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Data visualization startup Visual.ly grabs another $2M to take on ad agencies (exclusive)

visually

Big data may be cool, but it’s not pretty. Visual.ly, a startup focused on data visualizations and infographics, has raised a new $2 million round of funding, the company has confirmed to VentureBeat today.

Visual.ly’s platform is like a “basecamp” for design projects that want to utilize big data from multiple sources. It’s clients (brands, businesses, and news organizations) subscribe for access to the platform, which can match them with Visual.ly’s community of over 55,000 designers. Once matched,the designer and the client work together using the platform, with Visual.ly’s team acting as a project manager. Essentially, it answer the question of what do to for companies after they’ve hired a designer and don’t quite know what to do next.

“Right now existing ad agencies are our biggest competitors,” Visual.ly CEO Stew Langille told me in a phone interview. He explained that, in addition to building useful, interactive graphics for clients, Visual.ly is becoming more attractive because it allows designers to earn more money on a project and advertisers to spend less.

Depending on the level of project management, Visual.ly takes anywhere from 10 to 30 percent cut of each project’s total cost. The goal, Langille said, is to improve the collaboration platform for designers and clients to work on their own. And while he didn’t disclose financial figures, Langille did say that Visual.ly’s revenue is increasing 300 percent each quarter, and the number of projects are increasing 200 percent per quarter.

Visually-GA toolThe new round came from previous investors, such as SoftTech VC, 500 Startups, and Giza Venture Capital, as well as strategic investors that include Yammer chief product officer James Patterson and several top executives from the advertising industry that will help Visual.ly build out its presence in New York City.

The additional capital will primarily be used to advance the startup’s data visualization /collaboration technology and hire more talent over the next year. Langille said Visual.ly has held off on raising a larger round, but does plan on raising additional funding in the future.

Langille also said he’d like to use the funding to produce more free data visualization tools that showcase the Visual.ly platform’s potential. For example, the startup’s recently released tool that interfaces with Google Analytics to produce a weekly traffic report, which you can send via email automatically. Also, the startup’s Twitter user battle infographic tool.

Founded in 2011, the San Francisco, Calif.-based startup has raised a total of $4.4 million in funding to date. Visual.ly currently has 25 employees, with plans to hire another 10 to 15 people before the end of 2013.

Filed under: Business, Deals



Incentive network FreeMonee gets $34M to turn every day into a birthday

Gift network FreeMonee has raised $34 million in VCMonee for its consumer incentive program.

FreeMonee delivers cash gifts from participating merchants directly into the bank accounts of consumers. Merchants determine the nature of the campaign, deciding how many customers, how much to give, and when and where to deposit the gift.

Consumers then receive the free money, which of course encourages — but doesn’t obligate — them to go patronize that particular store or restaurant. The incentives function like a gift card, so it feels like getting birthday present, without the card and balloons.

This strategy is effective for merchants because the likelihood that the incentive will translate into profits is higher than other marketing techniques. Unlike rewards or rebates that consumers often ignore, FreeMonee gifts yield a high response rate without discounting the product with deals or coupons.

It seems people are more likely to respond to free money than traditional promotions. The company promises merchants a sales lift of 400 percent to 700 percent and a return on ad spend of 500 percent to 900 percent. FreeMonee turns into actual money.

The third party in this cozy little arrangement, the card issuers, stand to gain as well because consumers have to use their card to unlock their gift.

The technology involves more than just delivering money into bank accounts. The Gift Underwriting Engine figures out what gift will ensure the highest level of consumer interest. It analyzes a consumers’ transaction data to discern how much a gift recipient is likely to spend and where, increasing the likelihood that there will be a return on the investment.

With this model, FreeMonee claims to be “changing the economics of advertising”.

This second round of investment was led by financier Charles E. Ryan and returning investors Opus Capital Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Utter Hill Ventures, and Pinnacle Ventures. It is more than triple the amount of the $11 million Series A from 2010, bringing the total capital raised to $45 million.

FreeMonee was founded in 2009 and is located in San Mateo, Calif.

Filed under: deals


Video surveillance startup Dropcam gets a fresh $12M, rolls out new Android app

Dropcam Lens

Home surveillance camera maker Dropcam has been a prime example of how a fledging company can do hardware right.

And investors agree: The company has just secured $12 million in second round of funding led by Menlo Ventures and supported by Accel Partners and Bay Partners.

