company intelligence- swirl networks raises $8mm series b, & how venture capitalists talk: you...

Editor: Amanda Akin

Copyright © 2013 VC Experts.com, Inc.

Former Maven Networks team Hilmi Ozguc and Gretchen Fleming are part of the Swirl team that just reported raising an $8MM Series B round, bringing total funding to $14MM. Maven Networks, a provider of online video hosting was acquired by Yahoo! for $160MM in 2008. The teams’ new venture, Swirl, is an in-store mobile marketing platform.

View valuations and price per share on page 2.

Former Maven Networks Team Forms Swirl And Raises A Total Of $14MM

Inside This Issue

2 Investment Profile: Swirl

2 Deal Terms from last

financing Round: Swirl

3 How Venture Capitalists Talk:

You Can Make It…Will

Someone Buy It?

4 Delaware Cases Relevant to

the Venture Capitalist

Community

4 VC Experts Calendar of

Events 2013

VC Experts Buzz VC Experts’ Intelligence Team

[email protected] 646.290.9254

October 10, 2013

How Venture Capitalists Talk: You Can Make It…Will Someone Buy It?

Joseph W. Bartlett – Special Counsel at McCarter & English LLP and Founder of VC Experts

A major source of error is a love affair between a founder and the technology he has developed in the lab. The number of new and interesting ideas brought into being every year is astonishing. A field trip to any respectable college or university will reveal a fascinating array of projects in the laboratories, many of which, if brought to fruition, will certainly improve the state of the art. Read the rest on page 3.

For Event Listings on Private

Equity and Venture Capital

Check Out VC Experts' Calendar of Events-2013

NEW BOOK!

Delaware Cases Relevant To The Venture

Capitalist Community - Potter Anderson Corroon LLP

See the table of contents on page 4.

NEW!

https://vcexperts.com/vce/calendar




https://vcexperts.com/encyclopedia/documents/17


Editor: Amanda Akin


PAGE 2 VC EXPERTS NEWSLETTER

Series of Preferred

Investment Date

Preferred Price Per

Share

Investment Amount

Valuation of Latest Round

Series A 1/9/2012 $0.90 $6,000,000 $17,228,071

Series B 10/08/2013 $1.29 $8,000,000 $34,074,863

Address: 420 Boylston Street,

Boston MA 02116

Region: New England

Industry: Retailing/Distribution, Software

Website: www. swirl.com

Twitter: @swirl

Swirl Raises $8MM Series B

Swirl Networks, Inc. announced

that it closed a strategic $8MM

investment round led by Hearst

Ventures, for a total of $14MM in

funding, to fuel the expansion of

its technology platform into the

large-scale, multi-category retail

market. The round includes

repeat investments from SoftBank

Capital, and Longworth Venture

Partners.

About Swirl

Swirl is an in-store mobile

marketing platform provider that

is helping retailers leverage the

power of mobile to attract and

influence consumers while they

shop in retail stores.

Investment Profile: Swirl, Inc.

Gretchen Fleming, COO & CFO

Hilmi Ozguc, Founder & CEO

View Full Profile

https://vcexperts.com/vat/Swirl-Networks-Inc#/vat/companies/19976/general_information




Editor: Amanda Akin



Joseph W. Bartlett – Special Counsel at McCarter & English LLP and Founder of VC Experts

A major source of error is a love affair between a founder and the

technology he has developed in the lab. The number of new and interesting ideas brought into being every year is astonishing. A field trip to any respectable college or university will reveal a fascinating array of projects in the laboratories, many of which, if brought to fruition, will certainly improve the state of the art. However, a critical error of founders considering whether to commit capital to a project is to assume that the novelty and utility of a new technology are both necessary and sufficient for the success of a start-up. Novelty may be enough to secure a patent, but it is only one part of the venture-capital equation. No one can make any money unless there is a market for the product, unless people are willing to buy it at a price that returns a profit to the manufacturer. Assuming the idea is any good, is there a market for it? This simple, banal truth is overlooked time and again by the fledgling entrepreneurs. Is there a market which can be penetrated at a reasonable cost? The classic example is the pen that writes under water—interesting technically but, as it turned out, no one wanted to buy one because no one wanted to write a letter beneath the waves. Thus, the single most commonly cited reason for failure of a start-up is the inability to implement a well-thought-out marketing plan. Selling is a matter of airplanes, hotel rooms, and shoe leather; as Willy Loman put it, "on the road with a smile and a shoe shine." Marketing, on the other hand, has to do with understanding the demand for the product, pricing strategy, evaluating channels of distribution, and maximizing dollars spent on sales. Moreover, the market has to be large enough to support an interesting company. The enterprise with less than $10 million in sales and nowhere to go is usually not a suitable target for venture-capital financiers. Companies of that size are known as the "walking dead" in a venture portfolio–too small to go public and too large to abandon.

A recognized pioneer of the national

private equity and venture capital

bar, Mr. Bartlett is special counsel in

the Corporate, Securities and

Financial Institutions practice for

McCarter & English. He has served as

President of the Boston Bar

Association and as General Counsel

and Undersecretary of the U.S.

Department of Commerce. He has

authored numerous treatises,

including Leveraged Buyouts,

Compensation Structures for Venture

Backed Companies, Equity Finance,

Fundamentals of Venture Capital and

Venture Capital: Law, Business

Strategies and Investment Planning.

He is also founder and chairman of VC

Experts, for which he is an active

contributing editor. Mr. Bartlett is a

frequent speaker on industry issues

and lectures as a faculty member at

Cornell’s Johnson School of Business.

http://www.mccarter.com/

Editor: Amanda Akin



Event Date Location

Client Servicing for

Institutional Asset Managers

AND Mastering RFPs &

Consultant Databases

Oct. 17-18 New York, NY

Private Equity Operations

and Compliance Forum


Hedge Fund Operational

Due Diligence Forum


Healthcare Provider

Technology M&A Forum

Oct. 22 New York, NY

Family Office & Private

Wealth Management Forum

– West

Oct. 24 Napa, CA

Private Equity Investing in

Environmental Services

Companies


Best Practices for Launching

& Managing an SBIC


VC EXPERTS Calendar of Events

View More Event Listings

NEW BOOK! Delaware Cases Relevant to the Venture Capital and Private Equity Community

By Potter Anderson Corroon LLP

Table of Contents: Introduction Potter Anderson Corroon Indices to Delaware Cases Chronological Index to the year in Review - Key Delaware Cases of 2011 Chronological Index to the year in Review - Key Delaware Cases of 2012 Chronological Index to the year in Review - Key Delaware Cases of 2013 The Year In Review – Key Delaware Cases of 2011 The Year In Review – Key Delaware Cases of 2012 The Year In Review – Key Delaware Cases of 2013




company intelligence- swirl networks raises $8mm series b, & how venture capitalists talk: you...

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