What you need to know - 01/24/11

Facebook raises $1.5 billion; Twitter to earn $150 million in advertising revenue in 2011

Technology trends and news by Ronny Kerr
January 24, 2011 | Comments
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/1638

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Apple's App Store hit 10 billion downloaded apps over the weekend, reaffirming the store's massive popularity for owners of iOS devices like the iPad and iPhone.

 

Auditude, a technology platform for video management and monetization, raised $11 million in Series B financing led by Granite Ventures and joined by new investor Silicon Valley Bank.

In 2010, venture capitalists invested $26.2 billion in 2,799 deals, a six percent increase in deals and an 11 percent increase in capital versus the year before, when 2,636 deals raised $23.6 billion, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.

Facebook has raised $1.5 billion at a valuation of approximately $50 billion. The funds came from Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies (DST), The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., and funds managed by Goldman Sachs.

Founding Facebook President Sean Parker called The Social Network, in which Justin Timberlake plays Parker as a raving party animal, a "complete work of fiction."

Flat World KnowledgeFlat World Knowledge, a provider of online and open-source textbooks, secured $15 million in Series B funding led by Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Monster Offers, a daily deals site, has raised $10 million in equity financing from Auctus Private Equity Fund, LLC. 

VatorNews' Faith Merino explores how Pandora's move to mobile was the force that catapulted it to stardom.

Nearly 50 million people in the United States live with a disability, and a new report published Friday by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project finds that half of all disabled people do not have Internet access.

Twitter will earn $150 million in advertising revenues this year, the vast majority of which will come from the US, predicts a new eMarketer report.

 

VatorNews' Bambi Francisco gives a sneak peak into the "super angels" discussion we'll be featuring at the upcoming Vator Splash, in San Francisco on February 3.

Today's featured investor is Tod Francis, managing director of Shasta Ventures.

Zynga continued its acquisition spree into 2011 with the purchase of Area/Code, a New York City social gaming startup and co-creator of CSI: Crime City.


Related companies, investors and entrepreneurs

Plogo_zynga_zynga-logo-for-screen-v2
Zynga
Startup/Business
Description: Zynga is the largest social gaming company with 8.5 million daily users and 45 million monthly users.  Zynga’s games are avail...
Plogo_twitter-twitter_twitter
Twitter
Startup/Business
Description: What is Twitter? Twitter is an online information network that allows anyone with an account to post 140 character messages, called twee...
Plogo_pandora-music-gnome-project_pandora
Pandora
Startup/Business
Description: Pandora, the leading internet radio service, gives people music they loveanytime, anywhere, through a wide variety of connected devices: ...
53861
Tod Francis
Managing Director,
Shasta Ventures
Bio: Tod Francis has 25 years of experience working with consumer driven companies. Since 2004, Tod has been a managing director at Shasta Ven...

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