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ShopSocially raises $1.1M in Series A

by Faith Merino, October 21, 2010 | Comments

The social e-commerce site is backed by Valhalla Partners and angels

ShopSocially, a (you guessed it) social shopping site that lets users post shopping-related questions and share recent purchases on a Twitter-like feed, announced Thursday morning that it has raised $1.1 million in a Series A round led by Valhalla Partners, with participation from angel investors Raman Khanna, Ashish Gupta, and Dharmesh Thakker. The concept behind ShopSocially is simple but compelling: ...

Goby raises $2.5M for events-search engine

by Faith Merino, October 21, 2010 | Comments

The search engine for local activities is backed by Flybridge Capital Partners and Kepha Partners

I’ve fallen in love with Goby, a search engine designed exclusively for finding things to do in your locale. I don’t think I’ve ever fallen this hard or this fast for a website, but…I think this is the real thing. Goby, do you believe in fate? Apparently, I’m not alone in my love for the activities-based search engine: Goby has ...

Verizon to offer Samsung Galaxy Tab Nov. 11

by Faith Merino, October 20, 2010 | Comments

	How will it measure up to the iPad? Less than a week after Verizon Wireless announced that it would begin selling the iPad on October 28, the company announced Wednesday that it will also be offering iPad’s rival, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, on November 11. The tablet, which will run on Google’s Android 2.2 mobile OS (also known as “Froyo”), will retail for $599, $30 less than its ...
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Jobs announces new MacBook Air and Mac OS X

by Faith Merino, October 20, 2010 | Comments

The new MacBook is based entirely on flash technology and has a battery life of 7 hours

Apple’s much-anticipated “Back to the Mac” event streamed live Wednesday (on Macs and iOS devices only) and Steve Jobs made a couple of new announcements, including upgraded iLife features, the new Mac OS X (dubbed “Lion”), and the debut of the MacBook Air. What I took from the event: my PC sucks. MacBook Air The belle of the ball was ...

Kiva partners with Visa to expand US program

by Faith Merino, October 20, 2010 | Comments

The company's controversial microfinance program for U.S. businesses gets a $1M boost

Kiva.org, a micro-lending site that allows Web users from anywhere in the world to loan to entrepreneurs in developing countries, has been hailed as a new, innovative kind of philanthropy—one that promotes self-sufficiency and dignity. Recently, Kiva faced heavy criticism when it expanded its platform to facilitate microloans to U.S. entrepreneurs (the site has raised more than $1 million for ...

Examville launches education marketplace

by Faith Merino, October 19, 2010 | Comments

But can it compete with the likes of other big name online education platforms?

Examville has been around for a while, but on Tuesday the company launched a new marketplace that may make it a legitimate contender to such major online learning platforms as Grockit and Udemy. “Examville is the only complete online marketplace for K-post-secondary education, including continuing education,” the company said via email. “Examville provides online classes and materials from teachers and ...

Smack-down: Apple v. Google

by Faith Merino, October 19, 2010 | Comments

Jobs calls Android "fragmented," Rubin responds with unintelligible engineering code

Oh, snap! Google and Apple are in a trash-talk war. Actually, Apple’s Steve Jobs is doing the trash-talking (listen below) and Google head of Android engineering, Andy Rubin, responded with his first tweet ever: a garbled mash of engineering code speak. Rubin tweeted: ‘the definition of open: “mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init –u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git ; repo sync ...

Investors buddy up to Buddy Media with $23M

by Faith Merino, October 19, 2010 | Comments

The Facebook page management company is backed by IVP, Greycroft, and Bay Partners

Buddy Media, a company that offers a Facebook page management service for other businesses and brands, announced Tuesday the close of an impressive $23 million Series C round led by Institutional Venture Partners (which has funded other major digital brands, such as Netflix, Twitter, and Zynga), with participation from existing investors Softbank Capital, Greycroft Partners, and Bay Partners. Founded in ...

Twitter's Biz Stone becomes Stoli Original

by Faith Merino, October 19, 2010 | Comments

	The Stoli ads feature Stone interviewing himself What does Twitter co-founder Biz Stone have in common with Hugh Hefner and Julia Stiles? Give up? Well, find someone who knows because I haven’t figured this one out yet. What I do know is that Biz Stone (real name Isaac Stone) is joining the likes of Hugh Hefner and Julia Stiles as Stolichnaya vodka’s latest Stoli Original. The new ...
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gWallet founder launches new ad network

by Faith Merino, October 18, 2010 | Comments (2)

RadiumOne will use social data to power new behavioral targeting campaigns

Serial entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal is poised to make a big scene on the online advertising stage following the end of his non-compete contract with Yahoo. RadiumOne, which launched Monday, is Chahal’s latest endeavor, using social data to take behavioral targeting in display ads to the next step: social interaction. The ad network uses “social retargeting” algorithms to gauge how users ...

Zynga implicated in Facebook privacy breach

by Faith Merino, October 18, 2010 | Comments

A WSJ investigation finds that all top ten apps have been transmitting user data to ad agencies

Facebook is caught up in another privacy imbroglio. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday morning that the ten most popular apps on Facebook have been transmitting users’ personal information (even users with the strictest privacy settings) to at least 25 outside advertising and Internet tracking companies. Three of those ten apps have even been transmitting users’ friends’ information. The culprits ...

Causes raises $9M for social giving

by Faith Merino, October 18, 2010 | Comments

The startup for online donations transitions to standalone site and doubles donations

Causes, the company whose Facebook app lets users donate to charities and encourage their friends to donate, has raised $9 million in a Series C round led by New Enterprise Associates, with help from Founders Fund, Marc Benioff, Ron Conway, Karl Jacob, Keith Rabois, and Dustin Moscovitz. Additionally, the Berkeley-based startup will also be offering $25 and $50 gift cards ...

Why are publishers fighting Amazon's e-books?

by Faith Merino, October 18, 2010 | Comments (2)

A breakdown of traditional book publishers' uphill battle against cheap, digitized books

Amazon’s war with publishers heated up last week with a passive-aggressive letter to customers posted on Amazon.co.uk informing them that the high prices of e-books have been set by publishers and Amazon will continue to fight them. Personally, I go back and forth on this issue. On the one hand, charging the same price (or more) for an e-book as ...

Rick Heitzmann outlines 2010's strong sectors

by Faith Merino, October 16, 2010 | Comments

Gaming and virtual goods are hot, traditional enterprise software is not

I spoke with Rick Heitzmann at September's Vator Splash event and he discussed some of the sectors that have dominated this year, as well as some of the sectors that have guttered out. According to Heitzmann, the strong sectors this year have been gaming and virtual goods, while traditional enterprise software and any businesses that require a big check up ...

StudyBlue raises $3.65M in Series A

by Faith Merino, October 15, 2010 | Comments

But how does the site measure up in this crowded field?

StudyBlue, an online study site, announced Friday that it has raised $3.65 million in a Series A round led by unnamed investors. Founded in 2006, the Madison, Wisconsin-based company has raised a total of $6.5 million to date, raised from undisclosed angel investors. The latest round of financing will be used to expand the company’s mobile platform and power continued ...

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