Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Bain Capital Ventures

Experience Recommendation Service Stamped Launches An iPhone App

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:50:30 +0000

Stamped is a recommendation experiences company that has launched an iPhone application. Stamped is backed by Google Ventures. Stamped connects to your Facebook and Twitter network and uses these social networking services to provide experience recommendations in an organized way.

“While there’s lots of ways to do shouts or check-ins about places that appeal to a small demographic of extroverts that like to tell everyone where they are, we still look for better ways for people to put their thumbprint on things, places that they like,” stated Google Ventures partner Rich Miner in an interview with VentureBeat. “I think Stamped makes that real simple. And with a very simple, straightforward metaphor that everyone likes to tell people about the things they like.”

Bain Capital also previously invested in Stamped as part of the Series A investment. Stamped is based in New York. Stamped aims to solve the current problem that recommendation companies have. For example if you see a 3 star rating from 70 strangers, what does that mean? That is the current weakness that recommendation services have.

You can download the app from the App Store now [iTunes link]

[VentureBeat]

Accounting Software Company MYOB Gets Acquired For $1.2 Billion From Bain, Archer, and HarbourVest

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:06:03 +0000

MYOB is a financial and business software company that has been acquired for $1.2 billion by Bain Capital, Archer Capital, and HarbourVest. MYOB A/NZ corporate affairs general manager Julian Smith said that they do not expect jobs to be cut.

“We’re actually in the process of increasing our team across Australian and New Zealand by a further 27 people who will be partner evangelists supporting our accountant clients and introducing them to our next generation of Cloud solutions,” stated Smith.

The acquisition was finalized on August 21st after Sage Group dropped out. MYOB CEO Tim Reed said that the company is focusing on cloud-based services.

[CIO]

Zynga Acquires Social Game Studio DNA Games

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 18 May 2011 21:05:25 +0000

Social gaming company Zynga is acquiring DNA Games. This is Zynga’s 14th acquisition since the last year. Zynga is interested in both the talent and the company. DNA Games developed several hit social games such as Casino City, Slot City, and Bar World. DNA reaches about 2.4 million monthly active users on Facebook. Casino City has about 1.5 million monthly active users, Slot City has about 438,000 actives, and Bar World has about 382,000 actives.

DNA Games raised $2 million in funding from Battery Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures. The DNA Games team will form a studio that focuses on creating new games. DNA Games founder and CEO Jon Lee will be general manager of the new company.

[TechCrunch]

ScoreBig Raises $14 Million In Series B

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:28:42 +0000

ScoreBig is a website that offers discounts on sports, concerts, and theater tickets for their members. The company has raised $14 million in Series B funding led by U.S. Venture Partners. Bain Capital Ventures participated in this round of funding. This gives ScoreBig a total of $22.5 million in funding.

ScoreBig was founded by Adam Kanner (former NBA exec) and Joel Milne (former founder of SeasonTicket.com). Kanner is the CEO of ScoreBig and Milne is the COO/CTO. ScoreBig helps people sell off left over ticket inventory. Some of ScoreBig’s individual investors include Gideon Yu, Shari Redstone, Michael Bronner, and Finn Wentworth.

[TechCrunch]

Oyster.com Raises $7.5 Million From The Travel Channel

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:38:18 +0000

The Travel Channel has invested $7.5 million in Oyster.com. Oyster.com is a start-up that allows professionals to make hotel reviews. Oyster.com takes a cut out of hotel reservations that they help make. The Travel Channel will promote Oyster.com on television and online as part of the funding deal.

It wasn’t too long ago that The Travel Channel switched ownership. Scripps Networks acquired control of the Travel Channel from Cox Communications in a deal worth $975 million.

Oyster.com co-founder and CEO Elie Seidman said that he came up with the website when making trips to Alaska and Hong Kong. “I came to this realization, which was that the likes of Expedia and Travelocity had solved the transactional component of travel, but the part the travel agent historically did — which is, which hotel should I actually go to? Which is the perfect one for me? — is a piece they were missing.”

