Funding roundup - week ending in 12/6/08

Meliza Solan Surdi · December 7, 2008 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/5c5

GoFish, Angie's List, Lucid Media are among companies that raised some funds

Here's a look at some of the funding announcements across the social network, community, video, digital media and advertising sectors.

 GoFish raised $22.5 million from Panorama Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, and Rembrandt Venture Partners , according to a press release. The San Francisco based youth oriented start up is a digital media company that focuses on content geared towards children, teenagers, and their parents.  GoFish now reaches a monthly average of 69 million unique visitors globally and 25 million domestically.

 

 

 ExtendMedia Corp. raised $10 million from Atlas Venture, Venrock Associates, and TVM, according to PE Hub. The Newton, Massachusetts-based start up is a provider of online video distribution software and services. 

 

 uTest raised $5 million from Longworth Venture Partners and Egan-Managed Capital, according to a press release.The Southbourough, Massachusetts-based company is a marketplace where other companies can “crowdsource” the testing of their software.


KZO Innovations Inc raised $1.68 million from Valhalla Partners, according to PE Hub. The Herndon, Virginia-based start up is a provider of live onsite video webcasting services. KZO's initial commercial offerings are based its Web 2.0 platform that delivers a powerful multimedia environment for perpetual knowledge exchange and communication.


Koofers Inc. raised $500,00 from Altos Ventures and North Atlantic Ventures, according to Digital Media WireThe Reston, Virginia-based company is an online community that provides data to help students keep up with their classes.

  

Globant raised $13 million from Riverwood Capital and FT Ventures, according to a press release.The Latin-American company is a provider of software product development and IT maintenance outsourcing. Globant is deeply committed to developing applications that increase the adoption of OpenSocial among different social networks. 

  

Neocase Software Inc. raised $10 million from Caisse des Depots et Consignations and Iris Capital, according to a press release.

The San Francisco, Cali-based company is a program developer that facilitates customer service operations.

 

Lucid Media Networks raised $8.8 million from Lake Street Capital, RLI Partners, Melton Investments, Redleaf Group and Silicon Valley tycoon Milan Mandaric, according to a press release. The Reston, Virginia-based startup is an online contextual advertising platform which optimizes display advertising performance for advertisers and their agencies, as well as ad networks and publishers.


Angie's List raised $7 million from Battery Ventures, according to VentureBeat.  The Indianapolis-based company combines local search and user-generated reviews. According to the New York Times, for companies like Angie's List, there are more business listings in cities where the review company has been operating longer

 
SmartFundit raised $5.2 million from BayTech Venture Capital, according to a press release. This company is committed to creating the world's first online finance exchange. It also operates an online marketplace for technology leasing.

 

 

Savings.com raised $4 million from US Venture Partners, according to PE Week Wire. The Santa Barbara, Cali-based website lets users hunt for online coupons and discounts with the goal of helping consumers save money.

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We are 100% dedicated to keeping this site Pure & Simple.  What do we mean by this?

 

Pure:    We do not decide which coupons are the best coupons – our members do.  Our members and our coupon hunters find the best coupons on the net and then the Savings.com community decides which coupons are the best coupons.  If the community uses a coupon a lot and rates it highly it will rise to the top.  If the community does not like a coupon it will die a miserable death.  Ok, that’s being melodramatic, but it will at least fall to the bottom of the list and not be seen very often.  We do not accept payments or any types of incentives from stores to make their coupons rise to the top.  If a merchant wants their coupons and promotional offers to rise to the top, they have to create the best coupons. 

So how do we get paid?  We do get affiliate commissions from some of our merchants for some sales we send their way.  However, our Pure engine does not take this into account when sorting and prioritizing the coupons.  If a member submits a coupon for a merchant that does not pay Savings.com a commission, we still treat this coupon like any other coupon on our site.  If that coupon becomes the most popular coupon on the site it will be the first coupon on the first page ahead of other coupons that do pay us commissions.  By using member ratings and usage as our voting system, we let our members decide which coupons are the best coupons.  This is what we mean by Pure. 

 

Simple:    What good is a community driven site if it is difficult to use?  Instead of creating a forum where our users post traditional threads to talk about coupons, we created a simple search engine and category list so you can quickly and easily find exactly what you’re looking for.  Members can leave comments on our coupons and promotions but we have those comment sections directly on the coupons to keep the site as user-friendly as possible.  You don’t have to search through pages of forums to find a great coupon.  Our goal is to have Savings.com be the first and last place you look to find the best available coupons for whatever it is you’re looking for.  You can type in what you’re looking for, browse categories or browse your favorite stores to quickly see the best coupons as rated by our member community.

 

                             `Pure & Simple.  It’s not just a catch phrase, it’s our boss and it dictates all we do.’

 

If you have any questions or suggestions on how we can make the site better, please contact us.  This site is driven by our members - we’re just the geeky IT guys that make it all work. 

 

Our Mission

Simply put, our mission is to help you save money everyday. Built on best-of-breed technology, we offer the best collection of coupons available online to help you find the best savings opportunities. At Savings.com, you are in control of a vast array of resources to help you find coupons and save money. From big ticket items like desktop computers and jewelry to electronics, toys and gifts - we help you search for the best deals available on the products and services you want. It's that simple.

 

Our History

Savings.com was founded in 2004. Designed out of frustration with the current state of shopping and discount retailers online, we have been determined from the outset to design and build a more comprehensive Internet destination where users like you can find and compare deals and offers in one simple, easy to use format. This is no small task, and we are refining and improving our approach everyday with the great feedback we get from our visitors. We know you don't want to search across numerous websites to find the best coupons and deals for the products and services you want. We are working to solve your frustrations - combining the most popular categories and offers in one simple and easy to use location.

 

Our Team

Located in Santa Barbara, CA, we have built a team of experienced programmers, product specialists and marketers, who are dedicated to building Savings.com into the Internet's premiere savings and discount destination. More importantly, we are working everyday to expand our list of deals and coupons. We are working in partnership with many of the Web's premiere publishers and retailers to bring you the best deals available online from the most recognizable companies and brands you trust.