@HotspotShield surpasses 10M+ installations on @Android & iOS; the numbers show a big demand for mobile VPN w/ the app having a growth rate of ~1.5M new downloads per month; @Hotspotshield says it has prevented 28.6B malware threats since its launch & saved over 102M MB of data via its compression algorithms - Link

@WonderVoiceApp: New voice assistant app that connects people on the go with their social networks & apps hits top 10.
Follow us at: angel.co/WonderVoice and Twitter
Mobile privacy app @Clueful returns on @Android after getting booted from Apple's app store; app reveals what apps on your phone are doing & how your privacy may be compromised in the process; app first launched 1 yr ago as a $4 iOS app that detailed how iOS apps handled personal data - Link

@AgentWatches reaches its @Kickstarter goal of $100k; raises $115k w/ 29 days to go; claims to have the smartest watch which has Qi wireless charging, 7 day battery life, vibration motor, water resistance & is designed for easy repair w/ replaceable battery; the watch can be grabbed for $129 pledge - Link

London-based Edxus Group to spend ~$77M acquiring European E-learning firms; will acquire firms over next 18 months to develop & acquire European e-learning businesses & build out single regional player w/ scale to compete against US edtech giants; says its target co's will have 25% rev growth YoY - Link

@Msgme hits 5M users in 2.5 months; co gained 1M users 10 days after launch; 2 images uploaded every second on average 65 days ago, now 8 images uploaded per second on average; had 500 notifications per second on average 65 days ago, now at 1.5k notifications per second on average - Link

@TheParkMeApp launches @Android app to let users find parking spots from their mobile device; users can find a parking spot in 28k+ locations around the globe, 1.8k cities, 32 countries & 7 continents; app gives users access to real-time information - Link

LAUNCH Education & Kids
June 26, & 27 at Microsoft's campus in Mountain View
20 awesome edtech startups + educators, investors, developers
More info at launchedu.co
Use the code Ticker for 20% off your ticket here!
@Beatdeck_com shows musicians who their fans are w/ free analytics; co plans to license its data to labels & music stores to help them sign & recommend upcoming superstars; artists can sign up & connect their social media accounts like @Soundcloud & @Facebook to track their performance - Link

@InternetArchive gets $1M donation from @knightfdn to expand TV news collection; plans to archive all broadcast news data & offer 30 sec clips online - Link
Sony considering proposal from major shareholder Third Point LLC (holds 6%+ worth $1.1B) to separate its lucrative movie/music businesses & struggling electronics division; Sony shares dropped 85% in 13 yrs - Link
France Telecom CEO Stéphane Richard says the co plans to invest $39M to $64M in @DailyMotion; France Telecom is the largest shareholder w/27% stake; Richard looking for a partner to develop @dailymotion outside Europe; @yahoo prev in talks to buy 75% @ $300M+ valuation - Link
Fmr @Yahoo top product exec @ShashiSeth to join Tribune Company as president of Tribune Digital Ventures; reporting to CEO Peter Liguori; Seth was SVP of Connections @yahoo & left in Jan; prev worked @ @Google & @AOL - Link

Private co research firm @PrivCo provides numbers on @tumblr investment returns based on financing docs it obtained - Link
- @USV gets $253M mostly from $400k seed investment in '07 (invested a total of <$5M; @usv participated in all 5 rounds); 5,000% return
- @DavidKarp to earn $250M+
- @SparkCapital (led by @Bijan) makes $77M; 4,000% return
- @sequoia_Capital makes $176M; 700% return (invested in D round)
- @Tumblr first 10 emps receive avg $6.2M cash each; first 30 receive avg $3.3M cash; rest of the 178 emps receive $371k
@Nimble ($3M from @mcuban, @jason, @DonDodge, @dharmesh, @googleventures & @nimble CEO @Jon_Ferrara) launches 3.0 version; Today Page allows users to connect w/ important contacts; provides 3 contact suggestions/day based on activity; 'reminder bell' reminds users to follow up w/ contacts - Link
Photo sharing app for weddings @WedPicsApp (iOS & Android) raises $1.1M from Bob Young, Jed Carlson & others; raised $1.35M to date; 36k registered couples; 100k+ photos shared weekly; competes w/@wedding (Wedding Party; $1M from @FelicisVentures & @NEAVC) - Link

