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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="1817616" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="SPAC">SPAC</keyword> <keyword id="10974934" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="thoma-bravo-advantage">Thoma Bravo Advantage</keyword> agreed on Sunday to merge with the mobile-marketing company <keyword id="10974935" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ironsource">ironSource</keyword>.</li><li>The combined company will be valued at a pro forma equity value of $11.1 billion.</li><li>ironSource revenue rose 83% year-over-year in 2020 to $332 million.</li></ul><p>The SPAC <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/tba-stock">Thoma Bravo Advantage</a> said on Sunday that agreed to merge with the mobile-marketing firm ironSource in order to take it public. The deal will give the combined entity a pro forma equity value of $11.1 billion.</p><p>The transaction is sponsored by a $1.3 billion Class A ordinary share private investment in public equity (PIPE), as well as $1 billion of cash held in the trust account of Thoma Bravo Advantage. Overall, the merger is expected to provide $2.3 billion in cash proceeds for the combined firm.</p><p>The PIPE is led by an affiliate of Thoma Bravo who put $300 million into the transaction and also includes investments from Tiger Global Management, Morgan Stanley, Nuveen, Hedosophia, Wellington Management, Baupost Group, funds managed by Fidelity Investments Canada, and other institutional investors.</p><p>Orlando Bravo, the founder and managing partner of Thoma Bravo, will also join the board of ironSource.</p><p>The Tel-Aviv, Israel-based ironSource provides an app designed to help businesses scale, monetize, and advertise their company online. In 2020, ironSource's revenue hit $332 million, up 83% year-over-year. The company also turned in $104 million in adjusted EBITDA on the year.</p><p>In a statement, Tomer Bar Zeev, CEO and co-founder of ironSource, said the deal with Thoma Bravo will bring "the next level of growth" that his company needs.</p><p>Thoma Bravo Advantage was one of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spac-market-q1-statistics-volume-166-billion-growing-adoption-2021-3">more than 400 SPACs</a> looking to find a merger partner in 2021 before the SPAC convinced ironSource to abandon the traditional IPO route in order to go public via a merger. </p><p>"Despite our previous progress pursuing a traditional IPO, when we met with Thoma Bravo Advantage we found an alignment of vision and shared conviction about the long-term growth we can drive at ironSource that made them the perfect partner as we take this next step in growing our company, and the market as a whole," Zeev said.</p><p>ironSource's decision to go public via a SPAC merger instead of an IPO could be called a sign of the times as the SPAC market <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spac-investing-strategies-risks-expert-advice-commentary-analysis-2021-3">continues to boom</a>. </p><p>Shares of Thoma Bravo Advantage climbed as much as 5% before paring gains on Monday, the first day of trading after news of the ironSource deal broke.</p><div type="image" title="TBA chart" height="684" width="834" msid="81635998" hostid="261"></div>

SPAC Thoma Bravo Advantage agrees on $11 billion deal to take mobile-marketing firm ironSource public

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="IronSource" title_caption="IronSource CEO Tomer Bar-Zeev" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54edd5e9dd08952e308b45dc-960/tomer-bar-zeev.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>IronSource</span></p><p class="caption">IronSource CEO Tomer Bar-Zeev</p></div><p></p></div></div>IronSource, the massive Israeli software download company that is expected to file for an IPO in the next year or so, has denied that it fuels its business by turning a blind eye to malware.</p><p>The accusation was made by Ben Edelman, an associate professor at the Harvard Business School and frequent scourge of tech companies who use questionable tactics to drive their revenues. He said in a blog post that the company was "<a href="http://www.benedelman.org/news/021815-1.html">strikingly deceptive</a>."</p><p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/ironsource-raises-pre-ipo-funding-2015-2">IronSource recently closed a $100 million-plus round of investment funding</a> which likely values the company at more than $1 billion. The company is interesting because unlike most tech startups in the mobile app software market, a <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/ironsource-preparing-an-android-ipo-2014-12">majority of its revenues - believed to be around $350 million annually - come from Google's Android platform</a> rather than Apple's iOS competitor.</p><p>Because the company is expected to go public soon, IronSource can expect to find its business to be placed under a microscope by potential future investors. On Feb. 18, <a href="http://www.benedelman.org/news/021815-1.html">Edelman wrote a bruising analysis of IronSource</a>, which alleged the company bundles unwanted adware with its downloads.</p><p>Although most people have no idea who Edelman is, tech execs ought to live in fear of him. <a href="http://www.benedelman.org/news/012814-1.html">His takedown of the video ad company Blinkx</a> chopped <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2014/02/03/harvard-profs-blog-post-slashes-blinkx-stock-price-21/">21% of the firm's stock.</a> His work with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ebay-the-fbi-shawn-hogan-and-brian-dunning-2013-4#ixzz3BolfV6t2">eBay helped the auction company persuade the FBI to prosecute two of its top affiliate marketers</a>, both of whom were ultimately sentenced to federal prison for defrauding the company of millions of dollars.</p><p>So any negative attention Edelman may focus on IronSource will likely be regarded as a huge headache.</p><p>IronSource's core business is software and app download technology. It's the company that app developers use when they need to absolutely make sure that their products are being successfully installed on users' machines. Download tech is also useful because once you have persuaded a user to install a new app, the download menu can prompt them to try other products. Indeed, IronSource has expanded its download business into a mobile app install ad network to do just this.</p><p><a href="http://www.benedelman.org/news/021815-1.html">Edelman described IronSource as "deceptive":</a></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">IronSource installations are often strikingly deceptive: they promise to provide software IronSource and its partners have no legal right to redistribute (indeed, specifically contrary to applicable license agreements); they bundle all manner of adware that users have no reason to expect with genuine software; they bombard users with popup ads, injected banner ads, extra toolbars, and other intrusions. It's the very opposite of mainstream legitimate advertising. We are surprised to see such deceptive tactics from a large firm that is, by all indications, backed by distinguished investors and top-tier bankers.</p><p>Most of Edelman's analysis focuses on a step-by-step description of a download of Google's Chrome browser, which loaded unwanted adware onto his machine via IronSource in a way that Google would likely not approve of.</p><p>In fact, IronSource has thousands of companies using its download platform, and it cannot control them all, IronSource CEO Tomer Bar-Zeev told Business Insider. "We have a compliance team working hard to actively remove them from the network," he says. "We take compliance and security very seriously, and apply both automated and manual reviews for every developer using our SDK [software download kit]."</p><p>"There are now more than 10K developers that are using our product and services and I believe that most of them are honest, we do over 7M installs/day," he says. "Our compliance team is constantly checking the products and traffic sources and we are becoming better and better in eliminating the ones that are abusing our systems."</p><p>As an example of how hard it is to police bad actors on large networks, he pointed to Google's own Adwords ad program, on which he recently saw a deceptive ad for Chrome. "Even Google, with their massive compliance force, could not prevent a deceiving from appearing in Google Adwords, this shows how difficult it is to deal with abusers when you operate in massive scales like we do."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/smartphone-impact-brain-body-sleep-2015-2">This is what happens to your brain and body when you check your phone before bed</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BvMjVqcjoHdZBG6tTpXy8UkhB5_46U_c" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

