VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Sina Weibo, the China-based microblogging and social media site, has filed its IPO prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise as much as $500 million in its planned US debut, TechCrunch reported.

China-based e-commerce firm Alibaba Group plans to hold a US listing in the third quarter of this year, according to a sources interviewed by Reuters.

Alibaba is almost certain that it will not be undertaking its initial public offering in Hong Kong but in New York, according to sources interviewed by the Financial Times.

King Digital Entertainment, the British developer of the widely-active game Candy Crush Saga, could be valued up to $7.6 billion after it holds its initial public offering, AFP reported.

Paycom Software has started the ball rolling in its plans to go public by filing an S-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, VentureBeat reported.

Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were hired by Chinese Internet firm Sina to take care of the debut of its microblogging platform Weibo in New York, according to sources interviewed by the Financial Times.

Educational technology company 2U has filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $100 million, Reuters reported.

Saratoga, California-based Internet TV device maker Roku Inc is studying the possibility of holding an initial public offering this year, according to sources interviewed by Bloomberg.

Korea-based Kakao Corp, the company behind the highly-popular messaging and social app Kakao Talk, is readying for its initial public offering in May, BeSuccess reported.

Online music streaming service Spotify is recruiting a U.S. financial reporting specialist, adding to speculation that the Swedish start-up is preparing for a share listing, which one banker said could value the firm at as much as $8 billion.

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba is trying to buttress its weaknesses ahead of its public debut later this year by acquiring firms, the Financial Times reported.

After the lockup agreements expire tomorrow, Twitter Inc's insiders will have a first chance to sell their stock. The company's shares have more than doubled since its IPO last year, Bloomberg reported.

Biotech companies are in a rush to go public partly due to the sky-high valuations now experienced by many biotech firms that have gone public in the past few years, the Venture Capital Dispatch reported.

Ten billion shares of common stock were offered by bitcoin firm Bitcoin Kinetics on the website Cryptostocks, Quartz reported. The startup intends to make hardware that enables vending machines to accept payment in Bitcoin.

Coupons.com, the online coupon firm backed by T. Rowe Price Group Inc and Passport Ventures, has filed for an IPO of up to $100 million with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Reuters reported.