What you need to know - 02/17/11

Ronny Kerr · February 17, 2011 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/1734

Borders files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; Twitter video for Promoted Product leaked

After months of flagging sales and a dismal holiday shopping season, Borders has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Fon, a provider of WiFi hotspots, secured €10 million ($13.5 million) in new funding led by Atomico, the venture capital firm founded by Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Skype. Coral Group and other existing Fon investors also contributed to the round.

 

Lendio, aiming to match loan-seeking businesses with banks and other lending sources, raised $6 million led by Highway 12 Ventures and GSA Venture Partners.

Music Mastermind, a company that wants to lower the barriers to music creation, has secured $3.1 million in equity funding, according to an SEC filing.

TuneUp Media, the publisher of TuneUp, a plug-in for iTunes, closed a $2 million Series C funding round provided by previous investor IDG Ventures.

 

Somebody leaked a 40-minute video recording of a Twitter-hosted webinar in which a representative from the company walks potential advertising clients through all the many facets of Promoted Tweets and Accounts.

Today's entrepreneur is David Austin, founder and CEO of SoShopping.

 

Vitrue, a social media management software provider, closed a $17 million Series C financing round led by Scale Venture Partners and Advent Venture Partners. Existing investors General Catalyst Partners, Comcast Interactive, and Dace Ventures will continue to participate.

 

WeedMaps launched a daily deals program for medical marijuana, which will offer discounts of 25-60% off for end users from local dispensaries.

 

Wonga.com, a UK-based service that issues small, short-term loans online, raised £73 million, or $117 million, in an equity round led by Oak Investment Partners, with participation from Meritech Capital Partners and Wellcome Trust.

 

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SoShopping.com

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

SoShopping.com is a Social Purchasing Website. 

 

Simple Concept:

Click a Button on the Site that lowers the Price of a Item or Event.

Tell your Friends to Click the Same Button and the Price Gets Even Cheaper.

You buy when enough people have clicked the button and you like the price.

ViTrue

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

ViTrue is a User Created Advertising Company that allows brands to safely harness the creative talents of their own consumers. ViTrue provides solutions that leverage the consumer/brand dialogue by way of online video technology for marketing innovation.

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David Austin

Joined Vator on