The Travel Channel is involved in this second round of funding alongside Bain Capital Ventures. Oyster.com officially launched in mid 2009 with $8.5 million in venture capital funding from Bain.

[NYT]

Color.com Raises $41 Million For Building Location Photo- and Video-Sharing Social Network

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:30:35 +0000

Color.com is a service that came out of nowhere this week and shocked the press. The company has developed an application for smartphones that automatically lets you share photos with the people around you. Essentially they are calling it photo sharing with an “implied social network.”

What sets this service apart from Facebook is that people are interested in those around them that they have not met yet. Twitter, Foursquare, and Gowalla have proven this. Three major investors have put $41 million in Series A funding into Color.com. Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank have all put money into this round.

The team behind the company has an impeccable record as well. Color.com CEO Bill Nguyen recently sold Lala to Apple for $40 million. And co-founder Peter Pham is best known for launching BillShrink and Photobucket. DJ Patil, former chief scientist at LinkedIn had created how to benchmark and compare data accurately using location. “We have no interest whatsoever in being acquired,” stated Nguyen. “This is purely what we need to operate. There are real data needs and real capital costs.”

The homepage of Color.com states “simultaneously use multiple iPhones and Androids to capture photos, videos, and conversations into a group album. There’s no attaching, uploading, or friending to do.”

[ReadWriteWeb]

Clovr Media Raises $8.3 Million In Series A

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:35:14 +0000

Clovr Media has raised $8.3 millin in Series A funding in a round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Existing investors Kepha Partners, Common Angels, and Mark Wright also participated in this round of funding. Clovr has made a platform that links banners, text, video, and mobile to your bank statement. Clovr automatically sends the discount savings offers to your credit or debit cards.

“We believe that card linked offers will soon become ubiquitous,” stated Bain Capital Ventures Managing Director Jeffrey Glass. “Our investment in Clovr reflects our confidence that the card linked offer is the next step in the evolution of digital coupons and loyalty programs. This platform will eliminate the need for paper coupons and elevate the personalization of savings for every participating consumer.”

[Bostinnovation]

TargetSpot Raises $8 Million From Union Square, Bain, CBS, and Milestone

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:15:04 +0000

TargetSpot is the largest digital audio advertising company. TargetSpot has recently announced $8 million in equity financing from Union Square Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, CBS Radio, and Milestone Ventures.

“TargetSpot has been a pioneer in developing the digital audio advertising market. Its early investments created the largest network of its kind, incorporating many of the leading online radio groups and pureplay music streaming companies,” stated Union Square Managing Partner Fred Wilson. “The funding will help us accelerate TargetSpot’s growth trajectory by expanding our advertising product lineup on both the web and mobile platforms.”

Web Video Company Blip.tv Raises $10.1 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:07:00 +0000

Blip.tv has closed on a $10.1 million third round in funding led by Canaan Partners. Bain Capital also participated in this round of funding. Blip.tv started in 2005 and plans to use the new round of funding to accelerate growth and expand content services. Blip.tv has about 44,000 indie video producers that use the service and distributes about 50,000 original web shows. Blip.tv receives about 90 million video views per month. [MediaPost]

Bain, Khosla, and Madrona Invest $5.3 Million Into AdReady

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:46:53 +0000

AdReady is a Seattle-based online advertising company that has raised $5.3 million in funding as noticed on an SEC filing. The VC companies involved in the deal include Madrona Venture Group, Bain Capital, and Khosla Ventures. This round of funding puts the total funding AdReady has at $17.3 million. The company has also hired Steve Singh, Chairman/CEO of Concur as a board member. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar is also on the B.O.D. at AdReady.

AdReady develops tools that make ads efficient to produce and monitor. Many of AdReady clients include small and medium sized businesses. AdReady was co-founded by Aaron Finn. Karl Siebrecht, the CEO and President at AdReady was a general manager for Microsoft.

[TechCrunch]