By Evan Vitale
What’s making headlines this week in the area of venture capital? Let’s find out:
The New York Times printed an interesting article on those who avoided seeking venture capital.
Ron Rudzin, an entrepreneur from Queens with a long history in the furniture business, took $350,000 of his own money to write a business plan in 2007 to form his online mattress company, Saatva.
“People who raise money, rather than be self-funded, tend to spend wildly because it’s other people’s money and they throw a bunch of stuff on the wall and see what sticks. I don’t do it that way,” Mr. Rudzin said. “I’m much more meticulous and efficient. I might go a little slower, but in the end I believe I win.”
You can read the full article here: http://nyti.ms/1sLRIOO
The New York Business Journal is reporting Signals Group hopes to tap new venture capital for an overseas expansion.
Signals Group, based near Columbus Circle in Manhattan, delivers intelligence and insights to support product development at major companies. It raised $10 million in a new funding round. The startup raised $15 million less than a year ago.
The full profile is here: http://bit.ly/1TY5KpH
According to YourStory.com, seed stage venture capital fund Romulus Capital announced closing its third fund of over $75 million in commitments. According to the founder, Krishna Gupta (28), the funds were raised from investors in 15 countries, including royal families from the Middle East, conglomerates from Asia, and individuals with strong ties to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The story is here: http://bit.ly/25CCrBy
Microsoft Ventures is Microsoft’s very own venture capital division. It’s main focus will be on early-stage startup investments. Don’t confuse this with Microsoft’s startup accelerator with the same name- that one’s being re-branded as Microsoft Accelerator.
In Microsoft’s official blog post announcing the change, Nagraj Kashyap, the corporate vice president of the new Microsoft Ventures, says that while the company has done a lot of investment in the past, it has not been focusing on investments in the early stage. What they have been looking at is investing alongside commercial deals. This is where their new venture capital division comes in. This new division will be more like Google Ventures, which takes risks on young companies for a potentially huge return.
You can read more about it here: http://bit.ly/1P8s8s5