Xbox One roundup: launching later this yr; more info coming @ @E3 - Link
- Reponds to voice controls (including 'Xbox on') & hand-gesture controls
- 'Snap Mode' lets users quickly switch btn apps

- Releasing 15 exclusive games in its 1st qtr, 8 of which are new franchises; Call of Duty: Ghosts will launch 1st on Xbox One
- @NFL partnership will allow @Microsoft to create exclusive 'interactive experiences' through Xbox One & Surface; 'all-new' fantasy football experience
- Steven Spielberg working w/343 Industries to create live action Halo TV show; show will be exclusive to Xbox & may be interactive
- Not backwards compatible w/360 discs, Xbox Live Arcade or Gamerscore transfers
- Contains HDMI in/out to display enhanced TV guide for satellite or cable TV; shows trending shows; instant switching btn games/TV




Today on @twistartups: @jacobquist of #launch2013 Best 2.0 Enterprise winner @zillabyte talks w/ @Jason about the lead-gen biz & life after the LAUNCH Festival; also some "Ask @Jason" Qs on raising money; tune in at 1pm PT - youtube.com/thisweekin
@PayPal app to allow users to order @JambaJuice items w/@PayPal app; currently being tested in SF & will expand to 700+ locations; launching @PayPal support @ @RadioShack locations this mo; aims to get 2M retail locations by end of '13 - Link

SF-based Hampton Creek Foods (@hcfoods) raises $1M from @FoundersFund; aims to create alternatives to animal-based foods; created a plant-based egg replacer 'Beyond Eggs'; prev raised $2M seed from Khosla - Link

Attribution analytics service @HasOffers raises $9.4M led by @Accel; provides a system for mobile ad networks & app devs to manage mobile app install ad campaigns; @Accel partner Rich Wong joins board; co has been bootstrapped & profitable since '09 & has 79 emps - Link

Los Gatos-based @WanderfulMedia raises $9M from newspaper & media co's; raised $36M to date; lets users browse print newspaper circulars online; works w/42 top retailers & partners w/ regional newspapers; 75 emps - Link

Science-grad @uncovet raises $1.3M A from Javelin, Siemer, Paige Craig; ecommerce site for indie designer clothing/accesories; 500k+ monthly visitors; shoppers visit site 6 times/mo & open 9 @uncovet emails/mo - Link
Palo Alto-based @ConsultingMD raises $10M A from @Venrock to help patients connect w/ top specialists for speedy 2nd opinions & referrals; prev raised $1M seed from Harrison Metal in '12; charges $3,750/opinion plus $200 for expedited service, or $10 per emp/mo for enterprises - Link

@Burstly opens its cross-promotion marketing network & app monetization service 'Sky Rocket' to all users; Burstly brands itself as a service that provides 3 solutions to manage 'the entire app lifecycle' (including beta testing, analytics & monetization/cross-promotion); prev raised $7.3M from @GRP_Partners, Rincon, SoftBank, Alex Karelin - Link

Team management mobile app & site @teamsnap (iOS & Android; $4.36M in funding) acquires young athlete social networking site & team management tool @WePlay ($15M raised; founded in '08) for undiscl sum; @WePlay's 2.25M users will migrate to @teamsnap which brings the co to 5M total users - Link

Report: New @Intel CEO Brian Krzanich re-organizes key business groups & creates a "new devices" unit; insight comes from leaked internal email; Krzanich elected CEO May 2; assumed role May 16 - Link
Xbox One's "Game DVR" allows you to capture gameplay & share those videos over Xbox Live & elsewhere; video editor included so you can adjust & clip your recordings; video content to be stored in the cloud - Link
@Microsoft confirms @Skype integration w/ Xbox; Xbox One Skype application allows users to participate in group video chats w/ their fellow users using the Kinect camera; answer a call by saying “Xbox, answer call” & video screen slides in from the right - Link
@Microsoft debuts XBox One: 8GB of RAM, Blu-ray drive, native 64-bit architecture, 500GB onboard hard drive, HDMI in and out, 802.11n wifi, 8-core CPU & USB 3.0 connectivity; incl voice control & "snap mode" which allows users to multi-task w/ a 2nd-screen experience - Link

@Pandora launches Pandora Premiers station; service that will offer previews of upcoming album launches in their entirety, up to a wk before they go on sale; sponsored by @Tmobile for initial roll-out phase; You can add the station to your account by typing “Pandora Premieres” into the search field - Link
