SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 (Reuters) – Concerns about security
in the cloud are flaring anew after recent revelations about
government data-mining, likely spurring new technology to
protect corporate and consumer information, according to a panel
of cloud experts.

Reports that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA)
secretly gathers user data from nine big Internet companies,
including Microsoft Corp and Google Inc, have
dented confidence in cloud computing, especially among customers
outside the United States.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The Silicon Valley IPO has lost its cachet, and big investors need to pay attention.

That’s the view of two prominent startup chief executives awash in offers of private investment, who don’t think the headache of going public is worth the effort.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The Silicon Valley IPO has lost its cachet, and big investors need to pay attention.

That’s the view of two prominent startup chief executives awash in offers of private investment, who don’t think the headache of going public is worth the effort.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 (Reuters) – Silicon Valley executives
and investors gathered on Tuesday at the Reuters Technology
Summit in San Francisco to discuss whether new sources of
private financing have dimmed the allure of an initial public
offering.

Below are highlights from the event.

Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey

“There are a lot of good reasons to go public. Capital at
low cost, a currency for acquisitions and exposure for the
business. Liquidity for investors and employees. We have a very
well-known brand. Customers use our product for free or for a
low annual subscription. It would not help us as much as other
companies. There is deep strength in private equity markets
these days. There wasn’t that capital there before.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Online real estate company Trulia Inc (TRLA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is considering ways to generate revenue from its fast-growing rental business, possibly by introducing listing fees, Chief Executive Pete Flint told the Reuters Global Technology Summit on Monday.

Trulia’s rental business is growing at about 100 percent a year and that is almost entirely on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, the CEO said at the summit in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Ebay Inc (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will become the first foreign company to secure a financial payments license in China, CEO John Donahoe predicted, but the retailer is refraining from competing in the more aggressive and local-dominated retail sales sector.

Donahoe sees “encouraging signs” from the Chinese authorities, but said it remained next-to-impossible to guess when its fast-growing PayPal unit will finally get the green light to operate in the world’s second largest economy, he told the Reuters Global Technology Summit on Monday. (For a video of the interview, click on reut.rs/11FgUSQ)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The online grocery start-up Webvan may have been the single most expensive flame-out of the dot-com era, blowing through more than $800 million in venture capital and IPO proceeds in just over three years before shutting its doors in 2001.

Twelve years later, though, Webvan is rising from the dead – in the form of an online grocery business called AmazonFresh.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The online grocery start-up Webvan may have been the single most expensive flame-out of the dot-com era, blowing through more than $800 million in venture capital and IPO proceeds in just over three years before shutting its doors in 2001.

Twelve years later, though, Webvan is rising from the dead – in the form of an online grocery business called AmazonFresh.

By Alistair Barr

(Reuters) – Groupon Inc (GRPN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares rose more than 10 percent to the highest level in almost a year on Friday after an analyst upgrade stoked optimism about a recent strategy shift by the world’s largest daily deal company.

Deutsche Bank analysts Ross Sandler and Lloyd Walmsley raised their rating on Groupon to buy from hold and increased their share price target to $10 from $6.

By Olivia Oran and Alistair Barr

(Reuters) – Textbook rental company Chegg has selected two banks to lead an initial public offering, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The Santa Clara, California-based company has picked JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the sources said. The offering could raise $200 million, one of the sources said.