December 2008
- IMI announced breakthrough "SUMMIT" Technology for silicon nitride LPCVD applications.
- Pandora ranked highest in Time magazine’s list of top ten favorite App Store downloads. In addition, it was considered "the all-time best free app for music lovers." Pandora’s streaming music service also scored the top position in Apple's overall comparison of free apps.
- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that Marrone Organic Innovations won the 2008 Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) for its development of a new organic weed killer, GreenMatch EX. In addition, Astia awarded Pam Marrone, founder and CEO of Marrone Organic Innovations, the 2008 Clean Tech Innovator Award.
- Pandora hits 20 Million Registered Users. Article featured in TechCrunch.
- Pandora releases a Windows Mobile client for the HTC Touch and the Motorola Q9c handsets to complement its offering on the iPhone and their J2ME application for standard AT&T and Sprint feature phones.
- Ustream mobile streaming application for the iPhone announced in TechCrunch.
- KickApps added David Lapter (CFO) and Tom Gaffney (VP of Customer Success) to their management team.
- PlayPhone and BET Networks engage in a distribution partnership to bring the BET's programming and content to mobile phones. As a result, PlayPhone will build and manage BET’s mobile entertainment and personalization business.
- Pandora solidifies its place as the top iPhone app with its 2 millionth user. Story featured in VentureBeat.
- Art Chiat, CEO of Eoplex, discusses the company’s technology with Business Week as part of their “Voices of Innovation” series.
- European Founders Fund announced it has bought a secondary stake in Silverpop Systems Inc.
- ShotSpotter Inc. recruited Michael Chandler, former president of General Dynamics, to join its board of directors.
November 2008
- KickApps raised over $13 million in Series C funding.
- Infoaxe featured in TechCrunch on November 17.
- PlayPhone launches Wap portal for Nickelodeon Brazil in November.
- PlayPhone and ClearSky partner to offer mobile entertainment subscription services.
October 2008
- Pandora services now available on Samsung's Blu-ray DVD Players.
- Chumby device adds Pandora Radio as an option under the Music menu, according to an October 7 Crunch Gear column.
- Delve Networks announced on October 2 a partnership with Tremor Media to offer online video advertising to its customers.
- Altierre was featured in an October 1 IndUS Business Journal article titled, "Paperless Power: Altierre CEO has company on retail industry fast track."
- Yardbarker reported 143% growth across its network in the third quarter, 2008.
September 2008
- Aperto Networks announced on September 29 U.S. distribution agreements with Ohio based Wireless Connections and Illinois based CTI.
- Marrone Organic Innovations announced the availability of Regalia® SC, a powerful, proven new tool for controlling both fungal and bacterial disease in a wide range of fruit, ornamental and vegetable crops on September 21.
- bnetTV.com showcased some of the exhibitors, including PlayPhone, at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment Fall Show on September 10-12th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.
- National Geographic is partnering with PlayPhone to distribute subscription-based content including wallpaper, ringtones, video and games to PCs and wireless devices.
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- PlayPhone is launching a television channel in a groundbreaking joint venture with Top Up TV, the company that provides Pay TV services on Digital Terrestrial Television.
August 2008
- Mi5 Networks announced that it has been named a Top 10 Technology Startup by InformationWeek magazine on August 20.
- Labrador Ventures invested $5 million in a $22 million Series D financing for PlayPhone. Menlo Ventures, Cardinal Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, CVP SBIC and Coral's 2007 Momentum Fund all participated in the new round of financing.
- Delve Networks (formerly Pluggd) signed a partnership with PLYmedia, a provider of web video technology. The two companies have teamed to integrate PLYmedia's services and tools into Delve's web video platform.
- Pandora, and its new iPhone application, was featured in a Financial Times story on August 12.
July 2008
- Labrador Ventures was named one of the “Top 100 Venture Capital Firms” by Entrepreneur Magazine.
- Pandora launches streaming radio app for iPhone, article featured in Wired. Download app for free at the App Store and within iTunes.
- Labrador Ventures invested $500,000 in a $6.3 million Series A financing for Rocket Fuel, Inc. Mohr Davidow Ventures joined existing investors in the new round of financing.
- Newsweek featured a July 7 story on Pandora titled, "Pandora's Music Box: Labels may not like it, but radio on the Net is catching on."
- As part of Labrador's Seed Program, the Partnership invested in Mixbook's Series A round of financing.
- The Washington Times reported that Yardbarker added a group of large college fan community sites to its network. This group, called the Team Sports Network, collectively reaches 2.5mm unique users per month, and is now announcing a distribution partnership with ESPN.com.
- As part of Labrador's Seed Program, the Partnership invested in Carsala.
June 2008
- Labrador Ventures invested in a Series B financing for Transpera.
