Silicon Valley Wire

OneSpin Solutions Lands Funding, Names New CEO

Los Gatos, Calif. -- OneSpin Solutions, a German EDA company with U.S. offices in Los Gatos, said on Thursday it has raised an unspecified amount of new funding from majority shareholder Azini Capital. The company said it will use the funds to expand its portfolio of tools for the formal verification and equivalence checking of chip and system designs. OneSpin also has named Raik Brinkmann, who joined the company at its inception in 2005, as its new president and CEO. He succeeds Peter Feist. "The new funding will enable us to address this significant market opportunity by developing and providing easy-to-use formal solutions targeted at specific, well-defined verification challenges, giving new adopters an easier and faster entry into the use of formal methods," said Brinkmann. U.K.-based Azini acquired a majority stake in OneSpin in Jan. 2011.
http://www.onespin-solutions.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120531006049/en/Azini-Capital-Funds-OneSpin-Solutions-Accelerate-Growth

Palo Alto-Based Diffbot Lands $2 Million in Funding from Tech Execs

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Diffbot, a Palo Alto-based creator of visual learning robot technology that lets developers analyze, extract and enhance web content, said on Thursday it has landed $2 million in new funding from several individuals. Investors included Sky Dayton, the founder of EarthLink; Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems; Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab; Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of YouSendIt, and other top executives and founders from Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo. Matrix Partners also participated. "This investment… lets us accelerate towards that goal with new hires and expanded resources," said Michael Tung, Diffbot's founder and CEO. The company said its visual-based content extraction technology views and understands web content the same way human beings do. The technology is designed to identify and extract the important objects on any web page using artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning and natural language processing.
http://www.diffbot.com 
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120531005927/en/Technology-Veterans-Invest-2-Million-Diffbot-Visual

Opnet Technologies Acquires Redwood City-Based Clarus Systems

Redwood City, Calif. -- Opnet Technologies, a Maryland-based developer of application and network performance management tools, said it has acquired Redwood City-based Clarus Systems, a maker of software designed to improve the service performance and availability of unified communications systems. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Opnet said the acquisition expands its product portfolio for application and network performance management. "There is an innate expectation in enterprises that voice services should be flawless and always available," said Marc Cohen, Opnet's chairman and CEO. "However, when these services are implemented over a converged network, the only way to meet this requirement is with a powerful management solution that is able to comprehensively test, monitor and troubleshoot the entire infrastructure and its configuration… We are excited about expanding our capabilities in this area."
http://www.opnet.com
http://www.clarussystems.com
http://www.opnet.com/press_releases/public_pages/opnet-technologies-inc-acquires-clarus-systems-for-managing-unified-communications

Fremont-Based Redwood Systems Lands $11.75M in Third Round

Fremont, Calif. -- Redwood Systems, a Redwood City-based provider of building-performance lighting technology, said on Wednesday it has landed $11.75 million in its third round of funding. Participants included Battery Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, Index Ventures and Mitsui & Co. "This investment will allow us to continue our rapid growth by accelerating the development of new technologies that complement the Redwood platform while expanding our leadership in the building-performance lighting industry globally," said CEO Dave Leonard. Redwood is the developer of a smart building platform that powers and controls lights, as well as a high-density sensor grid that it says provides energy savings averaging 75%.
http://www.redwoodsystems.com/
http://www.redwoodsystems.com/news-events/press-releases/2012-may-30/redwood-systems-secures-1175-million-series-c-funding

Redwood City-Based Shutterfly Acquires Photoccino

Redwood City, Calif. -- Shutterfly, the Redwood City-based online photo sharing service, said on Wednesday it has acquired Israel-based Photoccino, a developer of technologies for photo ranking, analysis and organization. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Photoccino's technologies will be integrated into products across the Shutterfly, Tiny Prints, Wedding Paper Divas and Treat brands, helping users more efficiently organize and select the best photos from their archives to create photo books, calendars, cards and photo gifts. The technology applies proprietary algorithms to analyze and evaluate the quality and content of photos, ranks them and automatically creates photo products using the customer's best images. "Photoccino's… technologies solve a common consumer pain point -- analyzing and organizing the increasing number of stored digital photos," said Jeffrey Housenbold, the president and CEO of Shutterfly.
http://www.shutterfly.com
http://ir.shutterfly.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=678111

Danaher to Acquire San Mateo-Based VSS Monitoring

San Mateo, Calif. -- Danaher, the large Washington, DC-based science and technology company, said it will acquire San Mateo-based VSS Monitoring, a developer of technology designed to optimize the way data is extracted from high speed communication networks. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close by mid-June, were not disclosed. VSS is expected to join the communications businesses in Danaher's Test and Measurement segment. "VSS will broaden our ability to provide leading technologies to our service provider and enterprise customers to optimize the way data is extracted from high-speed 40G/100G communications networks," said Jim Lico, executive vice president of Danaher. Danaher generated $16.1 billion in revenue last year, and is No. 158 in the newly released Fortune 500.
http://www.danaher.com/
http://www.vssmonitoring.com
http://www.vssmonitoring.com/corporate/news.asp?ID=225

