StartupIsrael News:
Mercado is shutting down
Submitted by ron on October 7, 2008 - 07:05Mercado is shutting down, with 88 employees being laid off. The Marker said that one of the things that hurt them was moving to a SaaS licensing module (Software as a service) - meaning that the payment is not 'up-front'. They got more clients that way, but they had cash-flow problems. Mercado has raised 70M$ over the years, and has developed a search engine for eCommerce sites.
BitWine sold to Monster Venture Partners
Submitted by ron on October 7, 2008 - 07:00
In a 'strange' exit, BitWine has been sole to a VC - Monster Venture Partners. They plan to use the tech to help their portfolio companies. I wonder if we'll start to see VCs get more and more involved in their companies?
BitWine has a platform that connects 'experts' and people seeking advice (on any field) - somewhat like Kasamba. They have just 7 employes, in Israel and the US.
WebsPlanet raised 0.5M$ in second round
Submitted by ron on October 5, 2008 - 13:44Websplanet raised 0.5M$ in second round (8M$ valuation) from private investors, most of money from Yigal Ahuvi (the Partam fund?). Websplanet already raised 2M$ before. Websplanet allows users to create web sites without any programming.
Gigya raised 11M$ in third round
Submitted by ron on October 2, 2008 - 08:02Gigya has announced a 11M$ third-round, lead by DAG VC. Gigya is developing a widget distribution network. Gigya is reporting ovr 15M widget installations, over 50M sites (I'm not sure how they can have more sites than widgets?)
Norwest Venture Partners opens Israeli office
Submitted by ron on September 23, 2008 - 14:54Norwest Venture Partners is opening their Israeli. They are about to close the funding for the 11th fund, with a billion US$. They intend to invest in a wide variety of companies, including Internet and Media.
MyHeritage acquires UK's Kindo
Submitted by ron on September 23, 2008 - 10:03MyHeritage has acquired UK's Kindo. Kindo is also a family-tree service. Accodring to TechCrunch, Kindo didn't have much traffic, and the deal was probabaly a small one. MyHeritage raised 14M$ a few weeks ago.
PicApp raised 3.2M$
Submitted by startup on September 19, 2008 - 07:36PicApp announced it had raised 3.2M$ from Carmel Ventures and Leni Reckanati. PicApp allow bloggers and publishers to use free pictures in exchange for ads. PicApp is a 'spin-off' from PicScout.
Webook raised 5M$
Submitted by ron on September 18, 2008 - 05:58Webook announced it raised 5M$ from Greylock ventures and Vertex VC. Webook is into collaborative book writing and publishing.
Haim Saban is looking for 20 Internet/Media startups
Submitted by ron on September 15, 2008 - 06:20Haim Saban is looking for 15-20 Israeli startups (internet, media). Saban will host an event where these companies will be able to meet several US media groups.
Travel 2.0 Israeli Project
Submitted by gil on September 11, 2008 - 15:06In the last couple of years we are working on a travel startup- TripTouch. During that time I found out that there are quite a few travel projects here in Israel.
Thinking about it, it’s not surprising because Israelis love to travel and many of them have the entrepreneurship spirit.
If you are interested in those projects, you can take a look at this post at the TripTouch blog.