What you need to know - Monday 01/03/2011

Facebook raised $500M; Successful exits up 25% in 2010; California’s SB 1411 goes into effect

Goldman Sachs has just led a  $500 million funding round for Facebook.  Goldman Sachs has invested $450 million, and the remaining balance came from Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian firm. Speculation is that Goldman Sachs plans to take Facebook public this year.

California’s new law, SB 1411, went into effect over the holiday weekend. The law, which creates criminal and civil penalties for impersonating people online, can lead to a fine of up to $1,000 or up to a year in jail.

Toshiba is expected to   announce a new 10.1-inch Android-based tablet this week. The device will not be ready for production. It is waiting on the  new version of Android, called Honeycomb. 

Angry Birds has made its way onto the PlayStation Network. The game, which has 63 levels, will be released on PlayStation Minis.

Square, a payment service and mobile accessory provider focused on accepting card payments, is closing a large round of funding. The round will value the company at roughly $200 million. The specific amount of the funding raised was not released.

There was a 25% rise in successful exits by venture-backed companies in 2010, when compared to the previous year. This puts the figures on par with pre-recession levels.  The research was conducted by Dow Jones VentureSource.

Vator's own Faith Merino takes a look at apps that can help you to achieve your new years resolutions.