Founder Trip Hawkins to Depart as CEO of Digital Chocolate

San Mateo, Calif. -- Trip Hawkins, the well-known Silicon Valley gaming entrepreneur, said he is stepping down as the CEO of San Mateo-based social games developer Digital Chocolate, a company he founded eight years ago. Hawkins, also the founder of Electronic Arts (EA), said he plans to remain in a consulting and advisory role with the company. "For its next stage of growth, Digital Chocolate is narrowing its focus and it made sense to get more streamlined," Hawkins wrote in his blog. "I will remain involved in digital media and games and be available for opportunities including mentoring, consulting, teaching, speaking and writing."
http://www.triphawkins.com
http://blog.digitalchocolate.com/archives/931

Menlo Park-Based Badgeville Raises $25 Million in Third Round

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Badgeville, the Menlo Park-based developer of a gamification platform designed to help businesses measure and influence user behavior, said on Wednesday it has raised $25 million in its third round of funding, led by InterWest Partners. Several previous backers, including Norwest Venture Partners, also participated in the round, which increases the company's founding to $40 million since its launch in Sept, 2010. Badgeville currently boasts more than 165 clients, such as Oracle, EMC, Deloitte, Dell, Samsung, NBC and The Walt Disney Company. "InterWest Partners brings a wealth of experience in high-growth software-as-a-service, and we look forward to their strategic assistance in our continued global expansion," said CEO Kris Duggan. The company has more than 70 employees in four offices.
http://www.badgeville.com
http://www.badgeville.com/news/announcements/badgeville-behavior-platform-raises-25m-series-c-round

Palo Alto's 10gen Lands $42 Million in New Funding

Palo Alto, Calif. -- 10gen, a developer of database software with U.S. offices in Palo Alto and New York, said on Tuesday it has raised $42 million in a new round of funding, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Previous backers Sequoia Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners and Union Square Ventures also participated in the round, which the company will use to invest in product development and bolster support. 10gen is the maker of NoSQL database platform MongoDB. "We want to change the database market to make MongoDB the best way for companies to build new applications," said Dwight Merriman, the CEO of 10gen.
http://www.10gen.com
http://www.nea.com
http://www.10gen.com/press/10gen-raises-42-million-financing-round-led-new-enterprise-associates

Mountain View-Based Ace Metrix Lands $8 Million in New Funding

Mountain View, Calif. -- Ace Metrix, the Mountain View-based developer of a television and video analytics platform, said on Tuesday it has raised $8 million in a new round of funding from WPP, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Leapfrog Ventures and Palomar Ventures. The company said it will use a portion of the proceeds to fuel product development and expansion into new markets. "We are on track to continue our 100% growth rate through 2012 and this new financing will allow us to further extend our portfolio of products and services to key adjacent markets while scaling our business infrastructure and sales and client services teams," said CEO Peter Daboll. Advertisers use Ace Metrix's web-based services to assess and act on the creative effectiveness of their video ads.
http://www.acemetrix.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120529005398/en/Ace-Metrix-Closes-Funding

San Francisco No. 4 on List of Most Expensive Cities for Workers

San Francisco -- San Francisco ranks No. 4 in U.S. News' newly released list of the 10 Most Expensive U.S. Cities for Workers. Citing information from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), the publication reported that the average cost of living for a couple with a baby or young child in San Francisco was $9,556 a month in 2010, with the figure about $1,000 higher for couples with older children. Manhattan topped the list, followed by Brooklyn and Honolulu. The complete report is available at the link below.
http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2012/05/24/the-10-most-expensive-us-cities-for-workers

Palo Alto-Based Junar Raises $1.2 Million, Launches Platform

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Junar, the Palo Alto-based developer of a cloud-based open data platform, said on Tuesday it has raised $1.2 million in initial funding. Participants included Aurus, Austral Capital and several angel investors in Latin America and the U.S. investing. The company also officially unveiled its core platform, which was tested by more than 200 organizations during an early-access program. Junar said the platform is designed to help users streamline open data projects, from extracting datasets to building graphical views and managing data publishing.
http://www.junar.com
http://www.junar.com/press

Intel Capital Leads $30 Million Round for SecureKey Technologies

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel Capital, the investment arm of Santa Clara-based chipmaker Intel, has led a new $30 million round of funding for SecureKey Technologies, the Toronto-based company announced on Friday. The company said the capital will fund the commercial rollout of its online and mobile authentication tools. New investors Visa, MasterCard, Discover Financial Services, Rogers Venture Partners and TELUS also participated. Intel is currently working with SecureKey, which plans to deploy its tools in Intel Identity Protection Technology (IPT) beginning on Ultrabook devices later this year   By embedding its technology in a variety of devices, SecureKey can enable "tap/click to pay" and "tap/click to authenticate" capabilities, and provide secure proxies to stored credentials in device or cloud-based digital wallets.
http://www.intel.com/about/companyinfo/capital/index.htm
http://www.securekey.com
http://www.securekey.com/announcements/2012-05-25%20SK%20Funding%20Release.php

