Month: June 2012

Here’s a roundup of some of the recent seed-stage and angel deals from around the world:

• TodaCell, a Managed Premium High-Conversions Mobile Ad Network, raises $2 million funding from AfterDox and angel investors
• en-Gauge Inc., which makes devices to remotely monitor safety equipment like fire extinguishers, has received $50,000 in debt funding
• GymPact, which uses cash incentives to help you commit to exercise and actually do it, has closed an $850,000 seed round led by Resolute.vc
• AfterShip, a Hong Kong-based package monitoring service that works with online retailers, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding
• TenasiTech, which has developed super-tough strong and stable rubbers using nanotechnology, raises $1.4 million in grants & equity capital
• Swipp, a new startup wants to challenge the “social media status quo”, lands $3.5 million funding from Groupon Investors
• Cabulous, a San Fran-based taxi dispatch technology startup, has raised $8 million funding to scale its service to fleets of cabs worldwide
• Beintoo, which has a loyalty rewards and monetization platform for mobile games, apps, and sites, has secured $5 million in Series A funding
• VHX, a startup specialized in Web video distribution for independent film makers, raises $1.25 million seed funding led by Lerer Ventures
• ThisLife, a site that automatically organizes your photos and videos with face recognition and GPS tagging, gets $2.75 million seed funding
• Kapow Events, the event marketplace where businesses can get access to free planning& exclusive promotions, have raised $700,000 financing
• LumeJet, a UK-based technology developer with expertise in photonic (light-based) imaging systems, lands £1.87 million angel funding
• StrikeAd, a startup that helps advertisers and agencies manage their mobile campaigns, has raised another $500,000 in funding
• PoshVine, an online dining reservation-cum-reviewing portal, has raised a round of seed funding from MyFirstCheque
• Freshplum, which bills itself as “next-generation business analytics for digital commernce”, announces $1.4 million in seed funding
• Gradient X, a company offering a Demand Side Platform for mobile advertizing, has secured $3.75 million in seed funding
• CasaHop, which aims to be the go-to place for home swapping on the web, lands $1.2 million seed funding from an impressive list of investors
• CloudByte, building next generation storage virtualization products, has raised $2.1 million Series A funding led by Nexus Venture Partners
• Big Frame, a YouTube management and production company, has secured $3 million in seed funding
• Psykosoft, a distrubuted startup that has created the web app Psykopaint, has secured $500k in seed funding

To get regular updates, come follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/angel__network or register for our blog at https://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.netwp-login.php?action=register.

Have you managed to raise capital for your company?  We always love to hear from entrepreneurs who manage to get funded.

Or are you looking to raise funding?  Send me a summary of your project at mike@angelinvestmentnetwork.co.uk and we’ll try to help.

 

With the on-going global economic uncertainty, investors are continuously looking for alternative investment options. In South Africa the concept of Angel Investing especially into technology start-ups is gaining traction, attracting even the most seemingly conservative investors. Joining ABN’s Natascha Jacobsz from our bureau in Cape Town to discuss the role of Angel Investing in South Africa is Wesley Lynch, CEO of Realm Digital.

This graphic that highlights a few notable college dropouts…

Source: https://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.net

Every web publisher — and especially content marketer — yearns for an engaged and loyal audience. But with the sheer volume of noise, clutter and — well, content — online it can be hard to figure out how to reach people and keep them coming back for more.

The content marketing agency BlueGlass knows a lot about how to do this well. They’ve run successful campaigns for clients including eBay, Conde Nast and Greatist. Now BlueGlass is ready to share some of its secrets withMashable readers. The company produced this exclusive infographic to run down some of the ways you too can build an engaged audience online.

Here are a few quick tips: Make sure you have a gripping headline, keep your copy to the point, make sure to provide value and promote, promote, promote.

Why are these approaches so important? Far more people will read your headline than your entire post, so drawing people in is crucial. Online audiences tend to skim for important information and lose patience quickly, so bogging your content down with too many words will be counterproductive. Giving readers obvious value with your posts will give incentivize them to return again and again. And smart, persistent promotion — especially via social media — will help cut through all the noise online and make your content sharable and more effective.

