ShareThis got a major vote of confidence from a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Draper Fisher Jurvetson, one of the Valley's top VC firms, agreed to invest $15 million into the Cincinnati-based start-up. ShareThis has a tool that allows online users to share content with the click of a button. The technology allows people to select who they want to share the content with and then send it directly from the page by e-mail, instant messaging, Facebook, or a mobile device. ShareThis also consolidates address books, communities, and friends lists in one place so that so its users can send, post, bookmark, rate, recommend and tag the content.
ShareThis raised $6 million in venture funding last year, with Cincinnati VC firms Blue Chip Venture Company and Queen City Angels participating. Tim Schigel led Blue Chip's investment in ShareThis and ultimately left that firm to join ShareThis as CEO. "There is clearly strong demand to simplify the act of sharing on the Web," Schigel says. "The funding enables us to pursue market opportunities more aggressively."
ShareThis is expanding and looking to hire those skilled at product management, development, business development, quality assurance and marketing, says J. Brian Kropp, a senior VP. ShareThis says it is growing at a 50 percent clip per month.
Writer: David Holthaus
Source: J. Brian Kropp, ShareThis
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