Flipboard raises $10 million for iPad magazine app
A screenshot of the Flipboard iPad application.
Credit: Reuters/handout/Flipboard
SAN FRANCISCO (Private Equity Week) - Aspen, Colorado-based Flipboard had one of the more prominent fund-raising announcements last week.
The startup, which makes an iPad app that helps users browse their social feeds on Twitter and Facebook, raised $10.5 million in a Series A round from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Index Ventures and several angel investors, including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, The Chernin Group media executive Peter Chernin, Ron Conway, Alfred Lin, Peter Currie, Quincy Smith and actor and Twitter enthusiast Ashton Kutcher.
The funding announcement coincided with the company's release of the app and a marketing push on Twitter in which Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, co-founder Evan Doll, and Kutcher tweeted at length about the app. The marketing approach worked wonders, apparently, since so many users began to download the app at the onset that the Flipboard website www.flipboard.com had capacity problems.
McCue, who is the former CEO of TellMe, said the download problems are a testament to how the app has struck a chord with the Twitter and blogger community. And it points to the growth of the iPad. The company, which used part of the funding proceeds to buy real-time Web analytics company Ellerdale, is banking on the iPad as a new entertainment device.
"We're definitely bullish about the iPad," said Danny Rimer, general partner of Index Ventures and a new member of the Flipboard board of directors. Rimer added that this is his firm's investment in an iPad app developer.
In addition to Flipboard, other VC-backed startups to raise funding in the last two weeks included the following:
BIOTECH
Visterra Inc.
Cambridge, MA
URL NA
Amount/Round: $6 million/Series A
Investors: Flagship Ventures, Lux Capital and Polaris Venture Partners
Details: Develops technologies that can interrogate how pathogens interact with human cells. The company is an MIT spinout that was previously known as Parasol Therapeutics when it was founded in 2007.
CLOUD
Morphlabs Inc.
El Segundo, CA
Amount/Round: $5.5 million/Series B
Investors: Global Gateway Investment Group (led), Frontera Group, CSK Venture Capital and AO Capital Partners. Details: Develops cloud platform technology.
CONSUMER INTERNET
hi5
San Francisco, CA
Amount/Round: $14 million/Series B
Investors: Crosslink Capital (led) and Mohr Davidow Ventures.
Details: Operates a social entertainment website. The company previously raised a $20 million Series A round from Mohr Davidow Ventures.
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ThredUp
Cambridge, MA
Amount/Round: $1.7 million/Series A
Investors: Trinity Ventures (led), Founder Collective, High Line Ventures and NextView Ventures
Details: Operates an online kids clothing exchange.
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ZocDoc
New York, NY
Amount/Round: $15 million/Series B
Investors: Founders Fund (led) and Khosla Ventures
Details: Provides appointment booking services for dentists and doctors. The company previously raised $3.3 million in Series A funding from Khosla Ventures and an undisclosed amount from individual investors SalesForce.com founder/CEO Marc Benioff and Amazon.com founder/CEO Jeff Bezos. The company's services are currently available in New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Chicago, but is planning to expand nationwide.
DATA CENTERS
Puppet Labs
Portland, OR
Amount/Round: $5 million/Series B
Investors: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (led), True Ventures and Radar Partners
Details: Provides data center automation.
INTERNET
iGuiders Inc.
Cleveland, OH
Amount/Round: $1 million/Series A
Investors: JumpStart Ventures and existing seed backers
Details: Develops online search services. The company previously announced a $700,000 funding announcement in March from JumpStart and investors. It's unclear if this is part of the same investment or a new infusion.
INTERNET MARKETING
Pixazza
Mountain View, CA
Amount/Round: $12 million/Series B
Investors: Shasta Ventures (led), August Capital, CMEA Capital and Google Ventures
Details: Helps shoppers buy products from photos seen on websites. The company previously raised $5.75 million in a Series A round.
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XGraph
New York, NY
Amount/Round: $3.75 million/Series A
Investors: Rho Ventures
Details: Provides social network analysis for ad targeting. The company also has an office in Redwood City, Calif. David Carlick, a partner at Rho Ventures, has joined the board.
MED TECH
EndoStim Inc.
St Louis, MO
Amount/Round: $6 million/Series B
Investors: Santé Ventures (led), Prolog Ventures, Vectis Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund and individual investors
Details: Develops minimally invasive interventional therapies to treat gastrointestinal and urological neuro-muscular disorders.
MOBILE APPS
Aspen, CO
Amount/Round: $10.5 million/Series A
Investors: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Index Ventures and individual investors, including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, The Chernin Group media executive Peter Chernin, Ron Conway, Alfred Lin, Peter Currie, Quincy Smith, and actor Ashton Kutcher
Details: Develops an iPad app to help aggregate social media content. Part of the proceeds were used to acquire real-time analytics company Ellerdale. As part of the Series A round, Danny Rimer, general partner of Index Ventures, has joined the board.
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Shopkick
Palo Alto, CA
Amount/Round: $15 million/Series B
Investors: Greylock Partners (led), Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Citi Growth Ventures & Innovation Group and SV Angels
Details: Develops a mobile app that bridges shopping online in the real world. The company previously raised $5 million in funding.
NETWORKING
iPeak Networks
Ontario, Canada
Amount/Round: NA/Series B
Investors: Miralta Capital and Arjesan II
Details: Develops networking technology.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Calithera Biosciences
San Francisco, CA
Amount/Round: $40 million/Series A
Investors: Morgenthaler Ventures (led), U.S. Venture Partners, Advanced Technology Ventures, Delphi Ventures and Mission Bay Capital
Details: Develops oncology therapeutics to treat cancer and other diseases.
SOFTWARE
Actifio
Waltham, MA
Amount/Round: $8 million/Series A
Investors: North Bridge Venture Partners (co-led) and Greylock Partners (co-led)
Details: Provides data management virtualization.
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