President Obama Takes to Twitter for Online Q&A Session

Washington, DC -- President Obama on Thursday took to Twitter for an impromptu question-and-answer session following a speech on clean energy in Iowa. Sitting in front of a laptop, Obama bagan the hour-long session with the tweet, "this is barack - let's get this started! -bo." He then proceeded to answer seven questions ranging from America's dependency on oil to refinancing options for underwater home owners. The complete text is available at the top link below.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/05/24/president-obama-talks-congresstodolist-twitter
https://twitter.com/whitehouse/status/205846823527657472/photo/1 (Photo)

AOL Investor Urges Shareholders to Replace Board Members

New York -- Hoping to persuade shareholders to vote out several of AOL's current board members, investor Starboard Value on Friday issued a letter to stockholders urging them to consider its three nominees. The firm, which owns 5.3% of AOL, is pushing the election of Dennis Miller, Jeffrey Smith and James Warner, in place of incumbent directors Alberto Ibarguen, Patricia Mitchell and James Stengel, at the company's annual meeting next month. The letter includes a point-by-point rundown of Starboard's take on its recent actions and AOL's responses. "If elected, our nominees are committed to working constructively with management and the board to substantially improve the profitability of AOL's Display business, including a full re-assessment of Patch, which, we believe, is losing approximately $150 million per year," Starboard wrote. "There are good and valuable businesses inside AOL. Our nominees plan to work with the board to help optimize the performance of these businesses in order to drive a material improvement in cash flow, profitability and value."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/starboard-sends-letter-aol-shareholders-151800495.html

Benchmark Capital to Open New office in S.F. Tenderloin District

San Francisco -- Benchmark Capital, the Menlo Park-based venture capital firm, will open a new office in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, closer to the headquarters of many of its portfolio companies, including Twitter. "Our move to the city speaks to this change in the entrepreneurial landscape," wrote Peter Fenton, a general partner at Benchmark, in AOL technology blog TechCrunch. "Two out of every three new investments we have made since 2009 have been in San Francisco. Our partners currently sit on more than 20 boards in San Francisco including Twitter, Yelp, Instagram, Uber, NewRelic, Zendesk, Dotcloud, Asana, OpenTable, DemandForce, NextDoor, ServiceSource, Lithium, Marin Software, 1Life, Second Life, Coverity, EngineYard, Couchsurfing, Grockit and Pipewise." Twitter next month plans to move its headquarters about a half mile away from the new office, which will be on the top floor of the Warfield Theater.
http://www.benchmark.com
http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/25/benchmark-in-san-francisco/

Intel to Spend $40 Million on Network of Research Centers

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel, the Santa Clara-based chip-making giant, said on Thursday it will invest more than $40 million over the next five years in a worldwide network of university research communities. The company said the network, to be called the Intel Collaborative Research Institutes (ICRI), is an outgrowth of its U.S.-based Intel Science and Technology Centers. Each institute -- the U.K.-based ICRI for Sustainable Connected Cities, the Germany-based ICRI for Secure Computing and the Israel-based ICRI for Computational Intelligence -- will have a specialized focus. The three will collaborate with their own multi-university communities and other ICRIs, as well as the U.S.-based Intel Science and Technology Centers. "Forming a multidisciplinary community of Intel, faculty and graduate student researchers from around the world will lead to fundamental breakthroughs in some of the most difficult and vexing areas of computing technology," said Justin Rattner, Intel's CTO.
http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2012/05/24/intel-invests-more-than-40-million-in-worldwide-network-of-university-research-centers-to-drive-innovation

Fremont-Based Corsair Postpones Initial Public Offering

Fremont, Calif. -- Corsair Components, a Fremont-based supplier of high-performance hardware components for personal computers, said on Thursday it has postponed its planned initial public offering (IPO). The company, which is planning to raise as much as $96.6 million, cited adverse market conditions. "We have decided that we will re-launch when equity market conditions are more favorable," said Andy Paul, the company's co-founder, president and CEO. "While we do intend to expand our capital base through public capital markets, our existing capital structure and balance sheet provides sufficient capital to enable continued investment in our brand strength, products and people."
http://www.corsair.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120524005759/en/Corsair-Announces-Postponement-Initial-Public-Offering  

