Tag: upfront ventures

New guidance on SBA loans means most startups are still excluded from $349 billion stimulus

Under new guidance issued by the Small Business Administration it seems non-profits and faith-based groups can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program loans designed to keep small business afloat during the COVID-19 epidemic, but most venture-backed companies are still not covered. Late Friday night, the Treasury Department updated its rules…

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This startup got a meeting with Mark Suster by getting clever with Google ads

Startups have done some wild things to get the attention of VCs. In fact, Instacart founder Apoorva Mehta sent YC partner (at the time) Garry Tan a six-pack of beer through the service after missing the deadline for Y Combinator by two months. Yesterday, the ingenuity of startups struck again.…

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Pragma is a backend toolkit for gaming companies, so game developers can focus on games

These days, most of the games developed need to be social, multi-platform and extensible, but there are only a few developers with the expertise to bring those toolsets to the profusion of new games that crop up every year. Well now those development studios can turn to Pragma, which is…

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Los Angeles-based SureSale is developing an independent certification service for used cars

Donny Hall, the chief executive and co-founder of the used car certification service, SureSale, knows used cars. The serial entrepreneur built and sold a previous business which was designed CarSure, an insurance plan for vehicle repairs. After selling that business in 2017 to Innovative Aftermarket Systems, Hall decided that his…

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Josh Kopelman on how to start and run an early-stage fund in a hypercompetitive market

Last week at the Upfront Summit in Pasadena, there was no shortage of glitz, from the venue (the Rose Bowl) to the catering (Wolfgang Puck) to the guest list (Ice Cube, Paris Hilton and John Legend, to name just a few). Still, there were also plenty of sessions that provided…

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KPCB has already blown through much of the $600 million it raised last year

Kleiner Perkins, one of the most storied franchises in venture capital, has already invested much of the $600 million it raised last year and is now going back out to the market to raise its 19th fund, according to multiple sources. The firm, which underwent a significant restructuring over the…

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