Passenger provides a Software-as-a-Service private online community platform that combines social networking, collaboration, media, research and analytics into a single interface. Its communities are targeted at marketers and social brands and the company counts clients such as JC Penney, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz and Fox. Passenger was founded in 2005 and operates offices in Los Angeles, Palo Alto and New York City. The company said the new capital will support new product development, marketing efforts and sales as it enhances its platform and expands into new markets. In conjunction with the funding, Passenger appointed Dr. Bahram Nour-Omid as CEO and Steve Howe as Chairman. Dr. Nour-Omid is a partner at Shelter Capital Partners and brings prior product and leadership experience, including roles at Scopus Technology and StudioXchange. Passenger provides a suite of SaaS tools that let clients set up live sessions where users engage with brand representatives, plus Discussions, Polls, Activities, Message Centers for file exchange, dashboards, and a social network. Clients pay Passenger to build and manage these branded networks and recruit users via email invitations or banner ads. Notable clients include ABC, Coca-Cola, and Sara Lee; ABC Studios used Passenger to gather viewer opinions on shows such as Ugly Betty and Lost. The company charges clients to set up and run these engagement networks. Passenger recently completed a Series B and earlier Series A financing, bringing outside investment to support its operations and product growth. The article does not report revenue or user-count metrics.

Total raised

$16M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Oct 2010