Check out the infographic below for the fuller picture. Does this advice ring true to you? What would you add? Let us know in the comments.

Source: https://mashable.com/2012/06/26/how-to-build-an-engaged-audience-infographic/

Angel Investment News:  

• Index Ventures Raises $442 Million in New Fund: https://ow.ly/bDWDD
• US-based Silicon Valley Bank sets aside €80m for Irish tech start-ups: https://ow.ly/bJ5OE
• Investor and Pay Pal co-founder Peter Thiel starts Mithril Capital with a $402 million fund: https://ow.ly/bJ5bb
• Connecticut appears to find itself in an unaccustomed place – too many angel investment dollars seeking too few deals: https://ow.ly/bKIZT
• Optus and SingTel have launched a seed funding program that will back up to 8 Australian start-ups with $250,000 each: https://ow.ly/bKILH

Business Plans & Pitching:

• Constructing an Unforgettable Elevator Pitch: https://ow.ly/bDY4F
• 5 Business Plan Mistakes. The key to successfully obtaining funds is having a solid business plan: https://ow.ly/bKKd4
• Preparing Your Business Plan: The Executive Summary: https://ow.ly/bKKl0

Fund Raising:

• Painful truth on why venture capital firms reject startups. A VC tells entrepreneurs exactly why he won’t fund them: https://ow.ly/bDYcG
• Video – Kevin Rose on his new gig at Google Ventures, what he looks for in a startup founder, and more: https://ow.ly/bDYO4
• Study highlights entrepreneurs’ funding problems, offers solutions: https://ow.ly/bHvrm
• Angel Investor Tells Us 4 Questions That Founders Need To Ask Themselves Before Fundraising: https://ow.ly/bJ7LN
• 10 VCs And Founders Give Their Best Advice For Raising Money: https://ow.ly/bJ7PD

Marketing & Social Media:

• 5 Social Media Marketing Myths: Busted! https://ow.ly/bHwdd
• How Social Content Attracts and Engages More Customers: https://ow.ly/bJ3ar
• 3 Steps to Getting Started With Social Media: https://ow.ly/bKK2u

Start-Up & Entrepreneurship:

• Entrepreneurs Need to Brand Themselves First: https://ow.ly/bDWPv
• Infographic: Startup Genome analyzed 3,200 high-growth technology startups to answer this question: Why do startups fail? https://ow.ly/bOcnM
• 5 Practices Startups Should Borrow From Big Businesses: https://ow.ly/bDXG3
• Five Ways To Be A More Efficient Entrepreneur: https://ow.ly/bKIBs
• Behind The Launch is a 16-episode documentary that takes you behind the curtain of a young and ambitious startup: https://ow.ly/bKJLb

To stay updated, come follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/angel__network or register for our blog at https://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.netwp-login.php?action=register.

Read anything interesting? Feel free to add links to any articles or resources you’d like to share with the angel community.

Or are you looking to raise funding?  Send me a summary of your project at mike@angelinvestmentnetwork.co.uk and we’ll try to help.

Here’s a roundup of some of the recent seed-stage and angel deals from around the world:

