Union Square Ventures
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Rebecca Kaden joins Union Square Ventures as general partner
Rebecca Kaden has announced that she’s leaving Maveron to join Union Square Ventures as a general partner on the investment team. She’ll be the first female partner at USV. She said that her faith in the team and also a return to her native NYC were motivating factors in joining the firm. Read More
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Some VCs want to jump into ICOs, but a host of challenges remain
Venture capitalists are in a pickle. Companies have raised more than $1.7 billion through initial coin offerings, or ICOs, this year by selling their own customized virtual currencies. For the companies, the trend is a godsend. They can raise the money and use it to fuel new projects without having to give away a piece of their company to venture capitalists. Meanwhile, both accredited and… Read More
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The “Instagram for doctors” just raised a fresh $10 million
Figure 1 isn’t for the squeamish, but investors apparently love it. The company, a kind of social network where more than a million healthcare professionals can view rare conditions, learn about novel treatments and even teach cases, has just raised $10 million in Series B funding. Kensington Capital Partners led the round in Figure 1, which has also been called the Instagram for doctors. Read More
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Chat app Kik takes on Facebook with developer ecosystem built on the blockchain
There’s been much talk of ICOs — initial coin offerings — amid the rising value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum. Now the industry is about to see its first ‘big name’ move into the space after Kik announced plans to introduce its own cryptocurrency via a token sale. Messaging app Kik is particular popular among teens and young people in… Read More
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A year after its launch, Tech:NYC has become a force in New York politics
It’s been a little over a year since Fred Wilson and Tim Armstrong appeared onstage at Disrupt in New York to launch Tech:NYC. The two titans of New York City’s tech scene were angling to create a new organization that would speak out for the interests of the tech industry in both city and state government while planting a flag for New York’s place at the forefront of… Read More
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Numerai is a crowdsourced hedge fund for machine learning experts
Richard Craib believes that some of the best stock pickers aren’t on Wall Street. The former hedge funder came to the realization that tech’s machine learning experts may be able to build better predictive models than those with finance backgrounds. Craib carried this thesis forward when he launched Numerai last year, a crowdsourced hedge fund. The startup hopes to attract the best… Read More
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DroneBase raises from Union Square to pay any pilot for aerial footage
That drone in your closet could earn you some money thanks to DroneBase, a startup that delivers aerial data and footage to business clients. DroneBase’s new Pilot Program lets drone owners find gigs nearby where they can fly 10-minute missions, upload the assets and get paid if a DroneBase client wants to buy the info. By connecting idle pilots with needy businesses, DroneBase can… Read More
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On-demand birth control delivery startup Nurx raises $5.3 million from Union Square Ventures
Out of the pill? Nurx is a web platform delivering birth control in less than a couple of hours, and it just raised $5.3 million in Series A financing from Union Square Ventures. The startup launched in 2014 to bridge the gap between running out of birth control and waiting to get a new prescription. It added delivery of PrEP, an anti-HIV medication, to its services earlier this year and… Read More
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Union Square Ventures endorses Hillary Clinton
In a blog post this morning, Union Square Ventures formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. This marks the first time that the 13-year-old fund has endorsed a candidate in a presidential election. In the brief 375 word statement, the firm addressed both the risks of a Trump presidency and the qualities that would make Clinton ideal for the job. Collectively… Read More
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Underrepresented founders: apply now for Include Office Hours with USV
TechCrunch Include Office Hours are happening in NYC on September 27! Albert Wenger and Andy Weissman of Union Square Ventures will join TechCrunch to provide valuable advice and feedback to startups. Launched in 2014, Include is TechCrunch’s diversity program, aimed at facilitating opportunities for underrepresented groups in tech to take their startups to the next level. The Office… Read More
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Crunch Network
USV’s Albert Wenger on converting our attitude on automation from foe to friend
The zero marginal cost of information is turning everything upside down. Albert Wenger, Partner at Union Square Ventures asserts in our latest interview, “We are just at the beginning of this inversion.” Although the changes this inversion is bringing to many associated industries like traditional publishers, crowdfunding sites, and biotech companies are still in their infancy… Read More
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Mediachain enivisions a blockchain-based tool for identifying artists’ work across the internet
Content (in all its forms) is increasingly both the commodity and currency of the digital era, but the speed and ease of near-instantaneous global communication and a capacity for infinite reproduction has served to make it easier to sever the work from its creator. Brooklyn-based Mediachain is hoping to change that. Read More
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Crunch Network
INNOVATE2016: Why the internet has failed and how to fix it
Power now resides with massive centralizing corporations like Google and Facebook and thus the Internet no longer reflects the interests of its users. So, the digital revolution has pretty much failed, according to Union Square Ventures partner Albert Wenger. But not all is lost. Wenger has a three part solution to fix the future – all of which rests of putting power back into the hands… Read More
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Fred Wilson and Tim Armstrong say policy matters for New York’s tech growth
Against a backdrop of a New York investment scene that’s been long on promise and press and somewhat lacking in terms of exits, tech icons Fred Wilson, co-founder of Union Square Ventures, and Tim Armstrong, (my boss’ boss’ boss) chief executive of AOL, have come together to launch Tech:NYC, a new lobbying group for the technology community in New York. While Wilson conceded… Read More
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LPs are feeling the pressure of startups not finding exits
All the energy for venture funds flows from LPs — the money goes from LPs to partners at funds, which in turn invest in startups. But since the number of IPOs and exits has started to dry up, the pressure is starting to rise on LPs, and Venture Investment Associates’ Chris Douvos knows it. And he made it abundantly clear to investors on a panel at TechCrunch Disrupt NY… Read More
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USV sticks to basics with a $166.8 million early-stage fund
Even in an uncertain market, top venture firms seem to have no trouble locking down huge capital commitments from their investors. This week, Accel announced $2 billion in funding. Last week, Lightspeed Venture Partners announced $1.2 billion across two new funds. GGV Capital is meanwhile raising two funds totaling more than $1 billion. Union Square Ventures, the New York-based venture… Read More
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Jobbatical, the marketplace for tech gigs abroad, scores $2M led by USV and LocalGlobe
Jobbatical, the Estonia-headquartered job matching site for tech gigs abroad, has raised a $2 million funding round led by Union Square Ventures, and Saul Klein and Robin Klein’s LocalGlobe. Previous investor Smartcap also participated. Read More
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RealtyShares Raises $20 Million For Its Real Estate Investment Marketplace
Less than a year after it closed a $10 million round of financing, the real estate investment marketplace RealtyShares has managed to rake in another $20 million for its funding platform. The San Francisco-based company has raised over $130 million for over 1600 properties through 290 since its launch, which the company says makes it one of the largest real estate investment platforms in the U.S. Read More
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You Misunderstand Foursquare. It’s comScore, Not Instagram
Foursquare is not a consumer social app business, it’s a data company. And only when it admitted that to itself and revalued as such was it able to pull in more capital and keep chugging. Today at LA’s Upfront Summit, Foursquare’s lead investor from Union Square Ventures Fred Wilson stuck up for the startup while trying to make people understand how it’s… Read More
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Period Tracker App Clue Gets $7M To Build A Platform For Female Health
Berlin-based Clue, which makes a period tracker app designed to let women keep tabs on their monthly cycles and help predict their fertile window, has closed a $7 million Series A round, with investment from New York’s Union Square Ventures and London-based Series A fund Mosaic Ventures. The new round brings Clue’s total raised to-date to $10 million. Read More
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