Twitter VC Funding Done, Raises $15M
I spent most of the day digging up more information on Twitter and its new round of funding that I reported last night. The update is that Twitter reached an agreement with investors today to raise $15 million in funding at around $80 million pre-money valuation. A new investor is leading the round with existing investor Union Square Ventures also participating. With this round, the company will have raised a little over $20 million in VC backing thus far.
Official news of the deal is eventually going to percolate out, and hopefully I will be able to nail down the specifics on who is the lead investor. Valleywag and Silicon Alley Insider had mentioned Spark Capital as a potential investor. Meanwhile, I am told that Charles River Ventures, after fighting a bit, is now out of the race. The news of new funding comes at a time when Twitter is dealing with a whole slew of scaling and infrastructure issues. Today, the folks there almost threw their proverbial hands up in despair.
Update: Twitter the great facilitator of e-narcissism also can’t keep secrets. As Michael Arrington points out, two tweets from two parties add fuel to the rumors of Spark being the mystery investor in the San Francisco company.
$80 MM pre-money – wow! Congrats to the team.
So what is Twitter’s plan to make money? Investors can’t just be throwing money into a hole? Can they? Waiting for a buyer?
I would sell my home and cash my pension & 401k & savings and put it all towards an investment in Twitter valued at 80million. I think they are more valuable than Facebook. Perhaps not intrinsically but there is a lot of potential to be THE evolved form of communication in 5 years.
Great post OM (as always),
I use and recommend Twitter, it’s superb! I just hope that this investment is a good fit and that they continue to develop the product.
I am also really looking forward to seeing how Twitter plan to monetize all those eyeballs.
Thanks again Om!
Jim Connolly http://www.thetechnewsblog.com
CRV is an existing investor in Twitter. http://www.crv.com/portfolio
So they now value Twitter at $95MM (post money), meaning that to create an exit for the latest investors would mean that they have to build a Billion dollar company around the ability to send short messages?
I could be very wrong but this looks more like a neat trick and a good story vs. a real company.
Om, The downtime probably cost them $120MM in valuation. No downtime and they would be the hottest communication platform start-up going right now and would easily have been able to grab a $200MM valuation. The W2.0 crowd penchant for cheap and fast is starting to show its roots.
So ironic! Charles River Ventures DID own twitter at one point, back when it was a project of Odeo. They didn’t want anything to do with it, thought was worthless, and let Evan Williams buy them out for about what they put in. A classic example of VC Fail.
Can someone, anyone, explain their business model to me? It looks like there isn’t one, yet they managed to pull $15 mil in financing?
When Twitter is down, try Zannel
This is ridiculous.
What do we have: - No working system, to be more specific: A proven unability to actually deliver a working system. - No business model. - No revenue whatsoever. - Huge costs for sending short messages (which will probably be that high that paying for them with ads won’t work) - A couple dozen clones.
Sorry, I don’t get it.
inflation, recession, yet the .com nonsense 2.0 days continue. Amazing. Hopefully, for the sake of the LP’s in the VC funds which invested in Twitter, Twitter will manage to pull a Mark Cuban-like sale to a stupid acquierer…hey, like maybe Yahoo!
Its amazing Twitter can pull off this type financing……….good luck
[...] Today was a very bad day for Twitter. Yes, it was down on and off throughout the afternoon, but that is really a given at this point. The bigger news was its admission that it had no idea what the problem was that was causing its downtime. The service has reason to smile tonight through as its closed its second round of funding, according to GigaOM. [...]
[...] twitter raides $15M [...]
[...] has some slightly vague, but still convincing news confirming the recent rumor of Twitter’s new VC funding round. Details aren’t all fleshed out yet, but it seems that the existing investor, Union Square [...]
[...] has closed their third round of financing, says Om Malik. He pegs it at a $15 million raise at around an $80 million valuation, but doesn’t know the [...]
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[...] I saw Om Malik tweet that Twitter made their Series B funding round ($15 million), my reaction was fairly simple: ok, they’ve got money. But do they have a plan [...]
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[...] Twitter has closed a $15 million round on a $80 million valuation according to GigaOm. [...]
[...] Malik made an unofficial claim that Twitter closed a $15 million Series-B round of financing yesterday. Michael Arrington thinks the rumor is true and believes the lead [...]
[...] service Twitter has reportedly closed a $15 million Series B funding round, according to Om Malik of GigaOM. Malik estimates it will bring the company’s valuation to about $80 million, and that the [...]
[...] reports that Twitter has completed a new round of venture capital funding. “The update is that [...]
[...] has received $15 million in venture funding, according to Om Malik. Now the fun really begins: Twitter needs to change its architecture on the [...]
[...] OM Malik sigue buscando saber quien es el lead investor en la nueva ronda de Twitter por un total de u$s15 millones y que le da una valuación pre-money de u$s80 millones. [...]