- ShotSpotter announced the closing of $7.5 million Series D financing on June 17. The Westly Group led the round, joined by Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) and Broidy Capital Management. The Company’s existing investors include the Band of Angels, City Light Capital, Claremont Creek Ventures, Labrador Ventures, Lauder Partners, and Levensohn Venture Partners. The capital will be used to solidify the dominance of its flagship product, the ShotSpotter GLS, in both the U.S. domestic public safety and military markets and to accelerate international market expansion.
- Aperto Networks and Tranzeo Wireless Technologies announced the the combination of Aperto base stations and Tranzeo subscriber unit technology for flexible, cost-effective WiMax solutions.
- Labrador's Sean Foote gave a lecture titled, "VC and Microfinance: Pros and Cons" at the Haas School of Business.
May 2008
- Pandora's Tim Westergren was profiled in a May 26 Fortune Magazine article. The profile includes some of Westergren's favorite things to have and to do while on the road.
- Altierre held a second closing on its Series C round, increasing the round's total to $30 million.
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- NextHop Technologies was acquired by U4EA Technologies on May 20. Together, the companies will address small and medium business, enterprise and service provider requirements for seamless mobility for voice, data and video applications. U4EA Technologies is a privately held company with locations in
- Live Universe acquires MeeVee.
- A new partnership between Pandora and Clear Channel was reported in WashintonPost.com, Billboard.biz, Wired.com, SiliconValleyInsider.com, Valleywag.com and Digg.com.
- Eoplex increased its $8 million Series C Round of financing to $12 million. The new funds will be used to build its first full-scale production plant to manufacture new types of cell phone antennas. The round was lead by ATA Ventures with the backing of all current investors, including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Labrador Ventures and Draper-Richards.
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- Live Universe acquires Jangl.
- Labrador ’s
April 2008
- Silverpop Systems closed a $15 million Series D round, led by new investor D.E. Shaw & Co. The new capital will be used to make further acquisitions.
- KickApps was selected by WorldNow, a technology and sales company, to drum up new online revenue opportunities for local TV stations.
- Fyreball launches media-sharing service with $1 Million from Angels.
- Supermarket News reported on April 10 that Robert J. Dunst, a former chief information officer at Albertsons, was named to the board of directors of Altierre Corp.
- Ustream. TV closed an $11.1 million Series A round in April. Labrador Ventures participated in the investment, along with Doll Capital Management and The Band of Angels. The funding will be used to accelerate product development and meet market demand for a live online video broadcasting platform that allows people all over the world to engage in real-time. TechCrunch and VentureWire reported on the new financing.
- Yardbarker announced on April 3 a $6 million Series B round of financing. Draper Fisher Jurvetson led the round and was joined by existing investors, including Labrador Ventures, Russ Siegelman, Ronnie Lott (via SC Investments Consulting), Jarl Mohn and Baseline Ventures. Yardbarker plans to use the funds to expand its engineering and sales teams.
- Aperto Networks announced a new $20 million round of financings on April 2. Quicksilver Ventures led the financing which included participation by Labrador Ventures and other existing investors including Gunn Allen Venture Partners, JK&B Capital, Canaan Partners, Alliance Ventures, Innovacom and JAFCO Ventures.
March 2008
- The Wall Street Journal featured Altierre in a March 31 article titled "A Cheaper Price Tag."
- The Washington Post featured Pandora in a March 21 article on the future of radio and USA Today included Pandora in its round-up of popular online music sites in a March 24 article.
- Pluggd Inc. hired two new vice presidents: Alex Alben as VP of corporate strategy and Fred Tietze as VP of sales and business development.
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- Altierre announced on March 10 a $22 million in Series C funding. The Galleon Group led the round, and was joined by return backers D.E. Shaw, ATA Ventures, Kinetic Ventures and Labrador Ventures.
- Entegris, Inc. (NasdaqGS:ENTG - News) announced on March 6 that it signed an agreement to purchase a 14 percent equity stake of privately held Integrated Materials, Inc. (IMI) for $8 million.
- Mi5 featured in Information Week's Startup Of The Week titled, "Mi5 Networks Cleans Up The Web" in the March 3 issue.
- On March 6 Jangl turned on a revenue stream across its network of social calling widgets, which reach a potential 80 million social networking profiles. The new advertising initiative is called Mobile Media Platform and provides a set of APIs for publishers and ad units for advertisers.
February 2008
- Labrador Ventures, along with Silicon Valley Bank and Goodwin Procter, hosted its 6th Annual Mardi Gras celebration on Tuesday, February 5 with over 150 venture capitalists. Click here to see photos.
- Labrador Ventures was named one of Silicon Valley's most active Venture Capital firms by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
January 2008
- MeeVee was featured in a January 21 USA Today article titled, "Websites make it easy to catch a missed TV show."
- MeeVee announced on January 8 a syndication partnership with MTV networks to distribute content from Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, CMT, Logo, The N, Spike TV, AtomFilms and Game Trailers. Article featured on Fox Business news.
- Labrador's Sean Foote was interviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Steve Bengston for his wsRadio show, "Startup Radio," on January 3.