IronSource denies its business is based on 'deceptive' malware

<p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="IronSource" title_caption="IronSource CEO Tomer Bar-Zeev" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54edd5e9dd08952e308b45db-960/tomer bar-zeev.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>IronSource</span></p><p class="caption">IronSource CEO Tomer Bar-Zeev</p></div><p></p></div></div>IronSource, the Israeli software distribution platform, just closed a $100 million-plus round of investment funding which values the company at more than $1 billion.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>IronSource founder/CEO </span>Tomer Bar-Zeev told Business Insider the injection accelerates the company's path toward an initial public offering. JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley were the underwriters of the round.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">IronSource is working on one more acquisition before that happens but Bar-Zeev thinks the company will go public at "the beginning of next year." </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">IronSource, whose software is used by companies who want to distribute and advertise app downloads, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">doesn't need the money, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Bar-Zeev</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> says. "We could have decided not to do this round because the company is profitable." But it lets IronSource expedite its growth and do the acquisitions that keep it within striking distance of the mobile app download ad networks run by Facebook, Google and Twitter. </span></p><p><span>In the meantime, the money will be used to solidify IronSource's position as a top choice for device-agnostic apps. "In one or two years from now, tops, there will not be a scenario where you use one set of apps on desktop and one set on mobile, that difference simply will not exist," Bar-Zeev says.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">IronSource's revenues were $260 million in 2013. We don't know how much they are currently but a source told Business Insider in December that <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/ironsource-preparing-an-android-ipo-2014-12">the company has a </a></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/ironsource-preparing-an-android-ipo-2014-12">gross revenue run-rate approaching $350 million annually</a>. <span>(Bar-Zeev believes IronSource is probably a bit bigger than Twitter's MoPub network.)</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>The company has about 550 employees.</span></span></p><p>Here is the press release:</p><p><strong>Access Industries Completes $25 Million Investment in ironSource. Initial Round Expanded to Officially Close at over $100 Million.</strong></p><p><strong>New Funding is a Testament to Continued Faith in the ironSource Roadmap</strong></p><p>Tel Aviv -February 25th 2015, ironSource, the world's leading digital delivery company, today announced an additional $20 million investment from a group of investors, led by Access Industries. The latest funding is in addition to the approximately $85 million raised by ironSource in September 2014, and officially closes the funding round at over $100 million.</p><p>The additional funding is further confirmation of investors' belief in the future of ironSource and enables the company to increase its market share, expand its product offering, and continue its plans for global expansion and strategic acquisitions.</p><p>Access Industries, led by its Chairman, American industrialist Len Blavatnik, provided most of the new funding and increased its total investment in ironSource to $25 million. Access Industries has long-term holdings worldwide and has invested in many successful global tech companies. Access has recently increased its investments in Israeli technologies through the establishment of ClalTech, which serves as Access' Israeli tech investments arm.</p><p>Connecting people with the apps they want and need, ironSource offers a cross platform ecosystem for apps providing a comprehensive solution to handle the distribution, delivery and monetization of web, desktop and mobile applications. ironSource has developed rapidly and currently handles over 7 million installs per day and has over 70,000 applications utilizing the mobileCore SDK. Established in 2010, the company has grown rapidly, with approximately 500 employees based in Tel Aviv, Beijing, San Francisco and New York.</p><p>"This new funding will allow us to build on our market dominance to truly disrupt the industry, and revolutionize the way we all download and use applications," said Tomer Bar-Zeev, ironSource CEO and Co-Founder. "We are very proud to have Access Industries as a strategic and growing partner in ironSource, and are already seeing tremendous value from working closely together."</p><p>"The market need for a comprehensive distribution solution like ironSource is only set to grow, and we were keen to expand our stake in such a company with a huge potential for growth," said Daniel Shinar, who led the deal for Access. "ironSource has an exceptionally strong team, and their trajectory thus far has been stellar. We're excited to be a part of the next stage of their continued growth."</p><p>Over the past year, ironSource has expanded its global presence, opening offices in North America and China. The company's Beijing office works with Chinese internet giants to connect them with target users across the world. 2015 will see the continued growth of ironSource's global footprint, with planned offices in Europe and South America.</p><p>Following the investment, Daniel Shinar, will join ironSource as a Board Observer. Shinar is ClalTech's CEO and serves on Access' behalf as a board member for global companies including Rocket Internet, one of the world's largest Internet companies (FRA: RKET), and other leading global tech companies.</p><p>About ironSource <br>World leading digital distribution company ironSource offers a comprehensive platform - including digital discovery, delivery, distribution and monetization - to help developers best connect with users across devices. Founded in 2010 with headquarters in Tel Aviv, ironSource has offices in San Francisco, New York and Beijing. More at http://www.ironsrc.com</br></p><p>About Access Industries<br>Access Industries is a privately held, U.S.-based group with long-term holdings worldwide across different sectors. Access was founded in 1986 by its Chairman, Len Blavatnik, an American industrialist. Among Access' portfolio companies are category leaders like: Warner Music, Rocket Internet, Zalando, Tory Burch, Deezer, Perform, Tango, Gettaxi, Westwing, Crowdsurge, Sentient Technologies and many others. More at www.accessindustries.com</br></p><p>About ClalTech</p><p>ClalTech invests in Israeli &amp; Israeli related technology companies, with a focus on Internet, e-commerce and financial technologies. ClalTech is supported by a vast network of its parent companies: Access Industries and Clal Industries. More at http://www.claltech.com</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/portrait-20000-tea-bags-teh-tarik-2015-2">Watch this artist create a portrait out of 20,000 tea bags </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="oycXI4czpduIn6o4N1xvRvA0bl_bHGIK" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

IronSource closes $100 million in new investment as it heads towards an IPO

<p>Happy New Year! Welcome to the Insider <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">Advertising</keyword> daily for January 4. I'm Lauren Johnson, a senior advertising reporter at Business Insider. <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-advertising">Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday.</a> Send me feedback or tips at <a href="mailto:ljohnson@businessinsider.com">LJohnson@businessinsider.com</a>.</p><p><strong>Today's news: </strong>The adtech companies poised to IPO, the rise and fall of Crispin Porter Bogusky, and 21 free agents in <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">media</keyword>.</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adtech-ipo-candidates-2021-2020-12"></a></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adtech-ipo-candidates-2021-2020-12">7 digital advertising companies most likely to IPO in 2021</a></h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adtech-ipo-candidates-2021-2020-12">Experts predict more adtech IPOs are imminent, especially with SPACs eyeing the sector, reports Lara O'Reilly.</a></li><li>She asked 10 experts to name the adtech companies most likely to IPO in 2021.</li><li>They named candidates including DoubleVerify, <keyword id="2719281" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Taboola">Taboola</keyword>, and IronSource, though not all are necessarily in the process of going public.</li></ul><h3><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adtech-ipo-candidates-2021-2020-12">Read the full story here.</a></strong></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-of-crispin-porter-bogusky-agency-2020-12"><strong><div type="image" title="Alex Bogusky" height="2464" width="3285" msid="80100407" hostid="261"></div></strong></a></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-of-crispin-porter-bogusky-agency-2020-12">The rise and fall of Crispin Porter Bogusky: How the hottest ad agency lost its mojo</a></h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-of-crispin-porter-bogusky-agency-2020-12">Tanya Dua explored what happened to once-hot Crispin Porter Bogusky, which is now a shadow of its former self.</a></li><li>Its founder and one of the biggest names in modern advertising, Alex Bogusky, left and returned in 2018 but failed to revive the agency's sliding fortunes. </li><li>Sources also blamed a struggle to keep up with changes in the business, a string of leadership departures, and a parent company that tried to grow it too fast. </li></ul><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-of-crispin-porter-bogusky-agency-2020-12">Read the full story here.</a></h3><h3><div type="image" title="Jane Wiseman Netflix" height="2456" width="3275" msid="80100410" hostid="261"></div></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-tv-film-streaming-execs-on-job-market-for-hire-2020-12">21 media leaders on the job market: The TV, film, and streaming execs who are currently free agents and could make big moves in 2021</a></h3><ul><li>Big media's massive restructurings and pandemic-driven business troubles have thrust experienced TV and film talent onto the job market in 2020.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-tv-film-streaming-execs-on-job-market-for-hire-2020-12">Ashley Rodriguez identified 21 respected TV, film, and streaming-video execs on the market who are adept at navigating the shifting media landscape.</a></li><li>The list includes Blair Rich, Kay Madati, Jane Wiseman, Steve Pamon, and Kevin Reilly.</li></ul><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-tv-film-streaming-execs-on-job-market-for-hire-2020-12">Read the full story here.</a></h3><h3>More stories we're reading:</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-will-acquire-podcast-startup-wondery-2020-12">Amazon will acquire Wondery, the startup behind popular podcasts like 'Dr. Death' and 'Dirty John,' in a deal reportedly worth $300 million</a> (Business Insider)</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vybe-together-tiktok-promote-nye-parties-amid-covid-19-2020-12">Apple and TikTok booted an iPhone app promoting secret large, indoor parties as COVID-19 surges across the US</a> (Business Insider)</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chobani-hires-cnn-journalist-to-promote-its-pro-immigrant-mission-2020-12">Chobani nabs a CNN journalist to promote its mission to help refugees</a> (Business Insider)</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-penn-says-mdc-stagwell-merger-can-eat-accentures-2020-12">Mark Penn reveals how his newly merged advertising company will take on WPP and Accenture, where he's looking for acquisitions, and why he's backing away from politics </a>(Business Insider)</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-big-food-and-restaurants-are-at-odds-over-breakfast-2020-12">Restaurants have battled each other with breakfast offerings for years. In 2021, they'll have a new competitor - big food companies. </a>(Business Insider)</li><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/04/is-substack-the-media-future-we-want">Is Substack the media future we want?</a> (The New Yorker)</li></ul><p>Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at <a href="mailto:ljohnson@businessinsider.com">LJohnson@businessinsider.com</a> and <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/advertising-insider">subscribe to this daily email here.</a></p>