[...] reactii – aici [...]
[...] Om Malik floats the Rumor that Twitter has finally closed their latest round of funding, placing the… Meanwhile, The Inquisitr floats another rumor that Twitter wanted a $200 million valuation. [...]
[...] to an article from GigaOM, it appears that both Union Square Ventures, and Spark Capital are both involved in the deal. [...]
[...] Om Malik (Twitter VC Funding Done. Raises $15 MM) hat Twitter jetzt eine erneute Finanzierungsrunde abgeschlossen und $15 mio eingesackt, insgesamt [...]
[...] million Twitter Twitter scores another $15 million, and it’s worth around $80 million.So let me get this straight… A Web app with no business model that basically blogs short entries [...]
[...] Malik is reporting that Twitter has finally closed a $15 million round pegging its pre-money valuation at $80 million. [...]
[...] GigaOM: Twitter VC Funding Done. Raises $15 MM [...]
[...] self-described “interesting Web thing that matters to the world,“ you are apparently out seeking millions more in venture capital funding so that perhaps you WILL be able to succeed in “long-term architecture work to make Twitter a [...]
[...] Sources: [1] GigaOM: Twitter VC Funding Done. Raises $15 MM by Om Malik [2] TechCrunch: Highly Likely Rumor: [...]
[...] to suffer outages, users will leave the service. What Twitter needs to do now is take that $15 million in new funding and focus it all on making the service stable. Only when it’s working flawlessly can the [...]
[...] und Serverprobleme müssen nämlich dringend gelöst werden. Alles weitere zum Twitter-Deal bei Gigaom und Valleywag. Ein Problem bleibt aber – das fehlende Geschäftsmodell: The company still [...]
[...] It’s bad. really-really bad. But hey, at least they are honest. And the $15 million they’ve just picked up should be enough to hire someone who actually knows how to get out of this [...]
[...] hinzuweisen und Gutscheine über seinen Twitterfeed verteilt. Auch die Tatsache das Twitter weitere 15 Mill. $ an Venture Capital eingesackt hat zeigen, dass Twitter von seiner zukunftsträchtigen Vision gut leben [...]
[...] raises another $15 million. Om Malik over at GigaOm reports that Twitter has raised a new round of funding, bringing the total valuation to $80 [...]
[...] versus twitter love. It’s likely they will get these issues resolved, especially with the rumors going around this week of their additional round of funding. If done well, this could be a great [...]
[...] GigaOM berichtet, konnte Twitter seine Investoren zu einer neuen Finanzierungsrunde bewegen, die 15 Millionen Dollar [...]
[...] the round with existing investor Union Square Ventures also participating. (Iwantmedia 5/22, http://gigaom.com/2008/05/21/twitter-series-b-funding-done-raises-15-mm [...]
[...] nonsense. Twitter raised $15 million last year which should be more than enough to defend itself. Assuming of course it hasn’t [...]
[...] recibe 15 millones de euros de inverisón, lo que le pone en 20 millones de dólares los que ha recibido [...]
[...] it doesn’t seem to matter much. This week, Twitter raised a cool $15 million (according to a report in GigaOm). The valuation? $80 [...]
[...] it doesn’t seem to matter much. This week, Twitter raised a cool $15 million (according to a report in GigaOm). The valuation? $80 [...]
[...] things Twitter, this has been one of the most anticipated and hotly discussed fundings in a while: Om reports that after much jostling, the micro-blogging/messaging company has nailed down a $15 [...]
[...] Weitere Infos hierzu gibt es bei gigaom.com [...]
[...] gestern bekannt wurde, hat Twitter eine weitere Finanzierungsrunde hinter sich gebracht und 15 Millionen Dollar an frischem Kapital eingesammelt. Dass der [...]
[...] has some slightly vague, but still convincing news confirming the recent rumor of Twitter’s new VC funding round. Details aren’t all fleshed out yet, but it seems that the existing investor, Union Square [...]
[...] one bright spot: Twitter apparently scored a new $15 million round of VC [...]
[...] Giaom y [...]
[...] Twitter Series B Funding: Done. Raises $15 MM – I spent most of the day digging up more information on Twitter and its Series B round of funding that I reported last night. The update is that Twitter reached an agreement with investors today to raise $15 million in funding at around … [...]
[...] to suffer outages, users will leave the service. What Twitter needs to do now is take that $15 million in new funding and focus it all on making the service stable. Only when it’s working flawlessly can the [...]
[...] site Twitter has managed to secure US $15 million dollars in VC funding as reported by tech blog GigaOm, leaving them with a valuation of US $80 million dollars. This comes at an interesting time for the [...]
[...] behind the service may not have a business model, but it surely has the buzz. Whether it is their new round of funding or their inability to keep the service running – the blog world loves to twitter about [...]
