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Viagogo raises $30 million funding, enters US market

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UK-based online ticket reseller Viagogo has raised $30 million in third-round funding lead by Index Ventures, LVMH chairman Arnault, German media guy Herbert Kloibel and financier Jacob Rothschild.

Raising a total of $50M in VC funding, Viagogo continues to expand on its mission to allow consumers to buy and sell live event tickets in a safe and secured way. Currently, Viagogo has successfully partnered with world-class organizations, sports clubs, and charities. Among these are Chelsea, Manchester United, Warner Music, and Amnesty International.

Viagogo plans to use the amount raised to expand their reach to the US market. Indeed, more and more UK startups are entering the US online scene. Let’s see where Vigogo will put all this money.

Originally posted on August 7, 2007 @ 5:03 am

Filed Under: Web

Local.com sells stocks, raises $13M

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Local.comLocal.com, top local search engine that provides information on local businesses, products, services, and jobs, completes $13 million worth of financing by selling about 2.4 million shares in a private transaction worth $5.50 per share.

The amount raised is expected to be spent on new possible acquisitions, direct sales channel development and expansion, and protecting the company’s growing intellectual property. In addition to this, the investors were issued to purchase additional shares at beginning February 2008, securing Local.com enough funding to last the next five-six years.

Via Search Engine Journal

Originally posted on August 3, 2007 @ 2:22 am

New tech video news site, WebbAlert, launches today

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WebbAlertWebbAlert, a daily tech video news much like RocketBoom, launches today. Written, produced, and hosted by X-Play’s Morgan Webb, WebbAlert reports the latest breaking technology and gaming news in 5-minute video formats.

Aside from the video clips, each WebbAlert episode comes with a short writeup with links to the news articles and stories mentioned, providing viewers access to more information about the particular stories.

Mostly a one-woman show, backed up by Webb’s husband, Rob Reid, WebbAlert launches without having raised any capital yet. But with the low cost of production and the promising feedbacks on its inaugural video, WebbAlert could be the next big thing.

Originally posted on August 3, 2007 @ 12:50 am

Shop now, pay later with PayPal

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PayPal Pay LaterPayPal‘s new payment option offers consumers a convenient way of shopping on participating merchant websites, allowing them to shop now and pay later.

Powered by GE Money Bank, The PayPal Pay Later service allows merchants to give flexible financial options to buyers through a transactional credit account. With options such as no payments for 90 days, merchants get to have more ways to market their merchandise to shoppers.

“We’re really excited to be one of the first sites to offer deferred payments through PayPal and give our customers even more choice when they make purchases,” said Dave Gaeta, Marketing Director of Cooking.com. “We see this is as a great new tool to generate even more sales for our business.”

“PayPal Pay Later makes offering PayPal even more attractive to merchants because it gives them yet another way to drive sales,” said Stephanie Tilenius, VP and General Manager of PayPal Merchant Services. “And consumers get instant purchasing power because they can buy when they want and pay for it later – all with the peace of mind that they don’t have to share credit card information over the Web.”

Originally posted on August 3, 2007 @ 4:03 am

TheStreet.com buys Corsis, Promotions.com, for $20.7M

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CorsisTheStreet.com announced today its acquisition of Corsis, a leading provider of advertising, marketing, and publishing solutions, for approximately $20.7 million. This acquisition also includes Promotions.com, an online promotions company that develops interactive advertisements for some of the most popular brands we know.

“Advertisers are asking for more than search and banner campaigns,” said Thomas J. Clarke Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of TheStreet.com. “The acquisition of Corsis and Promotions.com will address our advertisers’ demand for more integrated marketing campaigns that are being requested of all publishers. This acquisition will provide us with a robust technology platform, setting the foundation for the integration of future acquisitions, and we expect that it will allow us to expand our gross margins.”

TheStreet.com has been known to provide financial commentary, analysis, research and news and is looking towards expanding its advertising offers.

Originally posted on August 3, 2007 @ 12:19 am