Palo Alto-Based HP Outlines Plans to Cut 27,000 Jobs

Palo Alto, Calif. -- A week after leaks first surfaced about impending layoffs at HP, the Palo Alto-based technology giant late Wednesday made them official, outlining plans to downsize by about 27,000 employees, or 8% of its staff. The company said it will offer eligible employees early retirement packages, with the number of layoffs depending on how many accept the deals. The restructuring is expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2014, with HP saving in the range of $3-$3.5 billion a year. "These initiatives build upon our recent organizational realignment, and will further streamline our operations, improve our processes, and remove complexity from our business," said Meg Whitman, HP's president and CEO. "While some of these actions are difficult because they involve the loss of jobs, they are necessary to improve execution and to fund the long term health of the company."
http://h30261.www3.hp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=71087&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1699268&highlight= 

Report: Congressional Committees Investigating Facebook IPO

Menlo Park, Calif. -- A pair of Congressional committees are looking into widespread allegations of impropriety involving Menlo Park-based Facebook's initial public offering (IPO) last week, The Huffington Post reported. Both the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee told the publication they're gathering information, with an eye on potential hearings. Controversy has swarmed around the IPO following reports that underwriters shared key earnings information about Facebook with only a limited number of institutional investors. "Effective capital markets require transparency and accountability, not one set of rules for insiders and another for the rest of us," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection. "There's a lot that we don’t know about this IPO, but a lot that we do. We know that the SEC must fully investigate and take appropriate action if it discovers any violations." Facebook began trading on the Nasdaq last Friday.
http://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-statement-on-reports-relating-to-facebooks-ipo-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/senate-facebook-ipo_n_1539842.html

Kony Solutions Raises $15 Million in Third Round of Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- Kony Solutions, the Florida-based creator of a mobile app development platform, with West Coast operations in San Mateo, said on Wednesday it has landed $15 million in its third round of funding, led by Insight Venture Partners. The company said it will use the proceeds to fuel operations growth, sales and marketing programs and regional expansion. The news follows a year in which the company grew bookings by more than 200% and added more than 30 major customers, including Aetna, CIBC, Scottrade and Sun Life Financial. "This funding will help us continue managing the incredible growth we’re seeing in our business," said CEO Raj Koneru.
http://www.kony.com
http://www.kony.com/kony-solutions-completes-successful-year-accelerated-growth-announces-series-c-funding

San Francisco-Based Livevol Raises New Funding

San Francisco -- Livevol, a San Francisco-based provider of real-time data to professional and retail equity and index option traders, said on Wednesday it has raised an unspecified amount of private funding. Ron Chez, the co-chairman of Merriman Capital, served as lead institutional investor, and will join Livevol's board of directors. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its data, analytics and brokerage services. "The investment… provides Livevol with a strong financial base and a strategic partner as we further grow our platform to become the premier technology provider for equity and options trading," said Stefen Choy, the co-founder and COO of Livevol.
http://www.livevolsecurities.com
http://www.merrimanco.com/

Report: San Francisco Commuters Wasted 48 Hours in Traffic Last Year

Kirkland, Wash.  -- San Francisco commuters on average wasted 48 hours in traffic last year, the third highest figure in the U.S., according to a new report from Inrix. Honolulu (58 hours) tops the list, followed by Los Angeles. All told, 70 of the nation's 100 most populated cities showed decreases in traffic congestion last year -- a trend Inrix attributes to a lack of employment combined with high fuel prices. The report also cited an 11-mile stretch of the CA-4 EB (California Delta Highway) from Bailey Rd. to Somersville Rd. as the country's 10th worst traffic corridor. The stretch takes 16 minutes on average to travel, with 11 minutes of delay.
http://www.inrix.com/pressrelease.asp?ID=156

Obama Orders Federal Agencies to Make Key Services Wireless

Washington, DC -- Looking to accelerate the government's shift to mobile technology, President Obama on Wednesday issued a directive requiring each federal agency to make two key government services available on mobile phones within the next 12 months. The administration said it also will ramp up efforts to make large amounts of government data more accessible to the public, with the hope of spurring entrepreneurs to develop a range of new services and mobile apps. "Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device," said Obama. The White House said the goal of the program is to make dozens of additional government services accessible through mobile phones by next spring. "We're living in an increasingly mobile world and it is critical that the federal government keep up with the way the American people do business," said Steven VanRoekel, the federal chief information officer. "Already, families can use government apps to check the wait time at the airport, get access to critical veteran services and check the status of their tax return. Today's directive will accelerate our drive to make key services easily accessible to more Americans than ever."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/23/obama-administration-launches-sweeping-shift-mobile

Santa Clara-Based AccelOps Raises $15 Million in Funding

Santa Clara, Calif. -- AccelOps, a Santa Clara-based developer of integrated security, network and data center monitoring and management software, said on Tuesday it has raised $15 million in a new round of funding, led by USVP. Several previous backers also participated in the round, which the company will use to drive expansion. The news comes as the company, which introduced its first product two years ago, revealed it has now surpassed the 150-customer milestone. "With more organizations deploying private and hybrid cloud solutions, and increasingly sophisticated security threats looming, there is a broad and growing need to correlate and analyze events across the entire IT infrastructure in real-time," said Chris Rust, partner at US Venture Partners.
http://www.accelops.com
http://www.usvp.com/html_vers/