• PetHub, a service that helps lost pets find their way home, has closed its seed round of $1.3 million from angel investors
• Regaalo, a gift-giving website aiming to recreate the experience of parents shopping for their college-age children, gets $125K seed funding
• Thatgamecompany has raised $5.5 million funding from Benchmark Capital after six years of developing games for Sony’s PlayStation
• Paloma Mobile, a mobile startup creating cloud-based services for any smartphone, raises $1.5 million Series A funding led by OneVentures
• Switchcam, which recreates concert experiences by combining professional and fan footage, lands $1.2 million seed funding led by Mark Cuban
• Iconfinder, an online marketplace for icons to use iOS and Android apps (among other places), has raised $1.5 millionin seed funding
• Aidin, a startup that helps people find better continuing care after they leave the hospital, has raised $600,000 from General Catalyst
• Sambaash, a SaaS-based service that builds online communities for businesses & organizations by leveraging social media, lands $2.1M funding
• Indow Windows, the Northeast Portland producer of thermal window inserts, has completed its $1.3 million Series A investment
• French membrane proteins specialist Calixar has raised €875,000 in an initial round of fundraising from private investors & business angels
• FashionSpace, the social publishing platform in the fashion industry, has closed a second round of funding led by Crystal Horse Investments
• UK-based online money and investment management software maker Nutmeg has landed £3.4 million in funding
• Snapguide, whose simple UI makes it easy for users to build “How-To” guides via iPhone, raises $5 million Series A funding
• Setem Technologies, a company developing software that separates voice from ambient noise, lands $1 million from angel investors
• Sellfy, the one-click e-commerce platform for self-publishers, has scored an angel investment from two Skype alumni
• Liquid Health Labs, a company that makes a plastic bottle cap which injects a dose of vitamins into water, gets $100K in angel funding
• Onefinestay, which allows visitors to London to stay in quality homes whilst the owners are away, has raised $12 million Series B funding
• Mile High Organics, a leading organic online grocer, has closed a seven-figure seed round. Investors included 500 Startups and TA Venture
• Crushpath, a platform for salespeople to control a deal from lead to close, closes $2 million seed funding led by Charles River Ventures
• Duolingo, a language translation website, has raised $3.3 million funding from Ashton Kutcher and New York-based Union Square Ventures
• Bitcasa, a Mountain View, Calif.-based cloud storage company, has raised $7 million in a Series A funding round
• Yesware, a startup that helps salespeople manage e-mail communications (and soon, phone calls too), gets $4 million in new funding
• Mycity4Kids, an online guide for parents residing in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, has raised angel funding from YourNest Angel Fund

To get regular updates, come follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/angel__network or register for our blog at https://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.netwp-login.php?action=register.

Have you managed to raise capital for your company?  We always love to hear from entrepreneurs who manage to get funded.

Or are you looking to raise funding?  Send me a summary of your project at mike@angelinvestmentnetwork.co.uk and we’ll try to help.

Angel Investment News:  

• £6m SEIS fund ready to help UK student start-ups: https://ow.ly/bzz1l

Business Plans & Pitching:

• What investors look for in a business plan: https://ow.ly/bwiKo
• The new elevator pitch: Now in five slides or less: https://ow.ly/bx7Cy

Fund Raising:

• Video – What Do VC’s Look For? Is it team? Is it the idea? Is it product? Is it market? This is a great 15-second clip: https://ow.ly/buCkK
• 5 Tips On Getting Investors To Hand Over Money For Your Startup: https://ow.ly/buHHC
• Video – Angel Investors VS. Venture Capitalists – Ask Jay: https://ow.ly/buIGI
• 105 Women in Venture Capital and Angel Investment you should know: https://ow.ly/bxPq9

Marketing & Social Media:

• 5 Reasons You Should Measure Social Media Return on Investment: https://ow.ly/buCaI
• A Blogger’s Checklist. Want some more traction on your blog? Here are 6 components every blog post should have: https://ow.ly/buHgS
• 9 Ways to Measure Your Brand’s Social Media Health: https://ow.ly/bwhzZ
• 4 Key Reasons Why Your Blog Sucks: https://ow.ly/bwhOy
• 8 strategies for Pinterest for business: https://ow.ly/bx7XH
• 5 Tips To Stop Failing At Social Media Marketing: https://ow.ly/bzwIS
• 10 Social Media Tips From a Top Media Agency: https://ow.ly/bB6Hn
• 5 Ways to Get Your Infographic to Go Viral: https://ow.ly/bB71Z

Start-Up & Entrepreneurship:

• 7 Secrets Every Entrepreneur Should Learn From a Teenager: https://ow.ly/bweoW
• Entrepreneurship could cure South Africa’s growing youth unemployment crisis: https://ow.ly/bwh5l
• 5 money saving tips for new start-up businesses: https://ow.ly/bzwv9https://ow.ly/i/HbAG

To stay updated, come follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/angel__network or register for our blog at https://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.netwp-login.php?action=register.

Read anything interesting? Feel free to add links to any articles or resources you’d like to share with the angel community.

Or are you looking to raise funding?  Send me a summary of your project at mike@angelinvestmentnetwork.co.uk and we’ll try to help.