By Evan Vitale
Here’s what’s new in the fast-paced world of venture capital:
According to the New York Times, Xfund, a beleaguered venture capital firm that has put money into start-ups like the genetics company 23andMe and the real estate outfit Zumper, is breaking new and belligerent ground in the normally discreet world of technology investors.
A complaint filed on Friday in Santa Clara County Superior Court in California by Hugo Van Vuuren, one Xfund founder, against Patrick S. Chung, the other founder, and the fund itself, includes accusations of secret contract amendments, bullying and schoolyard name-calling.
Mr. Chung called Mr. Van Vuuren a “spiteful moron” and “a trivial person pursuing trivial things” in emails, according to court documents. Mr. Chung also wrote that working with Mr. Van Vuuren was “like working with a retarded person” and that Mr. Van Vuuren would be worth more “dead than alive once we have key-man insurance.”
You can read the rest of the mid-slinging here: http://nyti.ms/27Db8FN
The St. Louis Business Journal, More money is being invested in startups developing blockchain technology, which is behind the bitcoin digital currency.
The amount of money venture capitalists have invested in the first quarter of 2016 — $173 million spread across 39 deals — eclipsed the sum of capital invested in similar companies over the entire second half of 2015.
Some of that money found its way to St. Louis.
Read more about it here: http://bit.ly/1WDu5Fb
Bloomberg.com asks the question: “Is There a Venture Capital Bubble in China?”
Find out here: http://bloom.bg/1NzZbKn
The Financial Post is reporting venture capital surged to a new record in the first quarter while private equity investment contracted modestly on the back of declining oil and gas activity, a new report from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association says.
The value of venture capital investments made in Q1 surged to $838 million, nearly double the amount recorded during the same period last year. Growth was driven by large deals in British Columbia and Ontario, plus the $58 million investment made in Manitoba firm, Farmer’s Edge. That deal involved a group of companies led by Japan’s Mitsui & Co.
More details are available here: http://bit.ly/1sBfRIj