These adtech companies could be next to IPO

<p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Tomer Bar Zeev</span></p><p class="caption">Tomer Bar Zeev.</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Tomer Bar Zeev is the CEO and cofounder of <a href="https://www.ironsrc.com/">ironSource</a>.</li><li>He writes that radical trust gets the most out of talented employees - meaning giving them the most room possible to do their jobs.</li><li>To foster a creative culture, leaders need to step back, accept failure as a potential outcome, create human connections, and encourage their team to have agendas.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>It's not uncommon for leaders to claim well-built teams, products, and business units originated from people who took the initiative and had the courage to create.</p><p>But what exactly fosters a culture where people have the courage to create?</p><p>I believe that trust - and not just normal trust, but radical trust - holds the key to getting the most out of talented employees.  </p><p>Instilling trust in the workplace ensures a company's individual team members have the confidence and resources to leverage their strengths in a supportive environment. I see this in my own day-to-day work -  I'm a CEO of CEOs, overseeing eight cofounders, and managing individuals like that can be a challenge. </p><p>The only right way to do it is to give them as much room as possible to do their jobs. In short, give them clear areas of ownership and responsibility and whole-heartedly trust them to get the job done. </p><p>What happens within a culture of radical trust? Employees feel empowered to take initiative so creativity thrives. When creativity is unleashed, greatness emerges, and you end up with unexpected, and often lucrative, new products.</p><p>Here are four key steps to creating that atmosphere:</p>

Building a culture of radical trust is the key to creativity, according to this CEO. Here are 4 ways to foster it.

