Last week’s Xconomy event Beyond Mobile: Computing in 2021 (nicely summarized by freelancer David Needle) kept me pretty busy, but the news rolled on:
—The biggest buzz of the week, of course, was over the initial public offering by Mountain View, CA-based LinkedIn (NYSE: [[ticker:LNKD]]), which brought the company some $352 million in new funds. Now observers are arguing about whether the 110 percent pop in LinkedIn’s stock price in the first day of trading represented a scam by LinkedIn’s investment banks or just a buying frenzy.
—It’s getting easier for companies to test Web design changes that could improve sales, thanks in part to companies like San Francisco-based Optimizely that offer automated A/B testing software. I profiled the Y Combinator-backed startup, which was co-founded by Pete Koomen and Dan Siroker after Siroker’s experiences helping the 2008 Obama presidential campaign optimize its online fundraising strategy.
—Eventbrite raised a hefty $50 million in a Series E round led by new investor Tiger Global Management. Eventbrite CEO Kevin Hartz told me the company will use the new funds, which more than double its previous venture pot, to expand internationally, hire more developers and customer support representatives, and make acquisitions.
—In my Friday column, I explored the new iPad version of Apple’s Garageband, which one source called “the most capable music creation suite on the market.” I even shared a couple of songs that I wrote using the software.
—Xconomy CEO and editor-in-chief Bob Buderi tallied up a list of the Boston-area venture firms who have either moved to the San Francisco Bay Area or expanded their Bay Area offices in the last few years.
—The City and County of San Francisco selected Microsoft over Google and IBM for a long-term contract to supply e-mail software for government employees, as my colleague Curt reported.
—In the follow-up department: San Francisco-based Streetline Networks expanded its parking finder service from Los Angeles to the Marina District in San Francisco, and SF- and Seattle-based crowd commerce Zaarly opened for business.
—In acquisitions news, Autonomy bought Iron Mountain Digital, VMware bought Shavlik Technologies, and Symantec bought Clearwell Systems.
—In funding news, StackMob raised $7.5 million, Hara Software raised $25 million, Jobvite raised $15 million, nPario raised $5 million, Datameer raised $9.25 million, and MongoLab raised $3 million.
