Austin-based Hyper9 (formerly InovaWave) announced additional funds in their $7.2M Series B round from Maples Investments. Mike Maples Jr. is a former Austinite, and was previously an executive with Motive and Tivoli. His first fund at Maples Investments was staked with around $15M from Austin Ventures, and that fund is invested in startups such as Digg, Twitter, Spiceworks, and SolarWinds. Five years from now that may be one of the highest returning funds in history! [...]

Austin-based Bazaarvoice seems to have a steady stream of announcements with the top ecommerce sites, with Buy.com being the latest. Buy.com shoppers can now post product questions alongside standard product information to be answered by other consumers who have direct experience with the product in order to help customers make the best possible purchasing decisions. Questions and answers can be accessed by any Buy.com visitor, complementing the company’s existing ratings and reviews capabilities with a [...]

by Greg Garrison How do current economic conditions affect your recruiting efforts here in Austin? Austin may not be as heavily impacted by the slowing economy as much as other markets, but the current national economic situation most certainly impacts our local recruiting efforts. Candidates are cognizant to the fact that oil is $140 a barrel, gas is $4.00 a gallon, housing markets are down while foreclosures are high, airlines and automobile makers are on [...]