<p>Good morning and welcome to Insider <keyword id="25455" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="finance">Finance</keyword>. I'm Dan DeFrancesco, and here's what's on the agenda today:</p><ul><li>Looking to start a hedge fund? Check out this list of people you should know <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-29-people-to-know-when-launching-hedge-fund-2021-3">as you try to get your fund off the ground.</a></li><li>Goldman Sachs analysts warned their bosses about issues that come with WFH in a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-analysts-wfh-expenses-equipment-junior-banker-wall-street-2021-3"> presentation</a> they made at the start of the pandemic.</li><li>Former Goldman partner Sumit Rajpal is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-ex-partner-sumit-rajpal-launching-fund-merchant-banking-2021-3">launching</a> his own firm. </li></ul><p><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-finance">If you're not yet a subscriber, you can sign up here to get your daily dose of the stories dominating banking, business, and big deals.</a></p><p>Like the <keyword id="621414" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Newsletter">newsletter</keyword>? Hate the newsletter? Feel free to drop me a line at <a href="mailto:ddefrancesco@businessinsider.com">ddefrancesco@businessinsider.com</a> or on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/dandefrancesco">@DanDeFrancesco</a>. </p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-29-people-to-know-when-launching-hedge-fund-2021-3">READY TO LAUNCH: These are the 29 bankers, advisors, and lawyers to know if you're thinking about starting your own hedge fund</a></h3><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-29-people-to-know-when-launching-hedge-fund-2021-3"><div type="image" title="people to know when launching hedge fund 2x1" height="1041" width="1388" msid="81650284" hostid="261"></div></a></h2><p>Launching a hedge fund has become more difficult as the price of technology, data, and talent rises. We spoke with more than a dozen industry experts, and compiled a list of people to know to get a hedge fund off the ground.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-29-people-to-know-when-launching-hedge-fund-2021-3">This is who you need to know.</a></p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-analysts-wfh-expenses-equipment-junior-banker-wall-street-2021-3">Goldman's beleaguered banking analysts raised red flags about the brewing strains of remote work a year ago and asked bosses for meal and tech stipends</a></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-analysts-wfh-expenses-equipment-junior-banker-wall-street-2021-3"> <div type="image" title="David Solomon" height="1333" width="1777" msid="81650285" hostid="261"></div></a></h3><p>Analysts at Goldman Sachs first raised issues to their bosses over the problems that can arise from working remote a year ago. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-analysts-wfh-expenses-equipment-junior-banker-wall-street-2021-3">Get the full rundown here</a>.</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-ex-partner-sumit-rajpal-launching-fund-merchant-banking-2021-3">The former co-head of one of Goldman Sachs' most elite investing groups is making his own bets on banks and fintechs. He's poaching ex-colleagues and angering his old bosses.</a></h3><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-ex-partner-sumit-rajpal-launching-fund-merchant-banking-2021-3"><div type="image" title="goldman sachs" height="3836" width="5115" msid="81650289" hostid="261"></div></a></p><p>Former Goldman Sachs partner Sumit Rajpal is starting his own investment firm, and some of his former colleagues aren't happy. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-ex-partner-sumit-rajpal-launching-fund-merchant-banking-2021-3">Find out why.</a></p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-steps-down-ceo-apollo-chairman-2021-3">Wall Street billionaire Leon Black steps down as CEO and chairman of Apollo effective immediately, 2 months after an investigation into his Jeffrey Epstein links</a></h3><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-steps-down-ceo-apollo-chairman-2021-3"><div type="image" title="epsteinblack" height="3000" width="4000" msid="81650294" hostid="261"></div></a></h2><p>Black's departure from the investment firm comes sooner than expected. In January, Apollo said Black would step down as CEO in July (but remain chairman) following an independent investigation into his relationship with the disgraced financier. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-steps-down-ceo-apollo-chairman-2021-3">Everything we know about his departure.</a></p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/revolut-bank-charter-launches-us-business-accounts-challenger-bank-fintech-2021-3">UK-based Revolut just officially filed for a bank charter and rolled out business accounts in the US as the war amongst challenger banks heats up</a></h3><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/revolut-bank-charter-launches-us-business-accounts-challenger-bank-fintech-2021-3"><div type="image" title="Nik Storonsky" height="2249" width="3000" msid="81650299" hostid="261"></div></a></h2><p>Revolut, Europe's largest challenger bank, is looking to make inroads in the US. It just announced the official launch of business-banking accounts. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/revolut-bank-charter-launches-us-business-accounts-challenger-bank-fintech-2021-3">Here's what you need to know.</a></p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/defi-decentralized-finance-disruptive-bitcoin-benefits-challenges-bofa-crypto-finance-2021-3">Bank of America sees DeFi as potentially more disruptive than bitcoin. The bank breaks down why DeFi is a fundamental challenge to modern finance - and the 5 issues that stand in its path to domination</a></h3><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/defi-decentralized-finance-disruptive-bitcoin-benefits-challenges-bofa-crypto-finance-2021-3"><div type="image" title="vitalik Buterin ethereum" height="920" width="1230" msid="81650301" hostid="261"></div></a></h2><p>BofA analysts are questioning whether DeFi could potentially be more disruptive than bitcoin. They believe DeFi could be a radical challenge to modern finance, but it still has a long way to go. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/defi-decentralized-finance-disruptive-bitcoin-benefits-challenges-bofa-crypto-finance-2021-3">These are the five reasons why.</a></p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/timeline-of-blackrock-employee-allegations-as-firm-retains-paul-weiss-2021-3">BlackRock has hired a law firm to review misconduct claims. Here's a timeline of recent allegations and the firm's responses.</a></h3><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/timeline-of-blackrock-employee-allegations-as-firm-retains-paul-weiss-2021-3"><div type="image" title="larry fink" height="1402" width="1869" msid="81650303" hostid="261"></div></a></p><p>We've compiled all the recent allegations made against BlackRock, and how the firm has responded. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/timeline-of-blackrock-employee-allegations-as-firm-retains-paul-weiss-2021-3">Get the full timeline here.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/timeline-of-blackrock-employee-allegations-as-firm-retains-paul-weiss-2021-3"></a> </p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webinar-whats-next-payments-tech-2021-crypto-bnpl-ecommerce-2021-3">WATCH: Payments experts from Bain Capital Ventures, JPMorgan, Mastercard, and PayPal discuss what's next for the industry and the emerging trends here to stay</a></h3><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webinar-whats-next-payments-tech-2021-crypto-bnpl-ecommerce-2021-3"><div type="image" title="contactless payments finance 2 4x3" height="1800" width="2400" msid="81650305" hostid="261"></div></a></h2><p>From buy now, pay later and e-commerce to real-time payments and crypto, here are the trends experts are excited about. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webinar-whats-next-payments-tech-2021-crypto-bnpl-ecommerce-2021-3">Watch the full webinar here</a>.</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tananbaum-goldentree-new-general-counsel-roman-bejger-barry-ritholtz-retiring-2021-3">GoldenTree Asset Management's longtime top lawyer is retiring, and the firm has a new general counsel picked out</a></h3><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tananbaum-goldentree-new-general-counsel-roman-bejger-barry-ritholtz-retiring-2021-3"><div type="image" title="Steven Tananbaum" height="4127" width="5503" msid="81650310" hostid="261"></div></a></h2><p>Barry Ritholtz is retiring from GoldenTree Asset Management as its general counsel. Roman Bejger, formerly of Allvue Systems, is going to replace him. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-global-expansion-hiring-push-commercial-bank-investment-banking-2021-1">Here's everything we know</a>.</p><h2><strong style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px;">Odd lots:</strong></h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-ceo-responds-junior-analysts-work-conditions-2021-3">Goldman Sachs CEO promises to protect junior bankers' Saturdays off following survey detailing 'inhumane' conditions (Insider)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adtech-ipo-candidates-2021-2020-12">IronSource plans to go public via a SPAC. Here are 5 other adtech companies experts think are likely to IPO next. (Insider)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1r249yny49whg/At-BlackRock-New-Accusations-of-Discrimination-and-Harassment-Are-Met-With-Contrition?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_content=Article&amp;utm_campaign=editorial_click-throughs&amp;utm_medium=social%20media%20organicia%20organic">At BlackRock, New Accusations of Discrimination and Harassment Are Met With Contrition (Institutional Investor)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.axios.com/biden-aides-wall-street-obama-b9d15fb5-1957-4fce-8a7c-458598a6f235.html">Top Biden aides cashed in on Wall Street after Obama service (Axios)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chamath-palihapitiya-spacs-hedge-funds-short-bets-data-details-explained-2021-3">Hedge funds are ramping up bets against Chamath Palihapitiya's SPACs and have already taken home $40 million this year. Here's a detailed look at the wagers they're making. (Insider)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-apollo-ceo-leon-black-investigation-tax-advice-2021-1">Leon Black is out as Apollo CEO and chair 2 months after an investigation into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Here's what the Wall Street billionaire paid the disgraced financier $159 million for. (Insider)</a></p>

