Venture Capital News

Bangalore, Nov 19 : Leading software product firm Manthan Systems secured $15 million from three venture capital partners in the second round of funding, the company said Thursday.

Twitter Inc., the social-networking company valued at $1 billion by venture capitalists, said it is generating sales of more than $4 million a year and plans to build on that revenue with advertising.

MySpace has completed the purchase of imeem, which has been rumored since Monday, at a price that could make venture capitalists wary of investing in any startup that requires music licensing.

Private equity-owned fund manager Gartmore plans to list in London in a move which could kick-off a much-touted run of initial public offerings among companies owned by cash-hungry buyout firms.

U.S. electric-car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, two sources familiar with the matter said, amid growing interest in green technology and battery-powered vehicles.

Warner Chilcott PLC, which makes women's health and dermatology products, said a secondary offering of 20 million shares priced at $22.25 per share.

The investor consortium who is the buying party and will control an approximately 70 percent stake is a group led by Silver Lake Partners and includes Joltid and "certain affiliated parties", the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and VC firm Andreessen Horowitz .

The last 15 months have been highly uncertain for both the venture capital industry and the companies they fund, but history shows that funding entrepreneurs takes patience and endurance.

Nov. 19 -- Larry Kramer, an adviser to Polaris Venture Partners, talks with Bloomberg's Betty Liu about plans by General Electric Co.

Jiong Ma spent a decade in scientific research before stepping into the fast-paced world of venture capital, a world sparsely populated by minorities and women.

CEOs say they are experts at recognizing the brown-nosers, the Dwight Schrutes of The O ffice .

The newest version of GoodGuide's iPhone application, now available for free from Apple's iTunes App Store, will make it easier and faster for consumers to find healthy and environmentally friendly products from socially responsible companies while standing in the aisle of a store.

Immunet, developer of next generation AntiVirus technologies, announced today that it has raised $2 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by Altos Ventures with participation from Atlanta-based TechOperators.

This investment strengthens our balance sheet and fully funds us through to IPO." That suggests Toon and picoChip's VCs have pencilled in 2010 as the year for the company's IPO.

Location-based marketing platform Placecast has raised $5 million in funding from Quatrex Capital, Onset Ventures and Voyager Capital.

PORTLAND, Ore. - High tech startup companies today are most likely to be software application vendors or social networking sites.

Norwest Venture Partners has raised $1.2 billion for a new venture capital fund, an optimistic sign for technology start-ups. LifeSize Norwest Venture had invested in the videoconferencing start-up LifeSize Communications, which Logitech bought this month.

Bigfoot Networks , a maker of gaming software and hardware, has raised $8 million in a Series B financing round led by existing investors North Bridge Venture Partners , Palomar Ventures and Raven Venture Partners .

The Florida Opportunity Fund will invest $4 million with venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates to help boost some of the company's investments in the state.

According to the Wall Street Journal, merger activity in the healthcare sector is showing no signs of weakening -- in fact, deal-making in this sector has been setting records notwithstanding the downturns in the economy at large.