The Venture Codex

Led · Seed · Jul 2012

Tout'd is a digital word-of-mouth social media platform and referral engine that enables private Q&A recommendations among users. The service is available on desktop and mobile, forwards questions to friends, looks for previously answered similar recommendations, and sends weekly emails summarizing recent questions. It uses Facebook as a login mechanism but emphasizes privacy and promises not to post to users' walls without permission. The company was founded by Wall Street veterans Rob Morelli, Saro Cutri, and TechStars 2007 alumnus Arron Kallenberg and launched last month. Tout'd closed a $1.4 million seed round led by Warner Hill Angels, with participation from the founders and 25 third-party investors. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate growth, enhance the user experience, and further develop the platform interface and functionality. Because much of the activity on the service happens in private, the article notes it is hard to gauge the service's current popularity.