Dice Holdings acquires online and career events business WorldwideWorker

Dice Holdings, a provider of specialised career websites for professional communities, has acquired WorldwideWorker, the online and career events recruiter for engineers and professionals in the energy industry worldwide.

“The acquisition of WorldwideWorker delivers on two important parts of our growth strategy: international growth and new vertical expansion,” said Scot Melland, Chairman, President & CEO of Dice Holdings, Inc. “WorldwideWorker is a well-regarded player in the highly-attractive energy sector. The global nature of the energy business allows us to leverage both our cross-border recruiting expertise and our international infrastructure.”

Based in Dubai, WorldwideWorker is widely known for its extensive international resume database and its recruitment events held at industry-leading conferences. More than 400,000 energy professionals have registered with WorldwideWorker and two-thirds of those are based in Asia, Africa or the Middle East.  Nearly half of WorldwideWorker’s candidates have at least ten years experience.  

“Our common goal is to help hiring managers and recruiters find the best possible talent most efficiently. Speed-to-hire is critical in the energy industry,” said Frederik Rengers, CEO of WorldwideWorker.  “Pairing the experienced Dice team with our extensive energy-industry knowledge will drive the growth of WorldwideWorker and deliver significant value to our customers.”

The purchase price consists of initial consideration of $6 million in cash.  Additional consideration to a maximum of $3 million in cash is payable upon the achievement of certain operating and financial goals over the next two years.

Ref: F231109-425

HelloWallet raises $3.6 million in Series A funding

Personal finance website HelloWallet has secured $3.6 million in Series A funding, led by Grotech Ventures along with an investment by Jean and Steve Case.

HelloWallet helps users track and proactively manage their personal finances by looking forward to proactively uncover savings opportunities and potential threats for its members. Unlike many financial management sites, HelloWallet does not allow banks to advertise or promote products, so its trusted recommendations are not influenced by any business interests.

“This round of funding reaffirms the value and potential of our service and will allow us to accelerate the accessibility of HelloWallet across a broad spectrum of the US population,” says Matt Fellowes, CEO and Founder of HelloWallet.

Location: USA, Washington,
Ref: F231109-424

Other Grotech investment deals reported on Fusion DigiNet

Criteo secures $7M investment From Bessemer Venture Partners

Criteo, a company that offes display ad retargeting to eRetailers that are frustrated with spending vast amounts of money to acquire traffic only to have visitors leave their site without making a purchase, has raised $7 million in a Series C round of funding from Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), bringing Criteo’s total funding to $24 million.

“As a global investor, we have been actively monitoring the technology landscape in Europe and following Criteo for a long time. Their breakthrough retargeting technology, ability to execute and world class management team are very impressive,” said Byron Deeter, partner at Bessemer, who also joins Criteo’s board of directors with the announcement. “We believe Criteo is in a unique position to play a major role in reshaping the rapidly evolving online advertising landscape.”

“Adding proven investors that understand our market and can support our hyper growth, gives us a strong competitive advantage as we build momentum in the U.S. market,” said JB Rudelle, CEO and founder of Criteo. “Bessemer has a history of identifying revolutionary companies. Furthermore, from the very start of our discussions, they have been extremely proactive to bring value to our business.”

Location: Criteo’s corporate headquarters were recently relocated from from Paris, France to Palo Alto, CA, USA
Sectors: eRetail, Internet
Ref: F231109-423

Other Bessemer Venture Partner deals reported on Fusion DigiNet:

Groupon acquires mob.ly

Online local deal discounter Groupon, who closed funding in April at a huge $1.2 billion valuation, has acquired mob.ly, a mobile-development firm led by former Yahoo! Senior Director of Product Management Mihir Shah and Yishai Lerner, former Director of Engineering at Carrier IQ. Mob.ly launched Goodrec, the mobile recommendation service, in September 2008. They have built mobile applications for several leading brands, such as OpenTable and Yahoo!

Details of the deal were not disclosed. The announcement said that the core of Groupon’s mobile team comes through the acquisition.

Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
Sectors: Internet
Ref: F231109-422

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GfK invests in research for digital media – SirValUse Consulting and nurago

GfK Group is further expanding its digital strategy With an investment in SirValUse Con-sulting, the user experience consultancy and nurago suppliers of technology for digital brand, media and usability research worldwide,

SirValUse Consulting was founded in May 2000 and specialises in the area of user experience and usability. SirValUse investigates and optimizes the user friendliness, utility value and design of websites, software, consumer electronics, mobile applications, mobile devices and industrial manufacturing technology.

GfK saus it now has a share of 40% in SirValUse Consulting and nurago, effective as of May 4. Together, SirValUse Consulting and nurago employ around 120 members of staff in Hamburg, Hanover, Berlin, Munich, London and Beijing. In 2009, the total sales of the two companies amounted to approximately EUR 6.5 million. Clients include numerous international companies from the service, retail and industrial sectors, including Google, Deutsche Telekom, OTTO, eBay, LG and Samsung.

Announcing the deal Wilhelm R. Wessels, Member of the Management Board of GfK SE, said “The clear strategic direction of GfK in the area of digital media is further cemented through our cooperation with nurago and SirValUse. We are working on new joint projects in order to link our comprehensive data on consumer behavior even more strongly with findings from online research.”

Location: Germany, Nuremberg
Ref: F231109-421

Newsy raises $2 million

Newsy, a division of Media Convergence Group, has raised its second round of funding of $2 million. Newsy is a multisource video news service that analyzes the world’s news coverage – highlighting the key differences in reporting. Newsy operates Newsy.com – its mobile offerings include an iPad app, as well as apps for Android-based smart phones and Intel Atom-powered netbooks.

The funding, raised from angel investors, “will allows us to build revenue, distribution and marketing partnerships; grow our news operations; and deliver a remarkable product for our viewers and our customers,” said Newsy President Jim Spencer.

Locations: USA, Columbia, MO
Sectors: Internet
Ref: F231109-418

Cox Enterprises sells 25% of AutoTrader.com to Providence Equity Partners

Providence Equity Partners is taking a 25-percent equity interest in Cox Enterprises owned AutoTrader.com. Cox made the announcement today. They will maintain majority ownership and operating control of AutoTrader.com, and Providence’s ownership will have no impact on day-to-day operations.  Providence will assume two seats on AutoTrader.com’s Board of Directors.

“All of us at AutoTrader.com are excited to see Providence Equity invest in our company,” said Chip Perry, CEO and president, AutoTrader.com. “Their support will enable us to pursue the many organic growth opportunities, as well as strategic acquisitions, that will help improve the products and services we offer our customers.”

The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. advised Cox in this transaction. 

Locations: USA, Atlanta, GA
Sectors: Internet : eRetail
Ref: F231109-417

Intel Capital capital invests in Caring.com and SmartZip Analysis

Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organization, has announced three U.S.-based investments totaling approximately $15 million. Two of the investments are relevant to readers of Fusion DigiNet. They are eldercare website Caring.com and real estate investment ratings provider SmartZip Analytics. The third investment is infrastructure services provider Virtustream.

Locations: Caring.com – USA, San Mateo, CA: SmartZip Analysis – USA, Pleasanton, CA

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LivingSocial raises $14 million. It’s third round this year

In January we reported that LivingSocial, the social commerce business behind LivingSocial Deals and Facebook applications Visual Bookshelf and Pick Your Five, raised $5 million. In March we reported that LivingSocial raised $25 million. Just six weeks later LivingSocial has raised another £14 million.

The round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, also included U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and Steve Case’s Revolution.

LivingSocial is to use the funds to expand its deals service into additional markets, starting with Portland, Orange County, Charlotte and Philadelphia.

Location: USA, Washington DC
Sectors: eRetail, Internet
Ref: F231109-411

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Google acquires Labpixies

Google has acquired LabPixies, a developer of personalized web gadgets “widgets” including iGoogle, Android and the iPhone. The team will be based in Google’s Tel Aviv office.

Over the years, Google has worked closely with LabPixies on a variety of projects, including the launch of a number of global OpenSocial based gadgets.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it’s believed to be between $15 to $25 million, according to TechCrunch.

Location: Israel, Tel Aviv
Sector: Internet
Ref: F231109-409

Other recent Google acquisitions