Dropcam’s Wi-Fi-enabled video cameras make it easy for users to remotely monitor their kids, pets, and homes from a variety of devices.

Hardware-based startups are a bit of an anomaly in Silicon Valley, so it’s always big news when a company like Dropcam attracts investor attention.

With the latest round, Dropcam’s total funding rises to $17.8M. The company says it plans to use the new cash to expand its software team at home in San Francisco and expand operations elsewhere.

It’s the combination of Dropcam’s hardware and software that’s at the core of its success, Menlo Ventures managing director Mark Siegel said in a statement. “This is a tough balance for young companies, and Dropcam is doing a commendable job at this,” he said.

Alongside the funding announcement, Dropcam also released its new Android app, which replaces the previous Adobe Air-based version that lacked full Android compatibility. Dropcam said the goal with the new app is to give Android users the same quality of experience as users of the iOS version.

Dropcam’s latest product is its HD Wi-Fi Video Monitoring Camera, which was announced in January and, according to Dropcam, sold out in three weeks. Running at $150, the device offers 720p HD video, improved low-light performance, and two-way audio.

Filed under: deals


Video surveillance startup Dropcam gets a fresh $12M, rolls out new Android app

Dropcam Lens

Home surveillance camera maker Dropcam has been a prime example of how a fledging company can do hardware right.

And investors agree: The company has just secured $12 million in second round of funding led by Menlo Ventures and supported by Accel Partners and Bay Partners.

Dropcam’s Wi-Fi-enabled video cameras make it easy for users to remotely monitor their kids, pets, and homes from a variety of devices.

Hardware-based startups are a bit of an anomaly in Silicon Valley, so it’s always big news when a company like Dropcam attracts investor attention.

With the latest round, Dropcam’s total funding rises to $17.8M. The company says it plans to use the new cash to expand its software team at home in San Francisco and expand operations elsewhere.

It’s the combination of Dropcam’s hardware and software that’s at the core of its success, Menlo Ventures managing director Mark Siegel said in a statement. “This is a tough balance for young companies, and Dropcam is doing a commendable job at this,” he said.

Alongside the funding announcement, Dropcam also released its new Android app, which replaces the previous Adobe Air-based version that lacked full Android compatibility. Dropcam said the goal with the new app is to give Android users the same quality of experience as users of the iOS version.

Dropcam’s latest product is its HD Wi-Fi Video Monitoring Camera, which was announced in January and, according to Dropcam, sold out in three weeks. Running at $150, the device offers 720p HD video, improved low-light performance, and two-way audio.

Filed under: deals


Retickr turns your RSS feed into a desktop news-ticker

If you feel that your Mac’s desktop is missing a news ticker displing top stories and your RSS feed, Retickr has got you covered. The company announced Reticker 2.0 and a $1.5 million round of funding.

Retickr is a simple app with a news ticker bar that scrolls headlines across your desktop. You can control what types of news you see, specify RSS feeds from Google Reader, and control the speed of ticker. You can also make the ticker stay on top of all other windows (which can be distracting unless you have a large screen) or you can hide it when you minimize the app.

The colors, orange, black, and navy can be a bit jarring and the app had a hard time pulling the correct thumbnails and titles of the blogs I follow in Google Reader. It seems Retickr works better with the already-available news sources you can choose from when you set it up.

Retickr’s team, co-founders Travis Truett, Brian Trautschold, Adam Haney, and Jared Houghton bootstrapped the business before raising $150,000 in seed money in 2011. The first version of the app was released in August 2011 and faced some mixed reviews from Apple users on the App Store, saying it negatively affected battery life. The company spent the last six months working on improving the app and released 2.0 today.

A search of the Mac App Store reveals that there aren’t many other apps that do what Retickr does. News Ticker for Mac comes close, but just scrolls headlines across your desktop, and it costs 99 cents (Retickr is free for the foreseeable future). No such extension is available for Chrome, and the closest match for Firefox is RSS Ticker, an add-on that displays headlines from your bookmarked sites in your bookmark toolbar.

Now, the company has raised a first round of institutional funding from the same venture capital firm the gave it its seed round, a small incubator in Tennessee called Lamp Post Group. Retickr hopes to use the money to improve upon its product and expand its team.

Retickr is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee and has a team of six employees. It has raised a total of around $1.65 million in funding.

Filed under: deals


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