SkyGrid Closes $11M Round of Series B Funding Led by RRE Ventures & Including BlackRock, Other Elite Investors
James D. Robinson III, RRE Co-Founder and General Partner and
Former CEO of American Express, Joins SkyGrid Board
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
SkyGrid, a real-time search, filtering, and personalization
platform for news, today announced the successful close of $11 million
in Series B funding led by RRE Ventures. Investment management firm
BlackRock also participated in the round, along with a prestigious
group of investors from both Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Previous
venture investors include Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Esther Dyson,
among others.
SkyGrid also announced that James D. Robinson III, Co-Founder and
General Partner at RRE Ventures and former Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of American Express Company, has been elected to the
company's board, joining SkyGrid Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Kevin Pomplun and Junglee Founder Rakesh Mathur.
Silicon Valley-based SkyGrid gathers millions of mainstream and
alternative information sources online, filters the information for
reputation and relevance, and presents a personalized screen arranged
by ticker symbol, industry sector, index, or user-customized
portfolios. SkyGrid launched in February 2008 with 10 customers, and
now has over 100, including traders, hedge fund managers, portfolio
fund mangers, and research analysts from leading financial
institutions with asset bases from $100 million to over $1 trillion.
SkyGrid clients have documented significant work flow and efficiency
improvements, including an average of almost one hour per day saved,
and several timely media posts daily that help make investment
decisions, according to one leading investment bank.
"The financial and business-advice support of such Wall Street and
Silicon Valley titans as Jim Robinson, Larry Fink, Tim Draper, and
Esther Dyson, among others, validates our belief that SkyGrid is
defining the center of gravity for real-time financial news search,"
said SkyGrid Founder and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Pomplun. "It's
an honor to have Jim join our board as SkyGrid works to enrich its
focus on making current clients more successful, growing partnerships,
and putting SkyGrid in the hands of more people on Wall Street."
Mr. Robinson, who is a director of the Coca-Cola Company and
Novell, Inc., commented: "I'm delighted to be joining SkyGrid's board
because SkyGrid is a truly disruptive innovation. It's an important
step forward for Wall Street professionals. It is exactly what
investment professionals need to consume and act on information."
Jody Kochansky, Managing Director and Head of US Equity Trading at
BlackRock, said: "As a leading global asset management firm, access to
the vast wealth of information on the Internet is critical to our
investment approach. SkyGrid makes this information easy to access and
actionable, providing immediate and tangible benefit to our asset
management clients."
What SkyGrid is, what it does, and why it's different
SkyGrid is a real-time search, filtering, and personalization
platform for news. SkyGrid gathers millions of mainstream and
alternative information sources online, filters the information for
reputation and relevance, and then presents a personalized screen
arranged by ticker symbol, industry sector, index, or user-customized
portfolios. Users can call up analysis arranged by company, index,
industry sector, or multiple custom portfolios. SkyGrid's reach has a
vast index covering millions of blogs and enthusiast websites,
thousands of local and regional newspapers, press releases, news
wires, product review sites, and the top 100 largest websites by
traffic. SkyGrid's efficiency means that you can search the equivalent
of a stack of paper more than seven miles high in less than one
second.
"Corporate news alone doesn't move markets and companies' share
prices," SkyGrid CEO Pomplun explained. "What drives value is the
perception of that news and information as it plays out in mainstream
and local media and on influential websites. Investment professionals
need that information as it happens, analyzed and presented in a way
that's easy to use and act on."
About RRE Ventures
Since its founding in 1994, RRE Ventures has been dedicated to
helping talented management teams build leading companies in the
software, communications, and financial services industries. With $850
million in assets, the firm backs entrepreneurs and management teams
that possess the knowledge, vision, and discipline to create
market-dominating companies. RRE's team offers a unique combination of
management, operations, and investment expertise, as well as an
unrivaled network of relationships, that has helped build over 100
companies. For more information, visit www.rre.com.
About BlackRock
BlackRock is one of the world's largest publicly traded investment
management firms. At June 30, 2008, BlackRock's AUM was $1.428
trillion. The firm manages assets on behalf of institutions and
individuals worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, cash
management, and alternative investment products. In addition, a
growing number of institutional investors use BlackRock Solutions
investment system, risk management, and financial advisory services.
Headquartered in New York City, as of March 31, 2008, the firm has
approximately 5,600 employees in 19 countries and a major presence in
key global markets, including the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia, and
the Middle East. For additional information, please visit the
Company's website at www.blackrock.com.
About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson is the leader in seed and early-stage
venture capital, typically serving as a startup's first outside source
of financing. Founded in 1985, Draper Fisher Jurvetson has created a
global network of affiliated venture funds with approximately $3.5
billion in capital commitments and offices in the major technology
centers around the world. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the firm
has proven expertise in identifying and helping extraordinary
entrepreneurs who want to change the world.
About SkyGrid
SkyGrid is a real-time search, filtering, and personalization
platform for news. SkyGrid gathers millions of mainstream and
alternative information sources online, filters the information for
reputation and relevance, and then presents a personalized screen
arranged by ticker symbol, industry sector, index, or user-customized
portfolios. Users can call up analysis arranged by company, index,
industry sector, or multiple custom portfolios. SkyGrid's reach has a
vast index covering millions of blogs and enthusiast websites,
thousands of local and regional newspapers, press releases, news
wires, product review sites, and the top 100 largest websites by
traffic. SkyGrid's efficiency means that you can search the equivalent
of a stack of paper more than seven miles high in less than one
second. SkyGrid was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Silicon
Valley, with offices in NYC as well. Investors include RRE Ventures,
Black Rock, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Frontier, Esther Dyson, and
others. For information, please telephone 408-731-9494 or visit
www.skygrid.com.
For SkyGrid
Caroline Wolter, 646-805-2044
cwolter@rlmnet.com
or
Daniel Delson, 646-805-2036
ddelson@rlmnet.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
