New Ideas from Software Investors - sandhill
Piece "Experienced VCs and private equity partners share their perspective on what’s “hot” with everything from ASPs to SOAs.
Given the dramatic changes going on in the software business today, it is no wonder that software investment is also rapidly evolving. Although venture capital investment is down from its peak, software continues to account for more funding than any other sector. At the same time, leverage buyouts, spinouts and strategic investments from corporate partners are on the rise.
At the Enterprise 2005 conference earlier this month, a panel of veteran investors discussed the very latest thinking on software funding trends.
* Aneel Bhusri, Greylock Partners, focused on traditional enterprise software VC
* David Golob, Francisco Partners, focused on buyouts
* David Helfrich, Garnett & Helfrich, focused on venture buyouts and spinouts "
US company Protegrity buys Kavado - globes
Piece "The acquisition will enable Protegrity, which deals in information security and management, to diversify its product line. The merged company will have 300 customers in diverse markets. Following the acquisition, Protegrity will be able to offer its customers a complete basket of security products, including central information management and monitoring capability. "
Radiance acquires open source intelligence provider - washingtontechnology
Piece "Defense contractor Radiance Technologies Inc. has acquired Open Source Publishing Inc., a provider of open source intelligence support services, said Radiance officials.
“Their corporate culture is very similar to ours,” Jardines said. “Having spent nine years developing and enhancing our unique approach to open source exploitation, I wanted to be sure that whatever firm acquired us would maintain our business model.” Jardines will remain with the company as director of the Open Source Intelligence Division. Open Source had 13 employees. Radiance has about 250 employees, Jardines said. Radiance revenue in 2004 was $35 million, according to Radiance’s Web site."
IBM sets up advisory panel of 7 venture capital firms - baltimoresun
Piece "International Business Machines Corp. has created an advisory panel of venture capitalists to help identify startup companies that may become suppliers, customers or acquisition targets.
Investors from seven firms, including Accel Partners, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and U.S. Venture Partners, will meet with IBM executives four times a year to suggest products and companies that may be of interest, IBM said yesterday.
IBM's venture unit has identified more than 850 startups around the world with the help of venture capitalists and provides the companies with sales prospects and advice, said Mark L. Hanny, an IBM vice president.
The panel is part of a plan by IBM Chief Executive Officer Samuel J. Palmisano to spend about $1 billion a year to build relationships with investors, professors and researchers that may lead to sales, Hanny said."
Google makes IM/VoIP play - zdnet.co.uk
Piece "Google has launched an instant-messaging (IM) program that allows text chat and computer-to-computer voice connections, a move that highlights the search giant's increasing competition with Yahoo, Microsoft and America Online.
Google's Web site in the early hours of Wednesday morning provided a link to download Google Talk and stated that the software "enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free — anytime, anywhere in the world." Google's messaging program is linked to Google's Web-based email, Gmail, and both projects are in beta."
Intuit's Bennett: Ready for Mr. Gates - businessweek
Piece "Fast-forward to today: QuickBooks accounts for some 40% of Intuit's revenues -- and Redmond is lurking, eager to peel off some of those customers. On Sept. 7, Microsoft is set to release its Small Business Accounting product, aimed at a core of the QuickBooks franchise. It's a slugfest Intuit CEO Stephen Bennett has been waiting for ever since he moved into the corner office in 2000 (see BW Online, 8/25/05, "How to Face Off Against Microsoft").
Intuit and Microsoft have a storied past. The two have gone head-to-head with competing financial software six times, yet the giant Microsoft has never been able to dislodge the scrappy Silicon Valley upstart -- which has grown into a $2 billion company. Yet, much rides on this latest clash. Win again or lose for the first time, "I will own a big piece of this outcome," says Bennett. "
Microsoft Posts Sample IM, Presence Code - informationweek
Piece "Microsoft is throwing more fuel on the instant-messaging fire.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company on Thursday released sample code and new controls to show how IM and presence can be integrated into everyday business applications. The releases aren’t new code or new products per se, but proof-of-concept tools for developers and VARs to show how line-of-business applications can be fortified with Microsoft Live Communication Server on the back end, said Marc Sanders, senior product manager for Microsoft's realtime collaboration group. "
Google Opens Gmail Service to Public - betanews
Piece "When Google unveiled its instant messaging client yesterday, there was only one problem: Google Talk requires a Gmail account, which has been invitation-only since its beta debut in 2004. This changed on Thursday, however, as Google opened Gmail to anyone in the United States with a mobile phone.
The mobile phone requirement was designed to prevent Gmail accounts from being created by robots and stop spammers from signing up multiple times. Google will send an invitation code via SMS, which can then be used to register with Gmail. Only one account may be created per phone number."
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