Contact Information: For more information contact: Kim Hughes Austin Ventures 512.657.7222 Stephanie Liu MojoPages.com 858.436.7048 x1002
MojoPages Raises $5M in Series A Funding From Austin Ventures
Investment to Accelerate Roll Out of Media Partner Distribution, Further Media Partner Acquisitions and Upcoming New Product Release
| Source: Austin Ventures; MojoPages
SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - June 30, 2009) - MojoPages (http://mojopages.com), a next
generation local search solution, today announced it has raised $5
million in a Series A financing led by Austin Ventures. MojoPages will use
the funds to expand its core offering, a private-labeled local search
solution for media properties, to attract new partners and to develop its
position as a leader in the expanding local search market.
"MojoPages has developed a differentiated solution which enables local
media companies to extend their brands into the most attractive and
profitable online advertising segment -- local search," said Mike Dodd,
Venture Partner at Austin Ventures and MojoPages board member. "We
were impressed at the number and caliber of media partners the company was
able to put under contract over the last six months which is a strong
indicator of the value in their offering."
MojoPages was founded over two years ago with the intention of helping
friends, family and neighbors find the best local businesses online. The
company has developed a directory with over 15 million local merchants,
reviews and ratings from its community and aggregated from across the web,
and an innovative interface with the latest social networking features.
MojoPages' unique offering is a private-label search directory linked to
the home pages of media partners such as local newspapers, TV and radio
stations.
"Partnering with MojoPages was a great decision for our business! We are
now able to provide more complete content for our users and have also
enjoyed a dramatic increase in site traffic and revenue," said Gina Landau,
Vice President and General Manager of KFMB in San Diego.
By partnering with local media companies, MojoPages allows consumers to
find the most relevant and highest rated local businesses. MojoPages'
embedded directory benefits local media properties through additional
content, substantial increase in traffic, a new channel for revenue and an
enhanced consumer experience on the web. There are currently more than
1,000 sites under contract from major media brands and conglomerates, such
as Belo Corp., KFMB (CBS8), Salem Web Network and Triton Digital.
"We have an innovative solution for our local media partners to easily
access the large and rapidly growing online local search market. This
financing gives us the resources to build on our initial momentum with our
partners and evolve our offering to the next level. We are very excited to
release the next version of our solution which is slated for September
2009," said Jon Carder, founder and CEO of MojoPages.com. "And we are
thrilled to have Austin Ventures on board as we continue to innovate and
grow."
About Austin Ventures
Austin Ventures ("AV") has worked with talented entrepreneurs to build
valuable companies for nearly twenty-five years. With $3.9 billion under
management, AV is the most active venture capital and growth equity firm in
Texas and one of the most established in the nation. With an investment
focus on business services and supply chain, financial services, media and
information services, software and Internet, and Texas special situations,
AV invests at all stages of company development, from $100,000 in "planned
experiments" in early stage ideas to $100+ million investments in expansion
rounds, minority recapitalizations, and buyouts of lower middle market
growth companies. AV's strategy is to partner with talented executives and
entrepreneurs through its CEO-in-Residence and Entrepreneur-in-Residence
programs. Visit austinventures.com for more information.
About MojoPages.com
MojoPages.com is a next generation local search solution which private
labels its technology for media websites, such as local newspapers, TV and
radio stations. The company's solution includes a directory of over 15
million domestic merchants that are ranked based on their reviews and
ratings so that the best businesses rise to the top of search
results. This enables its partners to help their audience easily locate
the best local businesses. To date, MojoPages has contracted with more
than 1,000 partner sites in a number of the largest U.S. cities with some
of the best known media brands and conglomerates, such as Belo Corp., KFMB
(CBS8), Salem Web Network, and Triton Digital. MojoPages is headquartered
in Solana Beach, California. Visit http://mojopages.com for more
information.