In a world that suffers from content overload, personal recommendations are a bare necessity. Israeli startup Outbrain, one of the leading companies in the recommendations space, has completed a $35 million in Series D led by Index Ventures and joined by previous investors Carmel Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. This brings Outbrain's funding to $64 million total since its inception in 2007.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about small startups being over funded. Sean Parker, founder of Napster, President of Facebook and Founders Fund investor, said: “The market is ridiculously overcrowded with early-stage investors. A lot of these early-stage investors…
Every now and then I run into a post that I'd love VC Cafe readers to see. The post "What I learned from raising venture capital" by Gabriel Weinberg, the founder of DuckDuckGo is one of them. WHAT TO DO WHEN RAISING VENTURE CAPITAL: Save up good news for the middle of the process - launching features that promote growth and getting recognition from the industry (awards, etc) in good timing can help "maximize luck"
The latest IVC Online report is out and it offers interesting color on the funding of Israeli startups. According to the report, 137 startups raised $522 million in Q3 of 2011, up 53% from the equivalent period in 2010, but down 8% from the $549 million raised in Q2 2011.
eBay acquired Israeli startup The GiftsProject for an undisclosed sum, according to AllthingsD. Founded in 2009, The GiftsProject has created a social commerce application, enabling users to vote, comment and buy a gift together as a group. Back in February, the GiftsProject announced a partnership with eBay as well as $1 million seed round from Gemini and Index ventures.
A big spread on Israeli startups and Venture Capital by Tobias Buck was published in the FT this morning , showcases what made Israel the startup nation, and what are the challenges ahead.
Innovid, a video advertising startup, has raised $9.5 million round led by Sequoia Capital with Genesis Partners and T-Ventures (Deutsche Telecom) participating in the round. As part of the funding round, Sequoia partner Gili Raanan will join Innovid’s Board of Directors.
I'm currently in Madrid, Spain, giving a keynote in La Red Innova, speaking about mobile search and its impact on ecommerce. Red Innova is a thought leadership conference held for the third year in Madrid
Bitesize Weekend - quick reads
Zeev Holtzman, founding partner of Giza Venture Capital and founding member of the Israel Venture Association (IVA), cautioned that “Israel’s venture capital and startup industry is heading for collapse. The industry, which is the economy’s growth engine, is liable to be irreversibly damaged", in a recent interview to the Venture Capital Journal
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