Tag Archives: Lightbank
AOL Acquires Photo-Sharing App Hipster
AOL has acquired Hipster and their five-person team will be working at the company’s mobile team in Palo Alto, California. They will be reporting to Sol Lipman. Hipster CEO Doug Ludlow will be the director of mobile product management. Hipster will not be shut down.
(more…)
Lightbank Invests $1 Million Into Belly
Belly is a Chicago-based customer rewards and loyalty service for SMBs. Belly has received over $1 million in seed funding from Lightbank. Lightbank was founded by Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky.
(more…)
Categories Belly, Brad Keywell, Eric Lefkofsky, Lightbank, Logan LaHive
Leave a comment
Social Location Based Service WhosHere Raises $1.5 Million
WhosHere is a social location based mobile app that has raised their first round of institutional funding. WhosHere has raised $1.25 million in funding led by Lightbank. Lightbank is a Chicago-based fund that was started by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell.
(more…)
Categories Lightbank, myRete, Paul Lee, WhosHere
Leave a comment
OnSwipe Raises $5 Million In “Series Awesome”
OnSwipe is a tablet publishing company that has raised $5 million in “Series Awesome.” This past January OnSwipe raised $1 million in seed funding. This round of funding was led by Spark Capital and followed on by Lightbank. Yuri Milner, Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, Betaworks, Morado, Eniac Ventures, and Thrive Capital also participated in this round.
(more…)
News and Analysis Service Benzinga Raises $1.5 Million
Benzinga has raised $1.5 million from Lightbank, the investment fund started by Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. Benzinga is a financial media source company that delivers streaming news.
(more…)
Categories Benzinga, Brad Keywell, Eric Lefkofsky, Groupon, Groupon.com, Lightbank
Leave a comment
Enterprise Mobile Company DoubleDutch Raises $1.2 Million
DoubleDutch is an enterprise mobile start-up company that has raised $1.2 million in funding. The lead investor is Lightbank, a venture capital firm run by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. Charles River Ventures, Launch Capital, Accelerator Ventures, Venture51, Zig Capital, and other angel investors also participated in this round.
(more…)
Groupon Founders Invest In Watermelon Express
Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell has invested in Watermelon Express through their investment arm Lightbank. Watermelon makes cross-platform applications to help people prepare for standardized tests like the MCAT, LSAT, GRE, SAT, etc. Some of the test preparation tools include games, practice questions, and diagnostic tests. Watermelon’s apps have been used by 75,000 students across 20 countries. Their apps cost about $30 each. [TechCrunch]
Categories Brad Keywell, Eric Lefkofsky, Lightbank, Watermelon Express
Leave a comment
Groupon Founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell Starting VC Fund
Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell have started an early-stage fund called Lightbank. They plan to invest as much as about $10 million annually in technology companies. This includes startups that need financing that range from $100,000 to $1 million. The two want to help make Chicago a technology hub that helps support the heaps of “untapped entrepreneurial talent.”
Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell met at the University of Michigan. Both founded companies in the past. Lefkofsky founded InnerWorkings, a printing company that went public in 2006. In 2005 the two started a transportation company called Echo Global Logistics. That company went public last year.
In 2007 Eric and Brad started Groupon and raised about $36 million. Groupon has over 3 million subscribers. Between the two of them, Eric and Brad raised over $150 million in funding and generated about $1.5 billion in returns.