tomasz Tunguz ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. Accelerating Social Impact And Equity Through Venture CapitalAccess and opportunity aren’t words often associated with venture capital. Aaron Walker, CEO of CamelBack Ventures, is looking to change that. Here, we chat about what shaped his vision for the future of venture capital, the management lessons he took from his time as a classroom teacher and how the San Antonio Spurs influences his leadership. [ Tech Crunch ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. With $25M in the bank, Guru plans another growth spurtBy the end of 2019, software maker Guru plans to add 75 staffers to its current headcount of 100, fueled by a $25-million Series B funding round announced Wednesday. With Thrive Capital as lead investor — a New York-based VC firm founded by Josh Kushner, brother of President Donald Trump advisor (and son-in-law) Jared Kushner — and funding from previous backers Emergence Capital, FirstMark Capital,
the Slack Fund and MSD Capital, the round will let the knowledge management company grow its engineering, sales and marketing teams. [ Technical ]
Juniper Square lines up $25M for its real estate investment platform Juniper Square, a four-year-old startup at the intersection of enterprise software, real estate and financial technology, has brought in an additional $25 million in Series B funding to fuel the growth of its commercial real estate investment platform. Ribbit Capital led the round, with participation from Felicis Ventures. Founded in 2014 by Alex Robinson, Yonas Fisseha and Adam Ginsburg, the startup’s chief executive officer, vice president of engineering and VP of
product, respectively, Juniper has raised a total of $33 million to date. [ Tech Crunch ] Venture Capital Reboots I FortuneE885 Year-end special! 2018 trends, 2019 predictions: products, AI, podcasting, platforms, politicsE885: Year-end special TWiST! Top 2018 trends, prominent players & 2019 predictions for products, AI, podcasting, platforms, entertainment, politics & much more - with Nick Abouzeid, Lon Harris, Rob May, Skye Pillsbury & Austin Smith Investing in African Startups with Kola Aina, Marieme Diop and Omobola JohnsonDiscussing the unique landscape of the African startup ecosystem and what can be learned from Silicon Valley's approach to venture capital. |