Biz Stone’s New Startup Jelly Raises Series A From Spark Capital, SV Angel, Square CEO Jack Dorsey, Reid Hoffman, Al Gore, Bono & Others TechCrunch, May 18, 2013 Twitter co-founder Biz Stone’s new and mysterious startup called Jelly still isn’t saying what it’s up to, but it has announced funding. According to details posted to the official company blog this morning, the team has raised a Series A from a notable lineup of investors in a round led by Spark Capital, with additional investment from SV Angel, and a group of angels that includes Square CEO Jack Dorsey; Reid Hoffman; Bono (what!), Evan Williams and Jason Goldman via Obvious; Al Gore; Emmy-winning director Greg Yaitanes; and Afghan entrepreneur Roya Mahboob. More Hands-on with Runkeeper for Pebble: what the Pebble smartwatch should have been all along CNET, May 7, 2013 The popular fitness app RunKeeper now works for Pebble. This is exactly what the Pebble smartwatch needed in the first place: purpose. More Put away your wallet, startup. Spark decides to cover its own legal fees. Pando Daily, April 24, 2013 As startups have become more capital efficient and seed funds have proliferated, the battle for the best early stage deals has intensified. That’s led to an arms race among early stage VCs to prove how entrepreneur-friendly they can be. Some have hired armies of recruiters and PR professionals to help startups out for free, others promise quick closes with advantageous terms. Y Combinator has even standardized protections around handshake deals.

In this competition to be pro-entrepreneur, Spark Capital is about to score big points today. The firm is announcing that it’s going to pay the first $25,000 of its own legal fees when it’s closing deals with new companies. More Gidsy Acquired by Berlin Rival Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2013 Gidsy, the Berlin startup that lets people find interesting events and tours in a city, has been acquired by competitor GetYourGuide AG, the company announced Wednesday. Details of the deal weren’t released.

Edial Dekker, CEO & co-founder of Gidsy, said the company he started with his brother Floris would close and its members and 12-strong team would become part of GetYourGuide. More peerTransfer Shows Strong Growth – Surpasses 300 Schools SF Gate, April 24, 2013 peerTransfer, the leading provider of innovative global payment solutions for the education industry, surpassed 300 client schools during the first quarter of 2013. The company partnered with 48 new educational institutions in North America, Australia, and Europe representing over 150% growth compared to this time last year. More