SAP to Acquire Sunnyvale-Based Ariba in $4.3 Billion Deal

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- German business software giant SAP said on Tuesday it will acquire Sunnyvale-based Ariba, developer of a cloud-based business commerce network, in a deal worth $4.3 billion. SAP will pay $45 a share under the deal, which is expected to close during the third quarter. SAP said the acquisition will establish it as a leading business network, adding business-to-business collaboration to its existing offerings, and also significantly boost the company's cloud applications portfolio. Ariba, which has approximately 2,600 employees, is the second-largest cloud vendor by revenue. Ariba's current management team will continue to lead the company, which will operate as an independent business under the name "Ariba, an SAP company." "By combining Ariba's open global trading network and SAP's solutions and analytics, we are ushering in a new era of business-to-business collaboration and driving new levels of productivity," said Bob Calderoni, the CEO of Ariba
http://www.ariba.com/
http://www.sap.com
http://www.news-sap.com/sap-to-expand-cloud-presence-with-acquisition-of-ariba/

San Jose-Based IDT Launches Exchange Offer for PLX Technology

San Jose, Calif. -- Integrated Device Technology (IDT), a San Jose-based developer of mixed-signal semiconductor, said on Tuesday it has launched an exchange offer to acquire shares of Sunnyvale-based PLX Technology, a maker of semiconductor-based connectivity products. The companies originally announced the agreement, at the time worth approximately $330 million, on April 30. Under the deal, set to expire on June 30, PLX stockholders will receive $3.50 in cash and .525 shares of IDT for each of their shares.
http://www.idt.com
http://www.idt.com/about/press-room/idt-commences-exchange-offer-acquire-plx-technology-inc

Survey: Bay Area CFOs Say Revenue Will Outpace Headcount Growth

San Ramon, Calif. -- More than half of Bay Area chief financial officers believe revenue growth at their companies will significantly outpace headcount this year, according to a new survey by San Ramon-based Armanino McKenna. Of the more than 200 CFOs interviewed, a majority say they plan to optimize processes, deploy new technology and increase the use of partnering to grow at a faster pace with small to no increases in headcount. Moreover, 71% also said they plan to expand into new geographic markets, including international, over the next three years.
http://www.amllp.com
http://www.amllp.com/pdfs/2012-CFO-Bechmark-Survey-Report.pdf (PDF)

Alameda-Based BioTime Completes Deal for XenneX

Alameda, Calif. -- BioTime, an Alameda-based biotechnology firm focused on regenerative medicine and blood plasma volume expanders, said on Monday it has completed its acquisition of Massachusetts-based XenneX, a provider of services and tools designed to enhance bio-medical research. The deal, technically a merger of XenneX into BioTime-unit LifeMap Sciences, was first announced in April. Through the agreement, XenneX stockholders received approximately 1.4 million shares of LifeMap -- a 13% stake in that company -- as well as 450,000 shares of BioTime. XenneX holds the exclusive, worldwide licenses to market GeneCards and PanDaTox. GeneCards is a searchable database of human genes, while PanDaTox is a searchable, database used to identify genes and intergenic regions. "The need for the LifeMap database is a reflection of the growth of the field of regenerative medicine," said Michael West, BioTime's CEO.
http://www.biotimeinc.com/
http://www.lifemapsc.com/
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=83805&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1697986&highlight=

Mountain View-Based AnchorFree Lands $52 Million in Third Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- AnchorFree, a Mountain View-based developer of tools designed to secure mobile browsing sessions, block malware and protect user privacy, said on Monday it has raised $52 million in its third round of funding, led by Goldman Sachs. The company, which now has raised $63 million since its inception, said it will use the funds to market its core Hotspot Shield applications worldwide. The company said the technology secures a user's browsing by channeling all web activities through a personal Virtual Private Network (VPN). AnchorFree, which also has offices in Switzerland, was founded by David Gorodyansky (CEO), Eugene Malobrodsky (CTO) and Peter Hoag (executive vice president of finance and administration).
http://anchorfree.com

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo Reaches Complex Deal to Sell Alibaba Stake

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Following months of negotiations, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said it has reached a deal to sell half its stake in Alibaba Group back to the Chinese e-commerece company for $7.1 billion. Under the complex agreement, Yahoo would receive $6.3 billion in cash and up to another $800 million in stock for a 20% stake in Alibaba, which would be valued at approximately $35 billion. Yahoo also would be able to eventually sell another quarter of its stake through an eventual initial public offering (IPO), and the remainder at a future point in time. "Today's agreement provides clarity for our shareholders on a substantial component of Yahoo's value and reaffirms the significance of our relationship with Alibaba," said Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo's interim CEO. The deal follows a tumultuous period for Yahoo, which earlier this month installed Levinsohn following the resignation of CEO Scott Thompson, who had been under fire for allegedly misrepresenting his academic credentials.
http://www.alibaba.com/
http://pressroom.yahoo.net/pr/ycorp/234207.aspx 

