News from Valhalla August 2013 - Volume 31
Valhalla Partners

Portfolio News

Millennial Media Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Jumptap

jumptap logo
Baltimore, MD

Millennial Media (NYSE: MM), the independent leader in mobile advertising and data, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held, Boston-based Jumptap in a predominantly stock transaction. The acquisition will strengthen Millennial Media's position as the largest global Independent Mobile Advertising Platform.

Read more here


DC-Based Speek Announces $1.1 Million in Funding

speek logo
Washington, DC

Speek will use the funds to continue to improve its proprietary voice platform and scale its user base. The company launched Speek Pro, the premium version of its free conference call service, in May of this year, and is serving thousands of businesses with its next generation conference calling service.

Read more here


Valhallans in the News

Valhalla Joins Growing Ranks of DC Start-ups at 1776

campus

In August 2013 Valhalla established an office at 1776, a downtown DC incubator space intending to "reinvent the world by connecting the hottest startups with the resources they need to excel".

1776 was founded in January of 2013 on the thesis that Washington, D.C. is poised to become the center of the Internet world. It has enjoyed early success attracting noted sponsors such as Microsoft, and Comcast, a slate of distinguished mentors and advisors, and has been the venue for a string of hot start-up events in the area.

Our tenancy at 1776 was inspired by two of the firm's portfolio companies, Speek and Flat World Knowledge, who had set up desks there. We saw the opportunity, by a regular presence at 1776, to better connect with and understand the vibrant start-up ecosystem in the Washington DC area. "The energy at the campus is palpable," said Kiran Hebbar "and while Valhalla has always had a good presence in the DC area, it is clear that the 1776 founders have tapped into a growing and positive trend in the DC start-up scene. We are excited to be a part of the organization and look forward to interacting with everyone associated with 1776."

The firm's partners will have weekly hours on a rotating schedule at 1776's campus at 1133 15TH ST. NW in Washington, DC.

In September Hebbar will join a panel of noted area Venture Capitalist at the 1776 campus on the topics of Fund Raising & Strategies for Success, an event sponsored by Georgetown Angels.

Stay tuned to the newsletter for details on Valhalla's activity at 1776.

Valhalla Technology Partner Dan Gordon Sums Up VMWorld 2013

vmworld

Valhalla Technology Partner Dan Gordon was out in San Francisco last week for the 10th Annual VMworld, VMware's user event which has become the de facto central event of the cloud ecosystem.

The event attracted an audience of 20,000+ attendees, similar to last year. Dan's take was that the "cloud" is becoming so mainstream that it no longer needs a central event in the same way it did in previous years. But VMworld is still a go-to event for companies in different niches of the overall ecosystem.
"Where else can I meet a storage company, a cloud service provider, and a PaaS vendor in the same morning?" said one analyst.

Valhalla companies Qumulo and Solidfire adopted the strategy of having suites off the exhibit floor. SolidFire marketing head Jay Prassl walked Dan through the economics: $35,000 roughly for a suite for the duration of the show vs. $350,000 for the booth space plus the cost of the booth itself.

"It's harder to drive traffic to an offsite suite," said Prassl, "but we haven't had any real trouble with that."

August News Stories

8.27.13 Club Hockey Canada and Exchange Solutions announce TeamHub (TM), a free online team management tool

New feature enhances strong Club Hockey Canada online community

8.22.13 iPad and Samsung Galaxy Gain Market Share as Kindle Fire Sputters

Jumptap August MobileSTAT Illustrates Apple's Market Hold

8.20.13 Videology Places in Top 25 on Inc. 500's Roster of Fastest Growing Advertising & Marketing Companies

#24th in category and #137 overall out of 5,000 private companies in the US

8.15.13 PlaceIQ Announces Record Revenue, Profitability and CFO Hire

PlaceIQ continuing significant growth in 2013

8.15.13 Jumptap Reveals The 5 Secrets To Successful Mobile Video Advertising

Jumptap SVP Lewis Rothkopf discusses what marketers need to know to produce successful mobile video ads

8.15.13 GSN Gets In The VOD Game With Vubiquity

GSN to launch VOD service through exclusive relationship with Vubiquity

8.15.13 The Internet of Things: Changing Business Models for CE Brands

Zonoff CEO Mike Harris shares his thoughts

8.15.13 Sepaton Awarded New Data Deduplication Patent

Leader in enterprise deduplication expands portfolio of intellectual property

8.12.13 Viking Technology SATADIMM Increases SSD Capacity in SolidFire's Storage System

Viking Technology enables SolidFire to offer enhanced products

8.11.13 How to Design a More Intuitive Home

Zonoff CEO Mike Harris on delivering a more useful experience in the living space

8.8.13 Exchange Solutions Wins Best Prepaid Innovation Award

One-to-one customer engagement experts recognized for ESSO Price Privileges Plan

8.6.13 These Secrets Will Improve Your Mobile Ads' Click-Through Rates

Jumptap teams up with Dynamic Logic and Celtra to analyze thousands of mobile ads

The Valhalla Team

Investment Staff

Harry D'Andrea, Managing General Partner
Dan Gordon, Technology Partner
Kiran Hebbar, General Partner
Randy Jacops, Venture Partner
Hooks Johnston, General Partner
Art Marks, Managing General Partner

Administrative Staff

Claudia Bartz, Executive Assistant, Office Manager
Sara Endicott, Executive Assistant
Bibiana Speroni, Executive Assistant, Finance and Research

Q & A

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