• Attributor

  Participated · Equity · Jun 2010

  Attributor provides a solution that continuously monitors the Web for copies of content and removes those that violate publishers’ anti-piracy policies. The company’s core product helps publishers stop piracy by locating and removing infringing copies. It closed a $3.2M financing round to advance its technology. Investors in the round include existing backers Sigma Partners, JAFCO Ventures and Selby Venture Partners. The new capital will be used to expand the company’s infrastructure and continue product development. Attributor plans to use these improvements to address the growing needs of book, newspaper and magazine publishers around the world. Attributor provides a service that ingests publishers’ content and scans the Web to identify copied material, report how much is copied, and show whether pages link back to the original. The system indexes text at scale (about 100 million pages per day, 15 billion pages total to date) and currently handles text matching; images are in beta and video matching was slated for beta the following year. The company highlights which copying sites are ad-supported and which ad networks drive revenue, enabling publishers to target remedies (from asking for links to pressuring ad networks). Attributor had been testing its enterprise product with Reuters and AP for roughly six months before the enterprise launch, and it demonstrated the product to publishers. Pricing for the enterprise service ranges from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year; a limited self-serve product for smaller publishers and bloggers was planned at roughly $6–$7 per month. The company uses empirical studies (lyrics, recipes, and publisher posts) to quantify copying, linking rates, and ad support across the Web.

• Pandora

  Participated · Equity · Jul 2009

  Pandora operates a music service built on its radio heritage and has launched an on-demand tier, Pandora Premium, to compete with Spotify and Apple Music. The company reported $316 million in revenue for the quarter and an EPS loss of $0.24, slightly better than expectations. Total subscribers grew 20% year‑over‑year to 4.71 million in Q1 2017, with 500,000 trial starts of Pandora Premium (80% from upsells), while active listeners fell to 76.7 million and total listener hours slipped to 5.21 billion. Pandora also generates ticketing revenue from its Ticketfly acquisition ($27.8 million in the quarter, up 25% year‑over‑year). The company has laid off about 7% of its workforce and is undertaking a strategic review of whether to pursue a sale. Management says it needs a stronger balance sheet to invest in product and marketing as it transitions to on‑demand streaming. Pandora operates a personalized, ad-supported internet radio service with a freemium model that limits free listening to 40 hours per month before a $1 upsell. The company passed 50 million users in April (up from 40 million the previous December) and has pushed mobile as a core growth channel, including launching an iPad app. Mobile usage is expected to accelerate with the iPhone 4.0 OS allowing background playback, which will increase streaming volume and royalty costs but also ad inventory. Pandora has signed distribution deals with device makers and car companies to extend reach. After a negotiated compromise on Internet streaming rates with webcasters, artists, and record labels, plus the freemium model and a recovering ad market, the company moved from near-death to profitability within a few months. The company said the new funding will be used to fuel growth and invest in additional resources. Pandora Media is a personalized Internet radio and music discovery service offering access on PCs, in the home, and on mobile devices. The company distributes its service through partnerships with AT&T, Apple, RIM and Sprint. Pandora is based in Oakland, CA, and maintains sales offices in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Bridge Bank's Technology Banking Division has established a $10m line of credit to provide working capital for continued growth. CEO Joe Kennedy said the relationship will increase Pandora’s financial flexibility and resources to enhance ongoing growth. The announced facility is a credit line (debt) rather than an equity investment. Pandora is an Internet streaming radio service and one of the more popular offerings in the space. The company recently closed a new $35 million financing round led by Greylock Partners. Greylock partner David Sze will join Pandora’s board. Pandora says the new funds will be used toward continued growth and development. The company reported its best quarter in ad sales and expects to be profitable by next year. Prior to this round Pandora had raised slightly over $20 million, with its last financing in 2005.

• SugarSync

  Participated · Equity · Mar 2006

  SugarSync is a subscription-based file-syncing service that lets users keep photos, documents, and other files automatically updated across multiple devices—including PCs, Macs, iPhones, and Windows Mobile phones—and accessible via the cloud. Most of the 20,000 customers acquired since its launch in March are on the $50-per-year plan, implying roughly a $1 million annual revenue run rate. Pricing tiers span from $25 to $250 per year, positioning the product for both light and heavy users. The company targets consumers who operate in mixed device ecosystems, differentiating itself from more platform-specific offerings like Apple’s MobileMe and Microsoft’s emerging Live Mesh. Funds are being directed toward marketing expansion and continued product development to strengthen its competitive edge. With major platform owners still refining their own solutions, SugarSync aims to capture market share early and potentially become an attractive acquisition target. The service’s flexible, device-agnostic approach is core to its value proposition in the rapidly growing cloud-sync market.

No current team members are available.