Facebook Shares Rise Slightly in Debut, Following Landmark IPO

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Hours after one of the most anticipated initial public offerings (IPOs) in history, shares of social networking giant Facebook rose less than 5% -- significantly less than expected -- by late Friday in their first day of trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The company late Thursday priced 421.2 million shares at $38 each -- the high end of its revised price range -- raising approximately $16 billion. The move means that shares owned by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's 28-year-old co-founder and CEO, are worth approximately $19.1 billion. Following a brief delay, the stock began trading under the symbol "FB" at 11:30 a.m., opening up 11% before leveling off.
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512235588/d287954ds1a.htm

Palo Alto-Based Pinterest Lands $100 Million at $1.5 Billion Valuation

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Pinterest, the pinboard-style social photo sharing site operated by Palo Alto-based Cold Brew Labs, has landed a new $100 million round of funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, led by Japanese online marketplace Rakuten, the companies said on Thursday. Previous backers Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners and FirstMark Capital, as well as a number of angel investors, also participated. Pinterest said it will use the funds to improve its service and expand its community globally. The investment also marks the launch of a partnership with Rakuten, aimed at helping Pinterest expand in Japan and Rakuten's 17 other markets. "We see tremendous synergies between Pinterest's vision and Rakuten's model for e-commerce," said Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani. "Rakuten looks forward to introducing Pinterest to the Japanese market as well as other markets around the world."
http://www.pinterest.com
http://global.rakuten.com/group
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120516007086/en/Rakuten-Leads-Investment-Pinterest

Santa Clara-Based Agilent to Acquire Denmark's Dako for $2.2 Billion

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Agilent Technologies, the Santa Clara-based measurement technology giant, on Thursday announced the largest acquisition in company history, agreeing to acquire Denmark-based cancer diagnostic company Dako in a deal worth $2.2 billion. The acquisition is expected to close within 60 days, adding more than 1,000 employees and $340 million in annual revenue. "Agilent's strategy in acquiring Dako is about strengthening the company's presence in life science and about revenue growth," said Bill Sullivan, the company's president and CEO. Dako provides antibodies, reagents, scientific instruments and software to customers in pathology laboratories, and also collaborates with a number of major pharmaceutical companies. http://www.dako.com http://www.agilent.com http://www.agilent.com/about/newsroom/presrel/2012/17may-gp12009.html

Bertram Capital Promotes Ingrid Swenson to Partner and Managing Director

San Mateo, Calif. -- Bertram Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in San Mateo, said on Wednesday it has promoted Ingrid Swenson to partner and managing director.  Swenson, the firm's CFO, has been with Bertram since its inception in 2006 and oversees all of its finance, administrative and internal IT activities. She previously served as the controller of Mayfield Fund and was a senior manager in the life science and venture capital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Bertram has made 22 investments and currently has $850 million in capital under management.
http://www.bertramcapital.com
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bertram-capital-promotes-ingrid-swenson-to-partner-and-managing-director-2012-05-16

Redwood City-Based Equinix to Acquire Germany's ancotel

Redwood City, Calif. -- Equinix, a Redwood City-based provider of data center services, said on Wednesday it will acquire Germany's ancotel, a provider of colocation and interconnection services in Europe. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close after mid-year, were not disclosed. Equinix will gain one data center in Frankfurt with 2,100 square meters of capacity and increase its European network density by adding more than 400 network customers. ancotel's assets also include edge nodes in Hong Kong, London and Miami, giving Equinix additional points of presence in these markets. "The acquisition of ancotel significantly strengthens Equinix’s value proposition and capabilities both in Europe and globally," said Eric Schwartz, the president of Equinix EMEA.
http://www.equinix.com
http://www.equinix.com/en_US/company/news-and-events/press-releases/equinix-agrees-to-acquire-ancotel-significantly-increases-network-density-in-europe/

Menlo Park-Based Facebook Again Increases Size of IPO

Menlo Park, Calif. -- For the second time this week, social networking giant Facebook has increased the size of its upcoming IPO, this time increasing the number of shares to be sold by 25%. The company now plans to sell 421.2 million shares in an offering that could raise $16 billion, making it the largest-ever technology IPO. The move comes two days after Facebook raised the price range of its shares to $34-$38 each -- up from earlier estimates of $28-$35. The IPO is expected to price by the end of this week.
http://www.facebook.com  
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512235588/d287954ds1a.htm

Bay Area Tech Companies Dominate 2012 Fortune 500

There is no short supply of Bay Area technology companies in the nearly released 2012 Fortune 500, an annual ranking of America's largest corporations, based on revenue. Among the top 100 are Palo Alto-based HP (No. 10), San Francisco-based McKesson (No. 14), Cupertino-based Apple (No. 17), Santa Clara-based Apple (No. 51), San Jose-based Cisco Systems (No. 64), Mountain View-based Google (No. 73) and Redwood City-based Oracle (No. 82). Oil companies dominated the top of the list, which was led by Exxon Mobil with $452.9 billion in annual revenue. Retail giant Wal-Mart, which had topped the ranking for the past two years, fell to No. 2. The 2012 list is available in the May 21 edition of Fortune, or at the links below.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/full_list/ (Full list)
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/states/CA.html (Calif.)

Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital Invest $70 Million in Qualtrics

Silicon Valley, Calif. -- In their largest-ever joint investment, with Palo Alto-based Accel Partners and Menlo Park-based Sequoia Capital said on Tuesday they will invest $70 million in Utah-based Qualtrics, a developer of data collection and analysis software. The company plans to use the funds to expand its web-based product offerings beyond market research and accelerate its growth, beginning with the hiring of another 250 employees in the next year. Qualtrics, which has never before accepted outside funding, said it been profitable since its inception. Clients include Barnes & Noble, CVS Caremark, GEICO, Microsoft, Neiman Marcus, Royal Caribbean, Southwest Airlines, Thomson Reuters, Toyota, Vodafone and Zappos. "Qualtrics is the biggest software company you haven't heard of yet," said Bryan Schreier, a partner at Sequoia Capital. "They've become the foundation of market research and customer analytics for thousands of very happy customers."
http://www.qualtrics.com
http://www.accel.com
http://www.sequoiacap.com
http://cloudfront.qualtrics.com/q1/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/QualtricsMay152012PressRelease.pdf (PDF)

Menlo Park-Based Facebook Raises IPO Price Range

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Preparing for one of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings (IPOs) in history, Menlo Park-based Facebook on Monday raised the price range of its shares. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the social networking giant new plans to price each share between $34-$38 -- up from earlier estimates of $28-$35. The new figures mean that Facebook would be valued at $93 billion-$104 billion, up from $77 billion-$96 billion. The IPO is expected to price by the end of this week.
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512232582/d287954ds1a.htm

Bay Area VCs Contribute to $8 Million Round for Lenddo

New York -- Bay Area venture capital firms Accel Partners, Blumberg Capital and Omidyar Network have taken part in a new $8 million round of funding for New York-based Lenddo, developer of an online community that helps people use their online social connections to build creditworthiness and access local financial services. iNovia Capital, Metamorphic Ventures and several angel investors also participated in the company's first round. Founded in 2011, Lenddo allows members to use their reputations on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to obtain loans. The company currently provides loans in Colombia and the Philippines, and plans to use the capital to grow its engineering team and expand operations to more emerging markets. "Lenddo has the potential to transform how millions of underserved in the emerging markets access credit," said Arjuna Costa, director of investments at Omidyar Network.
http://www.lenddo.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120515005370/en/Lenddo-Secures-8-Million-Series-Funding-Top

Yahoo CEO Resigns Amid Allegations; Reportedly Has Cancer

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Scott Thompson has resigned as the CEO of Sunnyvale-based Yahoo, days after reportedly informing the company's board of directors he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Thompson, 54, disclosed the news to colleagues late last week, capping a tumultuous period in which he also was battling allegations that he misrepresented his academic credentials. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo's executive vice president and head of global media. Roy Bostock also has stepped down as the company's non-executive chairman, to be replaced by Fred Amoroso.  The news comes more than a week after allegations first surfaced that Thompson's resume incorrectly stated he had earned a degree in computer science.
http://pressroom.yahoo.net/pr/ycorp/233946.aspx 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304371504577403271970040362.html?mod=djemalertTECH

Milpitas-Based Aquantia Raises $35 Million in Sixth Round of Funding

Milpitas, Calif. -- Aquantia, a Milpitas-based developer of high-speed chips used in cloud computing and large-scale data center deployments, said on Monday it has raised $35 million in its sixth round of funding, led by new backer Rusnano, which is investing $25 million. Previous backer New Enterprise Associates (NEA) also participated. The company said it will use a portion of the funds to establish a new design center in Russia, which will assist its Silicon Valley R&D group in chip design and software development, as well as product testing. Aquantia launched its 40nm 10GBASE-T PHY chipset last year. http://www.aquantia.com http://www.aquantia.com/workspace/uploads/series-f-funding-final-4fb0f5621ebc2.pdf (PDF)

Redwood City-Based OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Files for $115M IPO

Redwood City, Calif. -- OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, a Redwood City-based biopharmaceutical firm developing antibody therapeutics targeting cancer stem cells, plans to raise up to $115 million in its initial public offering (IPO), the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Details of the offering, such as the number of shares to be sold and their expected price range, have yet to be revealed.
The company plans to list its stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "OMED."
http://www.oncomed.com/
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1302573/000119312512227061/d344523ds1.htm

