July 27th, 2011

AdSense For Images Pixazza Rebrands As Luminate, Launches Platform For In-Image Apps

lum

Pixazza, a Google Ventures-backed photo tagging service that has been compared to an “AdSense for Images,” is rebranding as Luminate today, and debuting a new platform for in-image apps.

As we’ve written in the past, Pixazza allows publishers to identify, tag and match products found within online images on their sites and then link them back to the inventories of Pixazza’s network of advertisers. The service, which can be integrated in a site by adding a single line of code, allows consumers to browse the photos featured on a site and mouse over it to reveal information and pricing about similar products, and if desired, click to purchase. → Read More

May 3rd, 2011

Stipple Opens The Kimono To Reveal A Product Tagging Platform With Massive Potential

When we first covered Stipple in September of last year, it seemed like a really cool idea: tag people in images no matter where they reside on the web — not just on Flickr or Facebook. It was quickly clear that investors like Kleiner Perkins, Mike Maples, and even Justin Timberlake agreed, as they poured $2 million into the company just three months post-launch. And now that Stipple is ready to reveal the full product they’ve built, it’s pretty clear why the initial investment came so quickly. This platform has the potential to be massive, and to make a lot of people a lot of money.

So what is Stipple now? Well, there’s still the people-tagging element for sure. And that’s still really cool. If you tag a person in a photo on the web, you can enter their Twitter name or Facebook name and then anyone can see their most recent updates as overlays on that picture. But the much bigger idea is that Stipple is teaming up with photo services, fashion brands, publishers, and others to possibly alter the way people browse and buy things on the web. → Read More

April 27th, 2011

AdSense For Images Pixazza Surpasses 100M Unique Monthly Visitors; Hires CFO

Pixazza, a Google Ventures-backed photo tagging service that has been compared to an “AdSense for Images,” has hired a new executive officer today, appointing Terry Murphy has Chief Financial Officer. The company has also surpassed 100 million unique visitors per month, which is up from 70 million unique visitors per month in March.

Murphy joins Pixazza from RiseSmart, where he was CFO. Previously, Murphy was the senior vice president of finance for virtual call center company LiveOps. In his six years at LiveOps, he helped led the company’s financial operations during a period of explosive growth as annual revenues increased from $18 million to $140 million. In his new role, he will direct Pixazza’s finance, accounting, human resources, facilities and legal functions. → Read More

March 8th, 2011

AdSense For Images Pixazza Now Seeing 20 Billion Image Views Per Year

Pixazza, a Google Ventures-backed photo tagging service that has been compared to an “AdSense for Images,” has hit a major milestone today. The company’s in-image advertisements now reaches more than 70 million unique visitors per month, which is an 80 percent increase in reach in just five months.

Pixazza allows publishers to identify, tag and match products found within online images on their sites and then link them back to the inventories of Pixazza’s network of advertisers. The service, which can be integrated in a site by adding a single line of code, allows consumers to browse the photos featured on a site and mouse over it to reveal information and pricing about similar products, and if desired, click to purchase. → Read More

July 18th, 2010

Google Ventures-Backed Pixazza Raises $12 Million For Crowdsourced 'AdSense For Images'

Pixazza, a Google Ventures-backed photo tagging service that has been compared to an “AdSense for Images,” has raised $12 million in Series B funding led by Shasta Ventures, with Series A investors August Capital, CMEA Capital and Google Ventures also participating in the round. This brings the startup’s total funding to nearly $20 million.

Pixazza allows publishers to identify, tag and match products found within online images on their sites and then link them back to the inventories of Pixazza’s network of advertisers. The service, which can be integrated in a site by adding a single line of code, allows consumers to browse the photos featured on a site and mouse over it to reveal information and pricing about similar products, and if desired, click to purchase. → Read More

April 19th, 2010

Google-Backed Pixazza Extends "AdSense For Images" To Home, Travel And Sports Sites

Pixazza, a Google-backed photo tagging service that has been compared to an “AdSense for Images,” is expanding its service beyond entertainment websites to now include home, travel and sports publishers as well.

Pixazza allows publishers to identify, tag and match products found within online images on their sites and then link them back to the inventories of Pixazza’s network of advertisers. The service, which can be integrated in a site by adding a single line of code, allows consumers to browse the photos featured on a site and mouse over it to reveal information and pricing about similar products, and if desired, click to purchase. Additionally, Pixazza shares advertising and affiliate revenues with publishers. More than five million products are available through Pixazza’s service today from retailers and merchants. → Read More

April 4th, 2009

The Google Ventures Cheat Sheet

Earlier this week, Google finally announced the formation of a new venture arm called Google Ventures. It is where all smaller-scale venture investments from Google will now originate. The day of the announcement, I chatted on the phone with Bill Maris and Rich Miner, the two Google executives who are managing the fund to get a sense of what they are interested in and how the fund will work.

It turns out they are open to investing in pretty much anything from the Internet and cloud computing to healthcare and mobile. “We don’t want to artificially limit ourselves,” says Miner. What about space elevators? “Show me one that works,” retorts Maris, “and I will invest in it.” The two of them will run the entire fund pretty much by themselves, bringing in other Googlers as needed for expertise and to help evaluate startups. Both Maris and Miner have done venture investing before: Maris for Swedish holding company AB and Miner for Orange Ventures. Miner will be leaving the Android team at Google, where he negotiated many of the deal with carriers and handset manufacturers.

If you are an entrepreneur trying to figure out how to navigate your way to a pitch session with them, below is a cheat sheet with the basics you should know. → Read More

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Crunchbase

Energy Points — Received $3M in Series A funding from Plan B Ventures
2.13.2012
Rusnano — Company added to CrunchBase
2.13.2012
Plan B Ventures — Invested in Energy Points.
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Jive Software — Went public with stock symbol NASDAQ:JIVE.
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Cidade Internet — Acquired by Populis.
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LetsBuy.com — Acquired by Flipkart.
2.9.2012
Cocoafish — Acquired by Appcelerator.
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Energy Points — Received $3M in Series A funding from Plan B Ventures
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StopTheHacker — Received $1.1M in Series A funding from Runa Capital
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Marin Software — Received $30M in Unattributed funding
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FNZ — Received Unattributed funding from General Atlantic
2.13.2012
LipoFIT Analytic — Received $9.5M in Series B funding from KfW Bankengruppe and Bayern Kapital
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Plan B Ventures — Invested in Energy Points.
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Runa Capital — Invested in StopTheHacker.
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General Atlantic — Invested in FNZ.
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Bayern Kapital — Invested in LipoFIT Analytic.
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Jive Software — Went public with stock symbol NASDAQ:JIVE.
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Rusnano — Company added to CrunchBase
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Durham Graphene Science — Company added to CrunchBase
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ClevrU — Company added to CrunchBase
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OpenLabel — Company added to CrunchBase
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Bookt — Company added to CrunchBase
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Fit Freeway — Product added to CrunchBase
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Metier HR - Cloud Based HR Process Automation Suite — Product added to CrunchBase
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Wupbox account — Product added to CrunchBase
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