Leena Rao
The Latest from Leena Rao
Zuora’s Journey To Managing The Subscription Economy
The idea for subscription billing startup Zuora was born in Marc Benioff's office. In 2006, K.V. Rao, then a WebEx senior engineer, was meeting with Benioff and Salesforce CMO Tien Tzuo. Tzuo made a c
Accompani Wants To Be The Relationship Manager To Rule Them All
Many of us suffer the same problem–as our professional networks grow, we can’t keep track of each person’s details, including jobs, personal interests, kids, news and more. Amy Chang
Sand Hill Road’s Consiglieres: August Capital
There are VCs, and then there are classic VCs.
It was 1980, and 30 year old Dave Marquardt was a young, hot shot VC at Technology Venture Investors looking for his next deal. He heard through the g
With Moments, Tinder Decides Photos Shouldn’t Always Last Forever
While Tinder has made quite a few romantic matches, the hot new dating app has long had ambitions of connecting people beyond love and attraction. Tinder wants to be the place you go to make any conne
So Long TC, And Hello GV
I thought hard about this post, but time didn’t make it any easier to write. After five-and-a-half years at TechCrunch, I’ll be joining Google Ventures as an operating partner. I am ready for a ne
WeddingChannel Co-Founder Jenny Lefcourt Joins Freestyle
It was 1998, and Stanford Business School student Jenny Lefcourt and her fellow female co-founder wanted to raise money for an e-commerce-meets-retail idea they had around weddings. They were thrilled
South African E-Commerce Giant Takealot Raises $100M From Tiger Global
Takealot, a South African e-commerce site, has raised a whopping $100 million from Tiger Global Management.
The company is still relatively young, launching in 2011, post the acquisition of an exis
Brit + Co. Doubles Down On E-Commerce, Launches Etsy-Like Marketplace For Makers
There's no shortage of e-commerce companies betting on content as a way to engage with consumers and increase transactions. And we're also starting to see content companies turn on e-commerce as well.
Indian E-Commerce Site Snapdeal Raises Another $100M From BlackRock And Others
Snapdeal, one of the larger online e-commerce companies in India, has raised $100 million from Temasek, BlackRock, Myriad, Premji Invest and Tybourne. This follows a $133 million round of funding from
IBM Watson Acquires Artificial Intelligence Startup Cognea
IBM's Watson group has announced a new acquisition today -- artificial intelligence company Cognea. IBM confirmed the acquisition via a blog post.
Cognea developed a cognitive computing and convers
For Aspiring Female Engineers, A Square Meal Of Code
“I thought I had to be a guy to be an engineer,” she told me as she was siting in the Square offices nearby her home in the Tenderloin, only days away from taking the AP Computer Science t
Kayak Co-Founder Raises $20M For Design-Focused Incubator, Blade
Kayak co-founder Paul English is revealing more details about his Boston-based startup incubator, <a target="_blank" href="http://blade.net/">Blade</a>. The new company has raised $20 million in new f
Stealthy Timeful Raises $7M From Khosla To Help You Manage Your Time
A few months ago, we reported on the pending launch of Timeful, a new startup that wants to be an intelligent time manager. Although still in stealth, the company is revealing a Series A round of fund
Backed By Google Ventures And Eric Schmidt, Urban Engines Wants To Solve Urban Congestion Using Data Intelligence
It's no secret that as our population grows, buses, trains and other transportation infrastructure in cities are becoming more congested. Public transportation departments use qualitative date from su
OpenDNS Raises $35M From Cisco For Its Cloud-Based Enterprise Network Security As A Service
Cloud-based enterprise network security company OpenDNS has raised $35 million in Series C funding from Greylock Partners, Sequoia Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Glynn Capital, Cisco, Evolution Equity
Early Alibaba Backer GGV Raises $620M For Fifth Fund
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.ggvc.com/">GGV</a> , the backers of US and Chinese tech companies like Alibaba, Pandora, Qunar, Zendesk and Tudou, has raised $620 million for its fifth venture ca
Darby Smart Raises $6.3M For DIY Craft Marketplace
<a target="_blank" href="http://darbysmart.com/">Darby Smart,</a> a do-it-yourself crafting startup, has raised $6.3 million in Series A funding led by Maveron, with participation from Forerunner Vent
Square M&A Lead Rishi Garg Joins Twitter To Head Corp Dev
Twitter is <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/rishigarg/status/465890165861670912">bringing</a> on a new head of corporate development--<a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/per
Ask A VC: Google Ventures’ Rich Miner On Android Growth And More
In this week’s episode of Ask A VC, Google Ventures’ Rich Miner joined us in the studio to talk about Android’s massive growth, and more. Miner, who was the co-founder of Android and
Jawbone’s Newest Investor Is Rizvi Traverse
Back in February, <a target="_blank" href="http://recode.net/2014/02/13/rizvi-traverse-to-lead-250-million-investment-in-jawbone-at-3-3-billion-valuation/">Re/code reported</a> that Jawbone was nearly