Goldman junior bankers raised red flags over WFH issues

<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"><a title_source="IronSource" title_caption="Tomer Bar-Zeev, CEO of IronSource." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54999d65dd0895da408b45a9-960/tomer-bar-zeev-ironsource.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><span class="source"><span>IronSource</span></span><span class="caption">Tomer Bar-Zeev, CEO of IronSource.</span></span><p></p></span></span>IronSource, an Israeli tech startup valued at $1.5 billion, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/11/ironsource-closes-pre-ipo-investment-round-of-up-to-100m/">is believed to be preparing for an IPO in 2015</a>.</p>
<p>The interesting thing about IronSource is that about 90% of the company's mobile revenues come from Android, CEO Tomer Bar-Zeev tells Business Insider, and the company develops for Android first. For most companies, it's the other way around: Products are developed for Apple's iOS system first, with Android coming second.</p>
<p>So this could be a rare example of an IPO being staged on a business model that puts Android first. Going "Android first" appears to be a small trend, particularly in Eastern Europe and Asia, where Apple's share of the market is smaller. Facebook, for instance, is seeing a lot of <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-sees-android-first-app-developer-trend-2014-10">Russian developers create for Android first</a>.</p>
<p>Bar-Zeev tells us that because of the specific market his company caters to, IronSource developed products for Android for about a year and a quarter before it created iOS versions. "We actually launched our iOS solution based on our experience in Android," he says.</p>
<p>An Android-first IPO could be controversial in the Apple development community. Some of them get quite angry at the idea that app and software companies might want to develop products for Android first, or at least at the same time as iOS. For instance, Marco Arment, one of the earliest employees of Tumblr and a prominent app developer in his own right, <a href="http://www.marco.org/2014/11/07/business-insider-maintains-usual-level-of-quality">says he has only met one iOS developer who has switched to Android-first</a>, and that therefore the trend does not exist. Mac World, perhaps inevitably, says "<a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2846012/stilted-world-views.html">stop trying to pass off your stilted Android fan fiction as reality</a>."</p>
<p>It remains the case that iOS is more lucrative for sales than Android is, <a href="http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2014/7/22/app-store-revenue?rq=android%20revenue">according to data crunched by Benedict Evans, of Andreessen Horowitz</a>. This is why, historically, apps have appeared first on iPhone and only later on iOS. But Android has over the years eaten away at Apple's share of the market and now accounts for 83% of all smartphones sold globally, <a href="http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2944819">according to Gartner. </a></p>
<p>That is likely to swing a few percentage points back in Apple's favour as sales of iPhone 6 enter the numbers in Q4. (Sales of Samsung's competing devices have declined as a result of iPhone 6.) But iPhone 6 is expensive, and all the major smartphone growth is in China and India where consumers are poorer - So Android is going to maintain its global dominance for years to come. Here's what that market share looks like now, per Gartner:</p>
<p><strong>Market share of smartphone sales in units for Q3 2014:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Android: 83.1%</li>
<li>Apple iOS: 12.7%</li>
</ul>
<p>Research from BI Intelligence suggests that <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/android-report-reassessing-the-worlds-top-mobile-platform-2014-10?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=M-Android-2014-10-20&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile-">revenue growth in Android is faster than iOS</a>, as the platform improves and because there are simply more customers on it.</p>
<p>This isn't IronSource's fight specifically, of course. But it shows that tech companies can innovate and grow even when one company - Apple, in this case - appears to have locked in an eco-system around it.</p>
<p>IronSource's mobile revenues are a reflection of Android's market share but the Tel Aviv-based company is moving more into iOS as time goes by, Bar-Zeev says. He expects his mobile revenues to look more like 70-30 in favor of Android by the end of 2015. (And Apple fans will be pleased to know that he prefers his iPhone 6 to his Android phone - he carries both.)</p>
<p>The company owns a range of adtech businesses that it has bolted on to its historic core, which was providing reliable "downloader" software - the software you use to download the software you actually want. Downloader software is a lucrative business to be in because all the companies that produce software want their products to land seamlessly on users' devices. They want the data generated by that too, and if they can cross-promote other products than that is even better.</p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"><a title_source="Chris Cunningham / AppsSavvy" title_caption="Chris Cunningham." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54999d65dd0895da408b45aa-960/image-2.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><span class="source"><span>Chris Cunningham / AppsSavvy</span></span><span class="caption">Chris Cunningham.</span></span><p></p></span></span>This core downloader business is now the underpinning of a larger software "discovery" platform and a set of ad networks. IronSource recently acqui-hired Chris Cunningham, who until late 2013 was the CEO of AppsSavvy, a mobile app ad network. He is now IronSource's CMO. IronSource also has a legacy desktop-web based business.</p>
<p>A source (not Bar-Zeev) tells Business Insider that IronSource's gross revenue run-rate is approaching $350 million annually. The company recently took <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/11/ironsource-closes-pre-ipo-investment-round-of-up-to-100m/">a $90 million investment funding round</a>. If it files for an IPO, that will likely occur in New York.</p>
<p>Bar-Zeev declined to confirm that an IPO was in the works, but he didn't deny it either. "Many Israeli companies are trying to create big, substantial businesses and going public is a step on that roadmap."</p>
<p>Regardless, Android will continue to play a large role in IronSource's future. The company's products allow customers to promote products across devices, and this is more easily done on Android, Bar-Zeev says. And as Android is more dominant in China and India, a large part of IronSource's business will be there. "I'm flying there [China] tomorrow," Bar-Zeev says. "We consider China and India the most important expansion opportunity."</p>

There's A Big 'Android IPO' Coming In 2015

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Marketing entrepreneur and veteran Chris Cunningham is starting a private investment fund called C2V Capital Partners with 25 media and technology investors including Complex's Rich Antoniello, Beeswax's Ari Paparo, and OpenSlate's Brian Quinn.</strong></li><li><strong>The fund is an extension of C2 Ventures, Cunningham's 5-year-old angel investment firm that uses his experience to help startups.</strong></li><li><strong>The fund has invested in four startups so far and plans to invest in two more this year. The average investment runs from $150,000 to $250,000.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summarymarymary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>Technology and marketing entrepreneur and investor Chris Cunningham has recruited a group of media and tech executives to help startups get off the ground.</p><p>Cunningham <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/qa-with-appssavvy-ceo-chris-cunningham-2013-3">cofounded mobile advertising firm Appssavvy</a> before holding senior roles at location data firm Unacast and mobile <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> company ironSource.</p><p>Five years ago, he started C2 Ventures to angel invest in <a href="https://liveramp.com/blog/liveramp-to-acquire-arbor-and-circulate/">startups like Arbor</a> and credit card company Petal at the pre-seed and seed rounds, using his own startup background to help new companies. Now, he's applying that model more broadly, raising $10 million for a new fund backed by media and tech veterans who will also advise founders.</p><p>The new fund, named C2V Capital Partners, has raised more than $5 million and seeks to raise $10 million by the end of the year, said Cunningham. Its 25 investors include senior execs and founders from marketing, media and technology companies:</p><ul><li>Rich Antoniello, Complex founder and CEO</li><li>Bill Wise, CEO of Mediaocean</li><li>Ramsey McGrory, chief revenue officer of Mediaocean</li><li>Ari Paparo, CEO of Beeswax</li><li>Brian Adams, VP of engineering at Spotify</li><li>Adam Caplan, cofounder of ARM Insight</li><li>Brian Quinn, president of OpenSlate</li><li>Jason Kelly, CEO of Kambr</li><li>Pete Davies, chief revenue officer of Darkstore</li><li>Chris Feo, SVP of global sales and partnerships at Tapad</li><li>Geoff Hamm, cofounder of TILT Holdings </li><li>David Yaffe, former cofounder and CEO of Arbor</li><li>Kurt Abrahamson, former CEO of ShareThis</li><li>Haroon Mokhtarzada, CEO of TrueBill and former CEO of Webs.com</li></ul><p>Matt Olivo will help run the fund as partner, chief financial officer and chief operating officer.</p><h2>Cunningham wants to invest in non-adtech companies</h2><p>C2V Capital Partners plans to make eight or nine investments per year, with an average investment of $150,000 to $250,000, Cunningham said. Half of the fund will go towards early rounds of funding at startups with the other half set aside for follow-up rounds.</p><p>Cunningham said that he considers the fund to be a generalist firm but is particularly interested in martech, direct to consumer, wellness and travel companies. Despite his background in adtech, Cunningham said he's not interested in advertising-based startups because they often lack recurring revenue.</p><p>"I see an adtech company relying on an agency holding company to support their revenue targets," he said. "A SaaS business gets repeatable, reoccurring revenue from other publishers and media companies - the revenue is sticky."</p><p>C2V Capital Partners has invested in four companies:</p><ul><li>Kambr: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kambr-raises-4-million-to-help-airlines-manage-online-bookings-2019-9">Sells airline companies</a> revenue-management software </li><li>Beam: A direct-to-consumer<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/22/obvious-ventures-makes-cbd-sporty-with-beam-which-sells-cannabis-products-to-the-gnc-set/"> cannabinoid</a><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/22/obvious-ventures-makes-cbd-sporty-with-beam-which-sells-cannabis-products-to-the-gnc-set/"> brand</a></li><li>Boostr: Software that helps publishers' sales teams manage ad space</li><li>Magellan: Analyzes and measures ads in podcasts.</li></ul><p>Cunningham said the fund plans to invest in two other companies this year, which he wouldn't name. One makes software to change the construction business, and the other helps automobiles solve for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cities-clean-tech-patents-2017-4">clean-technology issues.</a></p><p>The LPs will also advise the startups and create marketing material and host events for startups, similar to the work that Cunningham has done for his own investments like Narrative, a data startup he created <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCRICPFZ1nM">a video series for</a>.</p><p>Complex's Antoniello said a lot of investment firms talk about doing more than raise money for companies, but Cunningham has a track record to back up his approach.</p><p>"There's a lot of people out there talking about how they're going to bring a very talented roster of people with different perspectives and help you through downturns, thought process or connections. There are very few who actually do that," Antoniello said.</p><h2>Cunningham is banking on his network to scale his investments</h2><p>Patrick O'Leary, founder and CEO of boostr, said that Cunningham's experience working at startups sets him apart from traditional tech investors like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-during-early-days-of-tech-boom-photos-2019-5">Silicon Valley's Sand Hill Road.</a></p><p>"It can be a pretty demoralizing process for founders to raise money," he said. "Chris was a breath of fresh air."</p><p>Beam cofounder Matt Lombardi said he cold-emailed Cunningham about a previous company and kept in touch with Cunningham when launching Beam, leading C2V Capital Partners to invest in the brand's recent $5 million seed round. This month, Beam opened a pop-up shop in New York that Cunningham stopped by.</p><p>"I liked his experience as an entrepreneur and taking that knowledge to help other companies," Lombardi said. "Chris is such a force of energy and positivity mixed with strategic thinking - he has a very good network of people."</p>

