Sequoia tosses $12M into the maker of the LIFX connected light bulb
Sequoia Capital has led a $12 million investment into LIFX, the makers of a Wi-Fi capable LED light bulb that competes with Philips Hue.
SEC filings note $700M raise for Sequoia global growth fund
Documents filed with the SEC on Friday indicate that Sequoia Capital has raised $700 million for its global growth fund, an existing but not yet reported fund for international investments. The firm has been expanding internationally recently as the trend among VCs is to look overseas.
Wi-Fi networker Ruckus raises $126 million in IPO
Ruckus Wireless cleared $126 million in an IPO that valued the company at $1.2 billion, though the stock tanked when it began publicly trading Friday morning. The company, however, is now well positioned to make a big mark in the carrier Wi-Fi market.
Has Facebook popped the bubble or just let off some steam?
Paul Graham of Y Combinator has warned startups they have to be more cautious in the wake of the lackluster Facebook IPO. But did Facebook really pop a venture-financing bubble, or did it just allow some of the steam to escape from an overheated market?
LinkedIn vet turns VC to link Berlin and the Valley
Konstantin Guericke, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has become a Silicon Valley-based venture partner for the Berlin firm Earlybird, giving its investments a direct link to Californian capital and business networks. Is this a turning point for German startups?
Qualtrics gets $70M to boldly scale like no one has scaled before
Qualtrics, a decade-old marketing research company has raised a $70 million first round of venture capital. This isn’t a growth capital deal, despite Qualtrics’ age and the large amount. This is designed to scale Qualtrics like a startup — from 200 to 450 employees.
Tesla’s Model S Beta to be shown off at RoadMap this week
One of the hottest electric vehicles, Tesla’s second car the Model S, won’t be available until 2012, but you’ll have a chance to check out the Beta version of the Model S at GigaOM’s RoadMap event this Thursday, November 10th, in San Francisco.
Sequoia hires — and kicks tires — with Talenthouse deal
Sequoia will be crowdsourcing its job application process through Talenthouse, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup that allows companies and artists to hold design contests for things like album art and logos. Sequoia isn’t an investor in Talenthouse– yet. Could this essentially be a public tire-kicking session?
Next-gen battery startup Seeo raises $15M
A next-gen, lithium-ion battery startup — backed by Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures — called Seeo has raised another $15 million from investors, according to a filing. Khosla Partner Pierre Lamond is listed on this latest filing, and Seeo previously raised at least $10.6 million.
Is Color’s Team Worth $41M, Even if Its Idea Isn’t?
A startup called Color has raised a whopping $41 million from a group of funds including Sequoia Capital. Is the company’s photo-sharing app worth that much? Probably not. The funding is likely just a bet that the team involved will eventually come up with something worthwhile.