• TechCrunch, Friday, September 24, 2010 11:03 AM

About those venture capitalists that TechCrunch's Michael Arrington claimed were involved in collusion and price-fixing. Well, while the whole idea seemed "so unlikely," an email sent by investor Ron Conway shows that there is what VentureBeat is calling a "real fracture in the angel group about whether there was an attempt at collusion." In the email, "Conway is clearly indignant that his SV Angels group colleague, David Lee, attended the meetings where the alleged collusion took place and didn't realize that the aim of the meetings (more than one, clearly) was some kind of collusion scheme," writes VentureBeat.

Arrington originally claimed that several members of the group told him how they hold down the valuations assigned to early-stage companies; block VCs from investing in companies that outgrow the cabal; and attempt to undermine startup incubator Y Combinator, which invests very small amounts in ideas deemed too underdeveloped for angel funding. Adds VentureBeat: "Clearly, there is some kind of conspiracy here, and it's clear that Conway now wants it publicly known that he wants no part of it."

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