Entrepreneur Chris Cunningham has recruited media and tech names like Complex's Rich Antoniello and Beeswax's Ari Paparo to raise $10 million to invest in startups

<p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="LinkedIn/Tomer Bar Zeev " title_caption="Tomer Bar Zeev, co-founder and CEO of IronSource." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5559d109ecad04ee261d8718-960/tomer-bar-zeev-ironsource-4.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tomer-bar-zeev/2/734/ba8">LinkedIn/Tomer Bar Zeev </a></span></p><p class="caption">Tomer Bar Zeev, co-founder and CEO of IronSource.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The majority of ad tech companies on the public markets may have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-ad-tech-bubble-2015-5">fared badly in recent months</a>, but behind the scenes there are some seriously interesting pre-IPO ad tech startups </span></p><p><span>This ranking looks at the hotter companies subject to IPO (or at least big exit deal) rumors right now. Our data comes from CrunchBase, LinkedIn, our own reporting, and that of other business publications. We've tried to rank them by revenues, but have also taken into account headcounts, venture funding, and recent news and whispers.</span></p><p><span>See our methodology at the end.</span><span><br /></span></p>

RANKED: The hottest pre-IPO ad tech startups of 2015

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">Waze and FeeX co-founder Uri Levine</p></div><p></p></div></div>This summer, it's raining unicorns - tech startups valued at more than $1 billion - and as a result the Israeli tech scene is going absolutely crazy.</p><p>Business Insider just spent a week in Israel meeting with over a dozen tech companies, and VCs. They all told us:</p><p><strong>Everyone is dreaming of becoming the next unicorn.</strong> Instead of selling their startups for $1 million to $30 million, founders are turning down multi-million acquisition offers wanting to build big companies.</p><p><strong>2015 is a record-breaker for </strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>VC funding.</strong> For the first half in 2015, 342 companies have attracted $2.1 billion, up from 334 companies nabbing $1.6 billion in the first half of 2014.</span></p><p><strong>The private equity bankers have arrived in droves</strong>, including Blackstone, SilverLake, KKR, Apax Partners, TPG, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and they're writing writing huge checks.</p><p><strong>Chinese investors are swarming the country</strong>, joining Israeli VC funds as limited partners as well as doing a lot of huge, direct investments into startups, too.<br /><br style="line-height: 1.5em;" /><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Chris McGrath/Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>"If we're going to do $4 billion in venture in 2015, the estimate I heard is that at least $500 million of that will be Chinese money, and that's direct investment not including the LP stuff," Israeli powerhouse VC Jon Medved told Business Insider. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"And I think that's probably underestimated." </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Medved, founder of </span><a href="https://www.ourcrowd.com/">investment startup OurCrowd</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> and is widely known as one of the fathers of Israel's tech startup scene.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Chinese investors are "at all the parties" a startup founder told us.</span><br style="line-height: 1.5em;" /><br style="line-height: 1.5em;" /><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The joke here is that Israeli border control needs to open up a special customs line "just for Chinese investors with bags of money that they can just get in the country for free," Medved quipped.</span></p><p> This hot economy has led to ... </p><ul><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Big well-funded Israeli companies starting to acquire other Israeli companies for big sums of money, too.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The first crop of Israeli serial entrepreneurs, such as Avigdor Willens, who sold Annapurna to Amazon earlier this year for a reported $350 to $375 million. Willens sold his first company, Galileo, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">for $2.7 billion in stock back in 2000 to Marvell Technologies.</span></li></ul><h2>It started when Google dropped a billion on Waze</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">Israeli flags fly in Jerusalem</p></div><p></p></div></div>When Google bought Waze for $1 billion in 2013, it was a milestone event for the country, says Medved. </p><p>"Billion-dollar companies are now all over the place. Waze was the first and most important," he told us.</p><p> Waze co-founder Uri Levine explained to Business Insider, "This was the first time a billion-dollar app, and a consumer app, came out of Israel," and it set "a new beacon for Israel" telling entrepreneurs to aim higher than a quick exit.</p><p>The next year, Japan's Rakuten (the eBay of Japan) acquired Israeli messaging app Viber for $900 million  and unicorn fever in the country began.</p><p>Over and over, startup founders told us they had no interest in selling their successful companies, some of which were doing millions of dollars in revenue, some of which were doing hundreds of millions in revenue.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>They wanted to grow their companies past $1 billion to many billions.</p><p>"Israel entrepreneurs are obsessed with building unicorns,"<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Hillel Fuld, CMO of Israeli startup Zula told us.</p><h2> Billion dollar startups include …</h2><ul><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Taboola (who raised $117 million in February, $157 million total)</span></li><li>IronSource (who raised $105 million in two rounds from private equity funds run by JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley),</li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Outbrain (who filed confidential SEC documents for an IPO at a reported $1 billion valuation)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Conduit, who said it was the first Israeli internet unicorn, in 2012</span></li></ul><p>There's also a new crop of public tech companies worth $1 billion:</p><ul><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">MobileEye: IPO'd in 2014, with $12 billion market cap today</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">CyberArk, also IPO'd in 2014, market cap of about $2 billion</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Wix, IPO'd in 2013, market cap of about $900 million</span></li><li>And there's some half-unicorns, like Varonis Systems, which IPO'd in 2014 and has a market cap of nearly $600 million, nothing to sneeze at.</li></ul><h2><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Asian money everywhere </span></h2><p> "The Asia stuff is very dramatic, very real and very new," says Medved.</p><p>"China is the big story. But Japan for example - there had never been a visit of a Japanese Prime Minister to Israel before. In all the years of Israel's existence, what did they have to come here for? This year, the Japanese Prime Minister shows up for four days, all tech." <br /><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>OurCrowd</span></p><p class="caption">OurCrowd founder, Jon Medved</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Meanwhile, Korea's Samsung Ventures has now made "8 investments here over the last year," says Medved. Plus, "there are now Israeli companies going to list on the Singapore exchange."</p><p>Israel will also be hosting the Indian Prime Minister for the first time. In February, Indian company Infosys (now run by SAP's former US CTO Vishal Sikka) bought Israeli company Panaya for $200 million. India has plans to build an R&amp;D center here. </p><p>Still China overshadows them all. Investment are pouring in  from Baidu, Fosun, Alibaba, Tencent, RenRen and others.</p><p>Famous Chinese angel investor (and billionaire) Li Ka Shing and his Horizon Ventures fund are all over the country.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Horizon was an early investor in Waze. And he's invested in about 29 Israeli startups, including Waze founder Levine's latest baby, FeeX, (raised $9 million).</p><p>If there's a downside to all of this, its that Israel is starting to experience a severe talent shortage. They are now poaching each other's employees and trying to keep employees from leaving by offering better and better Valley-like perks.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">IronSource CEO and co-founder Tomer Bar Zeev and deputy CEO and co-founder Omer Kaplan</p></div><p></p></div></div>IronSource, for example, flies its 550 employees to one exotic offsite meeting every year. The whole company just got back from Greece.  </p><p>"Once a year, we party," CEO Tomer Bar Zeev told us. "That builds culture.  It's one of the best investments we can make, investing in the company."</p><p class="p2">If that fails, Chinese billionaire <span>Li Ka Shing has an answer. He</span> also donated $130 million to Israel's Technion, the Israeli Institute of Technology (like the MIT of Israel), one of the largest ever donations received by an Israeli university.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/israeli-firm-solar-power-energy-business-invention-2014-9">An Israeli Company Just Solved Solar Energy's Single Most Mystifying Problem</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1jbHlvcDqSkVm1c2NvsGYgno10q1fVAD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The startup scene in Israel is going bonkers, and the Chinese are swooping in