Palo Alto-Based Curious.com Raises $7 Million in Funding

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Curious.com, a Palo Alto-based online education startup still in beta testing, revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it has raised $7 million in a new round of equity funding. Five unnamed investors took part in the round. Curious.com is developing a service in which subject-matter experts create online lessons, charge for access to all or parts of them and interact with students. The company was co-founded by Justin Kitch, the founder of KartoffelSoft; Thai Bui, the co-founder of Homestead; and John Tokash http://curious.com/ http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1549413/000154941312000001/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml

Underwriters Boost Size of IPO for Mountain View-Based Audience

Mountain View, Calif. -- Audience, a Mountain View-based developer of intelligent voice and audio tools designed to improve voice quality and user experience in mobile devices, said on Monday that underwriters of last week's initial public offering (IPO) have exercised their option to purchase another 791,000 shares of company stock. The move will boost the company's net proceeds from the offering to $87.7 million, after expenses. Audience on Thursday priced $5.3 million shares at $17 each. 
http://www.audience.com
http://www.audience.com/press/press-5-14-2012.php

San Francisco-Based Vungle Lands $2 Million in New Funding

San Francisco -- Vungle, a San Francisco-based provider of services designed to help mobile developers promote their apps through video "trailers," said on Wednesday it has raised $2 million in a new round of funding. Participants included Google Ventures, AOL Ventures, Crosslink Capital and angel investors such as Charles Hudson's SoftTech VC, Ron Conway's SV Angel, Dave McClure's 500 Startups, Maynard Webb, Scott McNealy and Tim Draper. The company plans to use the funds to bolster hiring, as well as build out its product platform. A beta program for developers is planned for early this summer. "Our vision is to give mobile app developers an effective and cost-effective way to make real money through the applications they offer to the world," said Zain Jaffer, the company's co-founder and CEO.
http://www.vungle.com 
http://vungle.com/img/Vungle_Raises_2_Million_for_Mobile_Developers_to_Promote_Apps_through_Video_Trailers.pdf (PDF)

IBM to Acquire San Francisco-Based Tealeaf Technology

San Francisco -- Computing giant IBM said on Wednesday it will acquire San Francisco-based Tealeaf Technology, a developer of customer experience analytics software designed to help users react more swiftly to consumer trends. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close by midyear, were not disclosed. Tealeaf's software records and analyzes a customer's website and mobile interactions, helping marketers spot patterns and address issues in website and mobile application design. The company has more than 450 clients, including Dell, Wells Fargo, GEICO, Orbitz, Crate & Barrel, Neiman Marcus, Expedia, Zappos, ING Direct, Best Buy, DirecTV and StubHub. "With these new capabilities from Tealeaf, we can not only provide chief marketing officers and other marketing leaders the qualitative insights into how customers actually experience their brands, but show them how to react in real time across marketing, sales and service," said Craig Hayman, IBM's general manager of industry solutions.
http://www.tealeaf.com/
http://www.ibm.com
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/37593.wss

San Francisco-Based Birst Lands $26 Million in New Funding

San Francisco -- Birst, a San Francisco-based developer of agile business intelligence tools, said on Wednesday it has raised $26 million in a new round of funding, led by Sequoia Capital. Previous backers Hummer Winblad and DAG Ventures who participated in the round, which the company will use, in part, to expand into new markets. The news caps of a year in which the company has unveiled an array of new offerings, including a web-based business intelligence appliance, an in-memory database optimized specifically for analytics, a cloud-based mobile business intelligence SDK for the iPad, and support for Hadoop and Big Data analytics. Customers include Aruba Networks, Five9, Host Analytics, Motorola, Saba, SunCap Financial and Swann Insurance.
http://www.birst.com
http://www.birst.com/company/press/birst-secures-26-million-financing-led-sequoia-capital

San Francisco-Based DataSift Raises $7.2 Million in New Funding

San Francisco -- DataSift, the San Francisco-based developer of a social data platform, said on Wednesday it has raised $7.2 million in a follow-on to its first round of funding. Previous backers GRP Partners and IA Ventures led the round, which the company will use to accelerate growth. "While we were not actively looking for financing, we were lucky to receive a fantastic offer from our existing investors that will enable us to continue building our business without the distraction of raising a funding round," said CEO Rob Bailey. DataSift, which launched in November, also announced it has moved into new offices in San Francisco's SOMA district. The company's platform aggregates social interactions from over a million public social data sources, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, forums and online message boards. It also recently integrated with NewsCred, extending its ability to monitor not just social media, but also news articles, to understand how the news spreads through the social web.
http://www.datasift.com/
http://blog.datasift.com/2012/05/02/datasift-adds-7-2m-the-story-so-far/