venture capital

Facebook and many other tech startups have realized that the hassles and headaches of an IPO in the U.S. aren't always worthwhile. Thanks to willing venture capitalists and private investors, it's easier than ever for tech companies to avoid the lure of going public.

Already the global group-buying leader and growing much faster than its competitors, Groupon is getting a lot more funding. For what? For world domination, of course. . .and here's how Groupon is likely to put that new-found cash to work.

Wilson is known as the dean of New York City venture capitalists, an emerging community that has tracked nicely with the rapid uptick in startups in the Big Apple. Now, the word is out that he's raising a new $200 million seed-stage venture fund. Here's why.

The biggest names in social networking -- Facebook, Twitter, Zynga and LinkedIn -- haven't yet gone public, but their stock does get traded by the very rich on private exchanges. Now, some of those transactions have raised the interest of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That's the value a $200 million venture investment led by Kleiner Perkins this week implies. But that means Twitter would have a price-to-sales ratio of 840 compared to Facebook's 26 -- or Google's 8.7. And Twitter's growth may be stalling.

Groupon, the online social coupon site launched in 2008, is looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in expansion-related funding after rejecting a bid from search giant Google worth as much as $6 billion, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the process.

Cloud computing is the new hot trend, but anyone business that has tried to move itself into the cloud has generally been in for a shock. Yes, the cloud may be cheaper than owning servers, but it has its own painful issues. Enter startup Standing Cloud, which wants to make the jump to the cloud into a cake walk.

Twitter is mulling a new round of funding that could value the company at over $3 billion. This news comes just as Google is in negotiations to buy Groupon for as much as $6 billion. Other large Web 2.0 companies have also been given lofty valuations as well.

Just a few days after Google reportedly offered $6 billion for the top group-buying site, Groupon, the service's biggest rival, LivingSocial, has scored a $175 million investment from Amazon. But how long will these hot deals last?

The high-powered Morgan Stanley investment queen's move is indicative of the declining role Wall Street is playing in Internet and mobile technology markets and the diminished impact the Street has on this lucrative, fast-growing field.