<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"><a title_source="REUTERS/Kyodo" title_caption="North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The country has been accused of being behind the Sony hack, although it's not clear that is the case." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/548888dadd0895524a8b45ae-960/kim-jong-un-1.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><span class="source"><span>REUTERS/Kyodo</span></span><span class="caption">North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The country has been accused of being behind the Sony hack, although it's not clear that is the case.</span></span><p></p></span></span>Good morning! It's Christmas Eve - way too late to get off Santa's naughty list. It's a clear, mild day in London. You've probably got the day off but tech news never sleeps! Here's what you need to know right now:</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://9to5mac.com/2014/12/23/itunes-the-interview/">1. Apple declined to stream "The Interview" on iTunes.</a></strong> The company did not comment to the New York Times on why it didn't want to touch the movie at the heart of the Sony hack.</p>
<p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-interview-christmas-release-2014-12#ixzz3MoTzGnMB"><strong>2. Yes, Sony will release "The Interview," despite the hack:</strong></a> "We have never given up on releasing The Interview and we're excited our movie will be in a number of theatres on Christmas Day," said Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of Sony Entertainment, in a statement.</p>
<p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/pharrell-made-only-2700-in-songwriter-royalties-from-43-million-plays-of-happy-on-pandora-2014-12"><strong>3. Songwriter revenues on Pandora are pitiful</strong></a><strong>.</strong> Pharrell made less than $3,000 in writer royalties for 43 million streams of "Happy."</p>
<p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/ironsource-preparing-an-android-ipo-2014-12#ixzz3MoUDiy00"><strong>4. There's a big 'Android IPO' coming in 2015.</strong></a> IronSource is valued at $1.5 billion and gets 90% of its revenues from the non-Apple platform.</p>
<p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/r-south-korea-prosecutors-indict-local-uber-subsidiary-yonhap-2014-12#ixzz3MoSsFGEH"><strong>5. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has been indicted in South Korea.</strong></a> He will be charged with "violating a law prohibiting individuals or firms without appropriate licences from providing or facilitating transportation services," Reuters reports.</p>
<p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-6-demand-remains-strong-says-piper-jaffray-gene-munster-2014-12"><strong>6. Supply and demand for iPhone 6 remains strong.</strong></a> Details in a note to investors from Piper Jaffray.</p>
<p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/salesforce-just-lost-a-star-engineer-2014-12#ixzz3MoTi65MZ"><strong>7. Salesforce has lost a key engineer.</strong></a> The engineer who led Wave, Fayyaz Younas, has departed for a tiny startup known as Kahuna.</p>
<p><a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/tripadvisor-fined-610000-in-italy-for-failing-to-prevent-fake-reviews/?_r=0"><strong>8. TripAdvisor was fined $610,000 in Italy for publishing false reviews.</strong></a> The fine was pushed for by hotel lobby groups.</p>
<p><a href="http://9to5google.com/2014/12/23/user-testomonials-play-store-ban/"><strong>9. Google made self-promotion in the Play app store much more strict:</strong></a> "With today's update, developers are now forbidden to include user testimonials in their app's description. Any developer who breaks this rule could see the app in question pulled," says 9to5Google.</p>
<p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/23/the-snappening-had-no-impact-on-snapchat-growth-usage-or-engagement/"><strong>10. "The Snappening" had no affect on Snapchat's growth.</strong></a> Data from 7Park shows uniterrupted usage despite people's nekkid pics being leaked online.</p>

10 Things You Need To Know In Tech Right Now

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Undertone</span></p><p class="caption">Undertone CEO Corey Ferengul.</p></div><p></p></div></div>US-based ad tech startup Undertone has been acquired by publicly-listed Israeli marketing software company Perion in an all-cash deal worth $180 million.</p><p>In acquiring Undertone, Perion will have a bigger presence in the US - the biggest digital <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> market in the world.</p><p>Undertone specializes in serving what it calls "high-impact ads." It differentiated itself by focusing on the creative, media, and tech needed to allow big-spending advertisers to pay for video and other forms of interactive digital ads that work across all different sizes of screens.</p><p>Undertone was founded in Ney York City 2001 and has around 275 employees across eight offices. It generated $89 million in net revenue in the first nine months of $104 million and reported adjusted EBITDA of $14.6 million. Ahead of the acquisition, the company had raised $40 million in funding, and as part of the deal Perion will take on Undertone's $50 million in long-term debt.</p><p>Combined, the two companies are estimated to generate $350 million in net revenue this year and will have 660 employees across seven countries.</p><p>In a press release, Perion CEO Josef Mandelbaum, said: "In Undertone we have found a premium brand company of scale and profitability, with a differentiated sustainable position in the market. Together we firmly establish ourselves as the leader in delivering high-quality advertising solutions for publishers and brands. In addition to providing strong cash flow and revenue diversification, Undertone will add significant depth and talent to our company. With this acquisition we intend to become synonymous with engaging and impactful advertising solutions for brands and publishers."</p><p>In the short-term, Undertone will operate independently from Perion as the two companies work out how they can best integrate together. Undertone CEO Corey Ferengul will continue in his current role.</p><p>Perion does already have a small footprint in the US, mostly thanks to its <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/30/perion-grow-mobile-42m/">$42 million acquisition of ad aggregation platform Grow Mobile in 2014</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>LUMA Partners</span></p><p class="caption">Ad tech stocks had a rocky Q3.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Tuesday's acquisition marks the latest chapter in the ongoing consolidation of the ad tech market. Industry observers suggest there will be plenty more acquisitions and mergers in 2016 to match the kind of activity seen this year as internet like giants like Google and Facebook bid to build out their ad tech stacks and non-traditional players such as enterprise software firms and telcos begin to get into the ad tech game. Meanwhile, many ad tech startups are fearful of the public markets, given the recent poor performances of most of the publicly-listed ad tech companies.</p><p>Lots of companies have been snapped up in recent months, including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/verizon-to-buy-aol-2015-5">Verizon's $4.4 billion purchase of AOL</a>, and months later <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/aol-acquires-millennial-media-2015-9">AOL's $238 million acquisition of Millennial Media.</a> Elsewhere, News Corp acquired Unruly in a deal worth $176 million, and <a href="http://adexchanger.com/mobile/mobile-merger-ironsource-acquires-supersonic-for-real/">IronSource merged with Supersonic</a>, to name but a few.</p><p>The press release announcing the Undertone acquisition states that the transaction will include: $91 million in cash; an additional $16 million as a holdback payable in 18 months; $3 million payable in instalments over the next 18 months; and another $20 million, bearing interest, due in 2020. As aforementioned, Perion has also entered into a new long-term credit agreement with Undertone's lenders - SunTrust Robinson Humphreys, Silicon Valley Bank, and Commercial Bank - for $50 million.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ikea-refugee-shelter-2015-11">IKEA designed easy-to-build shelters for refugees and sent 10,000 of them to refugee camps</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="t3aGM4eToKqhJ6bY2GdlmKSxcQFfqt3l" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

