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AdMob raises $15m from Sequoia and Accel

AdMob raises $15m from Sequoia and Accel

AdMob says it raised USD15m in Series B investments with money coming from Accel Partners and previous investor Sequoia Capital (Sequoia had already invested an estimated USD4m). The money will be used to develop new advertising solutions and improve the existing platform to make it easier for current advertisers to manage their promotion.

The company claims to have served over 1.6bn advertisements across 160 companies in less than a year, and suggests that they have delivered more than rivals such as Enpocket and Rhythm NewMedia. Having passed the 1bn advert level in January, AdMob claims to have accelerated and delivered 600m in the February and March to date. Its nearest competitor Third Screen Media (which is speculatively rumoured to be in acquisition talks with AOL for $80m or so) claims to serve an estimated 350m advertisements every month.

Web 2.0 startups get USD844m

StrategyWire view - Web 2.0 startups get USD844m

A total of USD844m was invested by VCs in Web 2.0 startups, according to a study by Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureOne.  This includes the USD455.5m invested in 79 web 2.0 startups during the first nine months of the year, which is more than double the amount invested in the whole of 2005. Sequoia is the most active investor, according to the report, with 17 investments in this sector after Benchmark Capital (16) and DFJ (15). 

The study also claims that 83% of the USD844m went on 126 US-based companies, six times more than in European Web 2.0 startups, with both Facebook and Zillow raising USD25m.  The principle reason attributed to the rising investment in this sector is due to the success and countless replications of social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube, as well as the high profiles buyouts of these companies by News Corp and Google.  Sequoia made a USD488.5m profit from its sale of YouTube to Google. 

However, this trend is not expected to last, as investor Todd Dagres says that, "too many companies are being funded..the inflation is similar to ..the [dotcom] bubble."  In addition, despite the rise in VC investments in this area, the valuations for Web 2.0 startups dropped to USD6m, approximately USD1m less than in 2005, although this may be because the initial startup capital is less and so results in a lower net worth at the time of the valuation.

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Eyeblaster USD30m funding

StrategyWire view - Eyeblaster USD30m funding

Rich media ad firm Eyeblaster is receiving USD30m in Series B funding. No deal terms were disclosed. The round was led by individual investors Jonathan Kolber, Eli Barkat and diamond magnate Guy Gamzu, with other investors not disclosed. No information was given as to how the funding will be spent. Eyeblaster provides a range of rich digital media advertising solutions, including contextual ads serving internal dynamic content, intelligent expandable banner ads, in-game advertising, search marketing and ad serving campaign management services. Eyeblaster's Eb.media network creates, sells and delivers video advertising to UK and European sites, including ITV news network ITN and Sony BMG.

alarm:clock commenting -  Rich ad serving Strong-man Eyeblaster Raises $30m 

Digital advertising agency, Spotzer, backed by Cyrte Investments

StrategyWire view and link - Spotzer deal

Spotzer Media Group, a TV and digital advertising agency has received backing from Cyrte Investments. The undisclosed amount will be used to fight off competition such as SpotRunner. Spotzer offers ready-made advertising to local businesses, which Spotzer has unveiled on its website as a preview. Customers avoid the costs of specifically created advertising with over 100 ready to transmit adverts for television, mobile devices and MP3 players. The company has 20 clients at the moment. This sees the end of Spotzer's third round financing.

India online collaboration startup, InstaColl, secures funding from SoftBank

StrategyWire view and links - India online collaboration startup, InstaColl, secures funding from SoftBank

InstaColl, an online collaboration startup assisted by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia, secured an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from SoftBank.  The deal marks SoftBank's first investment in an Indian company.  InstaColl differs from other productivity startups in that it allows users to share and collaborate on desktop tools such as MS Word and Excel.  Competitors such as Zoho provide online alternatives to these traditional tools.  Microsoft may be attracted to InstaColl's compatibility and web rumours suggest that Bhatia expects the software giant to view InstaColl as a potential takeover target.  A deal would follow Google's acquisition of Writely, an online word processing application, in Mar 2006.  Since then, Google has launched Google Docs & Spreadsheet to rival Microsoft's dominance of the productivity market.  At the time, Bill Gates hinted that Microsoft may move its tools online to negate the threat.

USD5m funding for open source video startup, Avidence

StrategyWire view and links - Avidence raises funding

Open source video startup, Avidence, is receiving USD5m in first round funding. No deal terms were disclosed. The funding comes from Red Rock Ventures and ArrowPath Venture Partners. Avidence was founded in 2006 and is developing an open source platform to incorporate smart video into existing and new business applications. Open source components, created by video software partners, software developers and universities worldwide, are used in the Avidence Video Application Server. The funding is to be used to advance product development, as well as increasing sales and marketing activities. Avidence claims its aims to revolutionise how people use digital video.

Zopa receiving USD12.9m funding

StrategyWire view and related links - Zopa receiving funding

Borrowing and lending exchange, Zopa, received USD12.9m in Series C funding. No deal terms were disclosed. The funding round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with Benchmark Capital and Wellington Partners also investing. The funding is earmarked to continue growth and development of the UK business as well as to launch the company in the US. Zopa was founded in the UK in 2005, launching an online microlending marketplace and since that time claims to have recruited more than 135,000 members. Zopa claims its borrowers are able to access the cheapest loans in the UK and its lenders have received average returns of 6.75% per year and up to 14%. Zopa is also appointing Douglas Dalton as its new global CEO to head up its expansion into the US, succeeding Richard Duvall, the co-founder and global CEO who died last year.