Venture Capital
Seattle mobile advertising startup HasOffers publicly announced earlier this week that it has raised a $9.4 million series A round. Included in the investments were a few prominent Seattle tech investors. The round was led by California-based venture group Accel Partners, and also included Seattle-based Founder’s Co-op principal Chris DeVore, and RealNetworks founder and CEO Rob Glaser.
HasOffers has been bootstrapped until now. The company won “Bootstrapper of the Year” at last year’s GeekWire Awards for building a profitable, 79-person company… Read the rest
Last spring, Red Russak founded Startup Seattle to bring together Seattle’s startup community resources and help entrepreneurs connect and grow new ideas and businesses. The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that some big players have now joined Russak’s cause, including Chris DeVore of TechStars and Founders Co-op, Ex Lazowska of the Univ. of Washington’s computer science department and Greg Gottsman of Madrona Venture Group. Now, with the help of these big name entrepreneurs and… Read the rest
We’re following up Thursday’s post about Apple’s attempt to prohibit the company from being able to authorize preferred stock by amending its charter documents with this post, which discusses some of the general characteristics of preferred stock and some of the key terms that affect the value of preferred stock.
General Characteristics of Preferred Stock
Preferred stock is often considered a hybrid security as it offers features of both bonds and common stock. For example, preferred stock is like a bond in that it typically has a fixed-percentage dividend, and it is… Read the rest
Regional News
Whistleblower Receives Multi-Million Dollar Settlement
The former CFO of Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company Omeros Corp., Richard Klein, received nearly $4 million in settlement to resolve a wrongful termination and whistleblower lawsuit. According to Klein’s attorney, the former CFO alleged that Omeros falsified timekeeping records on a National Institute of Health research grant. Klein alerted Omeros’ audit committee and was subsequently fired from Omeros.
Omeros denies any wrongdoing, and stated its reason for settling as, “given a ruling by the court that deprived Omeros of evidence that Omeros would have… Read the rest
Beginning on Monday, December 3, 2012, members of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) must file a copy of any private placement memorandum, term sheet, or other offering document used within 15 calendar days from the date the sale took place; the filer will have a continuing obligation to file any materially amended versions of the offering documents; if no offering documents are used, it must indicate that it did not do so; and filings must be made electronically with FINRA through the… Read the rest
If you’ve been following securities regulation over the past three years, you’ve likely noticed the increased FINRA scrutiny on private placement due diligence. Especially with respect to broker-dealers, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has cracked down on numerous firms that fail to take reasonable steps to investigate issuers before recommending an issuer’s securities to the broker-dealer’s clients. There is the potential for an increase in private placements due to the recent legislation passed, the JOBS Act. Today’s… Read the rest
Typically, when you sell a security you must register the sale with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, Section 4(2) of the 1933 Act exempts “transactions by an issuer not involving any public offering.” In these transactions, better known as private placements, the 4(2) exemptions apply to accredited investors, who are deemed by the SEC to be sufficiently sophisticated and have sufficient bargaining power so as not to require the protection afforded by federal registration, as well as institutional investors who have obvious sophistication and bargaining power. You can learn more… Read the rest
Regardless of your position, entrepreneur or investor (or both), you’ve likely noticed that the investment landscape is changing. There’s a move away from traditional venture capital and institutional funding toward micro-VC and super angel funds—smaller-scale versions of VC funds, typically in the $10-50 million range, that make a wider range of smaller investments. Furthermore, due to the roller coaster nature of financial markets, exits are being drawn out longer than the traditional three to five year range. This means angels are not seeing returns as quickly as they did in the 1990s and early 2000s. Not to mention, there’s another potential… Read the rest
Mergers and Acquisitions
Yahoo and Alibaba Close Deal
Yahoo has agreed to sell back half of its interest in the Chinese Internet company Alibaba. In 2005 Yahoo acquired a 40% interest in the company, but since then relations between the two companies have become strained, especially as Yahoo failed to meet investors’ expectations. As part of an agreement reached earlier this year, Yahoo will sell another 10% of its Alibaba holdings back to the company when the company files an IPO, and the rest of its Alibaba holdings after the IPO. Yahoo’s remaining interest in Alibaba is valued at… Read the rest
National News
Apple Unveils iPhone 5
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook stated that the updates to the new iPhone are “the biggest things to happen to iPhone since iPhone,” referring to iPhone’s launch in 2007. The most notable updates include a slimmer, lighter device, a faster processor and compatibility with wireless carriers’ fastest 4G LTE networks.
Some observers noted that the new device relies heavily on Apple’s current suite of services and software, noting the lack of “never-before-seen” features.
In the wake of its significant win in its patent battle with Samsung, Apple looks to compete with Samsung’s latest devices.… Read the rest