NYC ad tech company Undertone has been acquired by Israel-based Perion for $180 million

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">Similar Web CEO Or Offer</p></div><p></p></div></div>The first thing you have to know about Or Offer, the charismatic young CEO cofounder of Israeli startup SimilarWeb is that he thinks big. Really, really big.</p><p>And that's how he wound up running a company called SimilarWeb that seemed to spring out of nowhere a couple of years ago to become a star in the web and mobile app analysis world.</p><p>SimilarWeb has been profitable almost from the get-go, has raised more than $40 million, all from long-term strategic investors including British billionaire <span>David Alliance and </span>Africa's huge internet investment conglomerate Naspers. (We were told the total funding amount but we promised not to share.) </p><p>While Offer also isn't publicly sharing the valuation for his company, word on the street in Israel is that if SimilarWeb isn't a unicorn yet, it will be soon.</p><p>The company's growth has gone bonkers since 2013, when it released its competitor to Alexa, the Amazon-owned Web analytics firm. In the past year alone SimilarWeb grew from 60 employees to 200 and is hiring in New York and Israel like crazy, recruiting about 20 people a month, Offer says.</p><p>And it all happened because Offer was trying to build a jewelry business.</p><h2>Stalking David Yurman on the internet</h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">SimilarWeb office</p></div><p></p></div></div>Offer's </span>parents are artists. His dad a painter and sculpture. His mom a jewelry designer He finished his three-year tour in the army (a requirement for all Israeli citizens at age 18), and had to find a career.</p><p>"I decided I would go back and scale my mother's workshop into a big empire, like Pandora with her brand name," he said.</p><p>He started selling to more jewelry stores and then directly to consumers. Employees grew from 10 to 20. He hired factories in India and China to make the products. He and a buddy started to open a chain of jewelry stores.</p><p>One day, he had a meeting with a partner selling the jewelry in the US who told him that his designs were beautiful and very similar to David Yurman, the uber popular American designer.</p><p>"I said, I don't know him," <span>Offer told Business Insider. </span> "He was looking at me like you don't know David Yurman? He's a big thing in the US. I went home and researched David Yurman, saw this amazing jewelry design and immediately fell in love. I was shocked that I never heard of him, he was in my niche. I thought, I want to be like him, how could I never have heard of him?"</p><p>He wondered what other huge designers he didn't know about.</p><p>"I want to see all the other sites on the Internet that had designers like David Yurman. Who are they? And I couldn't find them," he said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">SimilarWeb CEO Or Offer in his Tel Aviv office</p></div><p></p></div></div>The problem bugged him for days. "I was always a coder from a very young age. I don't look like a computer geek, but I assure you I am," he says.</p><p>"Then one night I had this vision that I would have something on my browser that there was something I could click that would say, 'If you like David Yurman, here are all the other sites like his.' It's called website recommendation, similar to what you see on YouTube. I wanted the same thing for websites and I decided to build it," he said.</p><p>He called a fellow geek from high school, who called two of his friends from the army, "a secret Israeli unit that did crazy coding" and in 2007 the four of them went to work.</p><p>"After a year and a half of bootstrapping, I was funding all of this from my jewelry business, we launch it in 2009," Offer says.</p><p>SimilarWeb was born.</p><p>The browser plug in was a huge hit but there was a problem, there was no way to make any money from it.</p><h2>A business model came to them</h2><p>In a short while, internet researchers started calling them. The plug ins were collecting a lot of data about people's surfing behaviors that these researchers wanted to buy.  </p><p>"We had found a business model," <span>Offer laughed.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>That encouraged them to build more apps, collect more data to sell. </span></p><p><span>And they were profitable. "but it wasn't interesting," he said. </span><span>"In 2011, we wanted a better reason to wake up in the morning, to bring something very valuable to the world. We all want to build stuff that matters."<br /></span></p><p>In fact "Build stuff that matters" became his motto. He had a poster made and hung it on his office wall, across from the gorgeous original painting his dad gave to him. (SimilarWeb's headquarters is filled with art made by his parents.)</p><p>"We decided we wanted to become the leading digital measurement company in the digital world. In 2011, we were crazy enough to think we would succeed. Our main goal was to take over Alexa," he said.</p><p>They spent over a year building the product but when they showed it around, people "didn't get it."</p><p>So he scrapped it and started over. "At that point we had a lot of revenues coming from other sources. We were small but profitable back then, so we could take our time," he said.</p><p>For instance, SimilarWeb had invested in a startup called AfterDownload that sold to another big-name Israeli tech company, IronSource, for $28 million. </p><p>"We had a nice exit," Offer smiles. He's now become a big angel investor in Israel himself who's <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/oroffer">backed a handful of other cool young companies.</a></p><h2>Bigger than big</h2><p>Offer says that from the start, "it was very clear that this was going to be big. The potential and market size was crazy big. Funny thing, we never understand how big it is. So every year it's like, stop, it's not a $100 million business, it's a billion-dollar business. And then, it's not $1 billion it's a $10 billion business," he says.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">An employee at SimilarWeb's Spiders group responsible for crawling and categorizing all the websites on the internet</p></div><p></p></div></div>SimilarWeb isn't quite a $10 billion business yet, but they do have one huge customer and investor: gigantic African internet investment conglomerate Naspers.</p><p>Naspers has backed about a hundred huge internet companies around the world outside of the US. It owns about a third of China's Tencent and has stakes in Russia's Mail RU and India's Flipkart.</p><p>Naspers was using SimilarWeb to make investing decisions and in late 2014, an executive called Offers and asked to meet with him.</p><p>"Then they told me the dream that every entrepreneur want to hear: How much money do I want and at how much valuation? I threw some crazy numbers at them and they said ok. They are amazing investors and they are our biggest customers, our biggest fans."</p><p>Because he has long-term investors instead of VCs, and the company is profitable, he's in no hurry to go public, though he hasn't ruled it out, he says.</p><p>"I started my way selling jewelry and ended up measuring the whole internet," he laughs. "You never know where life is taking you."</p><p class="tagline">Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/legend-trailer-with-tom-hardy-2015-6">Tom Hardy makes a crazy transformation playing identical twins in this new gangster movie</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1uYjh4dTpwTQV0B9vjmmDX3JuE4LMeFF" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "ironsource" and got 13 results

SPAC Thoma Bravo Advantage agrees on $11 billion deal to take mobile-marketing firm ironSource public

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IronSource denies its business is based on 'deceptive' malware

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IronSource closes $100 million in new investment as it heads towards an IPO

Jim Edwards

These adtech companies could be next to IPO

Lauren Johnson

Building a culture of radical trust is the key to creativity, according to this CEO. Here are 4 ways to foster it.

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Goldman junior bankers raised red flags over WFH issues

Dan DeFrancesco,Jordan Parker…

There's A Big 'Android IPO' Coming In 2015

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Entrepreneur Chris Cunningham has recruited media and tech names like Complex's Rich Antoniello and Beeswax's Ari Paparo to raise $10 million to invest in startups

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RANKED: The hottest pre-IPO ad tech startups of 2015

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The startup scene in Israel is going bonkers, and the Chinese are swooping in

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10 Things You Need To Know In Tech Right Now

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NYC ad tech company Undertone has been acquired by Israel-based Perion for $180 million

Lara O'Reilly

This guy was trying to build a jewelry business and wound up with a hugely successful tech company

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