Viewpoints Press Release to Announce Series A Round
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Viewpoints.com Closes $5 Million "Series A" Financing
New Company Receives Commitments From Leading Venture Capitalists,
Successful CEOs and the Illinois Innovation Accelerator (i2a) Fund
CHICAGO, IL – (June 18, 2007) – Viewpoints.com, a new ratings and reviews Web site that draws upon personal experiences of its user community to help consumers make smarter more informed purchase decisions, today announced it has closed its "Series A" round of corporate financing. The investor group includes Chicago area venture capitalists, successful CEOs and the Illinois Innovation Accelerator (i2A) Fund, a new public/private venture capital fund. i2A's investment, its first, brings to $5 million the total amount of first-round capital raised by Viewpoints.com.
In addition to the i2A investment, other "Series A" investors in Viewpoints.com include Joe Mansueto, founder & CEO of Morningstar Inc.; Michael Alter, president of The Alter Group; Matt McCall, co-founder and managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson & Portage Venture Partners; Lon Chow, general partner with Apex Venture Partners; and J.B. Pritzker, founder and partner of New World Ventures and CEO of The Pritzker Group.
The i2a Fund is a cooperative effort of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC), and the Illinois Institute of Technology, along with a number of individual and institutional investors. The Fund, which is administered by the CEC, seeks to assist promising startup companies at seed stage, typically the most difficult time for outside investment.
"Viewpoints.com is proud to be the very first company to benefit from the i2a Fund. We look forward to the time when our venture not only benefits our investors, but also serves as a model for other entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their companies in the state of Illinois and the City of Chicago," said Matt Moog, founder and CEO of Viewpoints.com. "Chicago and the State of Illinois have a strong and active technology community. We intend to take advantage of these assets as we develop our company."
The founding team at Viewpoints has prior experience as senior executives at CoolSavings/Q Interactive and Orbitz, two successful Chicago area Internet companies. "Although Silicon Valley gets all the attention, Chicago is an excellent city to start a new Internet company," noted Moog. "With leading companies such as Orbitz, Career Builder, OptionsExpress, ComScore, and FeedBurner, Chicago
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Viewpoints.com Closes $5 Million "Series A" Financing—Page 2
has proven that we have the technology talent, management depth and funding resources to create category leading world class companies."
"Viewpoints.com benefits from both an experienced executive team and a practical business idea
that addresses the evolving nature of the Internet. This strong combination made it an attractive choice as
one of the i2a Fund's first investments," said J.B. Pritzker, who in addition to his roles with New World Ventures and The Pritzker Group, serves as chairman of the i2a Investment Committee and recently joined Viewpoint.com's board of directors. "It is our goal at the i2a Fund to help four to six companies per year that exhibit the same opportunity for success."
"Chicago is blessed with a strong and vibrant entrepreneurial spirit. The number of early stage technology companies in our area attest to the resurging interest in technology as the catalyst for the U.S. economy," stated David Weinstein, president of the CEC. "Viewpoints.com is indicative of the great ideas coming from our area. Viewpoints also benefits from a highly experienced management team and top-notch outside advisors."
Added McCall of Draper Fisher Jurvetson & Portage Venture Partners, "We believe Viewpoints.com has combined several fast-growing Internet trends, online reviews and Web-based communities, into a powerful business concept. Its early success will give it a firm foundation as it continues to execute its development plans."
About Viewpoints.com:
Founded in 2007, Viewpoints is a new ratings and reviews Web site that draws upon personal experiences of its user community to help consumers make smarter more informed purchase decisions. The site allows people to post reviews across the most comprehensive range of categories of any reviews site, from movies to restaurants, education to health care, travel and hundreds of other categories in between. Viewpoints.com taps into the need for people to share their personal experiences, to voice their opinions, to show others the way, and to share insight gained from personal experience. Best of all, Viewpoints provides deep profile of every reviewer, enabling readers to not only find others with similar interests, but also rate the quality of the reviews and reviewers . Viewpoints.com, a privately-held company, is headquartered in Chicago.
Viewpoints. Let's Review.
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