VC firm Andreessen Horowitz announced that it has raised $1.5 billion for its Fund III. Co-founder and general partner Ben Horowitz explains, “Fund III is all about extending our capabilities to more disruptors and pioneers. We’re remaking the modern venture …

It hurts to get close to something that you want and then not get it, doesn’t it? When we’re talking about money and business, this situation is even more painful. Furthermore, talking about the situation does nothing but add more grief to an already complicated situation.

CoTweet is a Twitter app, which is described as a real-time business collaboration platform for Twitter. It has also just raised $1.1 million in venture funding.

The funding comes from Baseline Ventures, Founders Fund, First Round Capital, SV Angel, Maples Investments and Freestyle Capital. CoTweet is used by brands like Whole Foods, Starbucks, Microsoft, JetBlue, Ford, Pepsi, Sprint, and Coca-Cola.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have started a new venture capital firm called (appropriately) Andreessen Horowitz.

Andreessen serves on the boards of both eBay and Facebook, and is a chairman of the board of Ning, which he also co-founded. His biggest claim to fame was co-founding Netscape.

Institutional investors seem to be playing it very, very safe.  A new report from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Thomson Reuters indicates that venture capital funds weren’t able to raise much money in the first quarter of 2009, and new funds had almost no luck.

Google’s current market cap is a little over $151 billion, and so long as Jerry Yang’s not involved, that means the search giant can buy just about anything it wants.  But there’s word that Google may take a more subtle approach to growth by creating a venture capital unit.

Increase, decrease, rise, slide – the economy can’t make up its mind.  The Dow’s down almost 170 points at the moment, though, and companies looking for money might want to check out a new list of popular venture capitalists.

Tell that to Bear Sterns.

Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis, formerly in charge of Netscape, former owner of Weblogs, Inc. who sold to AOL for a reported $25 million, has the answer for startups worried about getting through economic hard times: lots and lots of money.

He’s a Fordham alum, so you know where to send your contributions.

Not known for his silver tongue, the Brooklyn-native reportedly replied to a small, perhaps slightly inebriated group of SES New York karaoke goers’ concerns about the economic disaster the US is headed for with some sage-like advice.

Aside from the U.S., I’d say that India is probably Google’s favorite country.  Now Google’s showing it an extra bit of love by investing in two venture capital funds.

Rand Fishkin disclosed he is giving up a small percentage of SEOmoz in exchange for a venture capital investment of $1.25 million from a pair of investors.

Ah, your Twenties – when your invincibility nearly reaches the heights of your arrogance. How I miss them, when I was certain any moment Oprah would call to recognize my brilliance, and my bedroom had a revolving door.

Money. Startups need it, investors have it, and venture capital firms can bring them together. Though the prospect of composing a business plan and getting it in front of a VC might seem daunting, it could be well worth the effort.