What you need to know - 03/07/11

Ronny Kerr · March 7, 2011 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/17d3

AOL closes its acquisition of The Huffington Post; RIM loses its CMO

AdGrok, a Y Combinator-backed startup looking to simplify Internet advertising, raised $470,000 in angel funding from Chris Sacca, Russ Siegelman, Ben Narasin, TriplePoint Capital and Y Combinator.

 

Crowdgather, a network of community forums, raised $7.85 million.

 

AOL announced today that it has closed its acquisition of The Huffington Post.

VatorNews' Faith Merino discusses what the New York Times could learn from daily deals and Groupon.

Kiwibox.com, a New York City-based social network focused on old teens and young adults, acquired German photo book community Pixunity.de for an undisclosed amount.

 

Privali, a private online sales club, agreed to acquire Dress for Less, one of Germany's online clothing and apparel retailers.

Keith Pardy, chief marketing officer for Research in Motion (RIM), is stepping down from his position for “personal reasons,” the company announced late last week. The news comes just weeks before the launch of the BlackBerry Playbook, a new tablet set to compete directly with Apple's iPad.

Sparefoot, an online service that lets consumers compare storage facilities in their area, raised $1.5 million in a funding round led by Silverton Partners and Floodgate, with participation from Austin technology incubator Capital Factory.

Today's featured entrepreneur is Traver Hutchins, CEO and founder of Remedy Health Media and Cornerdrugstore.com

Also check out a video uploaded over the weekend of the VC debate from the last Vator Splash featuring the following panel participants: Thomas Korte (AngelPad), Tod Francis (Shasta Ventures), David Hornik (August Capital), and Rob Hayes (First Round Capital), participated in our first-ever panel on the changing dynamics of the venture industry. Moderating was Duncan Davidson (Bullpen Capital).

ZoomSafer, provider of risk management software to prevent employee use of mobile phones while driving, raised an additional $1.1 million round of financing from White Birch Capital and SugarOak Holdings

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