[...] is good news for Twitter, however. According to Om Malik’s GigaOM blog, the startup has just received another $15 million in VC money. Unfortunately it’s only [...]
[...] thought of a way Twitter can solve all of their scaling issues, as well as put a chunk of that $15 million in funding to good use. A competition, similar to Netflix’ [...]
[...] behind the service may not have a business model, but it surely has the buzz. Whether it is their new round of funding or their inability to keep the service running — the blog world loves to twitter about [...]
[...] muestran su descontento pero a su vez el apoyo. La gente se pregunta cada vez más, a donde van las millonadas inversiones que ellos [...]
[...] fact that Om Malik broke the news that they closed their Series B round of $15 million, I’m not impressed. [...]
[...] has been a rough stretch for Twitter. Despite another influx of funding, continued downtime and issues with terms of service policies served as a final straw from some [...]
[...] It’s the darling of the blogosphere. It’s the subject of debate. And to its investors, it’s now worth $80 million. [...]
[...] be able to turn things around, but I sure hope they do. I really love Twitter. Maybe the $15 million in additional funding that they recently secured will help. addthis_pub = ‘mastermaq’;addthis_logo = [...]
[...] other news, there is still no final word on the rumored to be finalized Twitter funding (which GigaOM first reported), but a little birdie tells us we’ll hear something soon. Tags: co:Twitter [...]
[...] Recent suggestions that they just scored $15 Million in additional VC funding got me thinking – are these Venture Capitalists crazy or is there something in this thing called Twitter? [...]
[...] there is no other word from Twitter finalising their funding. Although there has been rumours but there is no final word from them. [...]
[...] has experienced some considerable technical growing pains. Though it seems they’ve just raised $20 in round B funding, which should go some way to solving these problems before it makes a serious impact on user [...]
[...] para mas down que up un grupo de usuarios les invitan Pizza sin olvidar que han recibido una jugosa inyección de dinero. A pesar de todo, sus adictos usuarios aún seguimos usando este servicio. (A pesar que aún no es [...]
[...] Twitter a terminé un tour de table qui a levé 15 millions de dollars, ce qui amène sa valeur à 80 millions de dollars, a affirmé GigaOm. [...]
[...] Recent suggestions that they just scored Million in additional VC funding got me thinking – are these Venture Capitalists crazy or is there something in this thing called Twitter? [...]
[...] Twitter VC Funding Done, Raises $15M [...]
[...] Om has the scoop on Twitter’s latest funding round. It was no coincidence that I just started my Twitter experiment, as the company closed on a $15MM round yesterday that Om is reporting was raised at an $80MM pre-money valuation. The company had reportedly raised $5MM previously. The round is being shared by new and previous investors including Union Square Ventures. I hope the new capital means less of this: [...]
[...] user base (compared to both Digg and Facebook) is small, Twitter has benefitted (as indicated by healthy funding) from a tornado of conversation around their service. It appears that users of Twitter are much [...]
[...] Bijan Sabet of Spark Capital and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) have announced that they have joined Twitter’s Board. It was not revealed before today that Jeff Bezos was an investor in Twitter’s rumored $15 million third round of funding [GigaOm]. [...]
[...] (as well as CEO of Amazon). How much have they raised exactly? They haven’t said but Om Malik previously speculated that the amount was $15 [...]
[...] Malik unearthed the rumor of this round of funding last month and noted that Spark Capital was believed to be the lead [...]
[...] The amount of the investment was not disclosed but since the rumors of a new funding round began several weeks ago, it’s been reported that Twitter’s series B raised $15 million. [...]
[...] Malik unearthed the rumor of this round of funding last month and noted that Spark Capital was believed to be the lead [...]
[...] hat Twitter eine zweite Finanzierungsrunde über 15 Millionen US Dollar erhalten, und das in einer Zeit, in der der Service immer wieder [...]
[...] at Scooters add to anyone’s day? Then one day I made “time” for Twitter! And it looks like Amazon has made an 15 million dollars worth of time for Twitter. With this said, what does Twitter offer? Why would Amazon invest in a micro blogging service? [...]
[...] pur breve storia. Ha da poco ricevuto un cospicuo finanziamento a tritolo di capitale di rischio http://gigaom.com/2008/05/21/twitter-series-b-funding-done-raises-15-mm/ e contemporaneamente fronteggia la spinta di alcuni dei suoi principali e più influenti utenti ad [...]
[...] countless startups are still getting funded by investors without financial business models that are sound, proven, or even make sense. Even a couple of my colleagues have questionable [...]
[...] did indeed acquire Summize today, but at first I was a little confused. Twitter just received $15 million and needs to ramp up quickly. There’s a team of 6 guys at Summize that just finished a 20 [...]
[...] Firmen bereits im Juni getroffen hatten, wurde ein Deal dieser Art erwartet, besonders nachdem bekannt wurde, dass Twitter selbst eine Finanzspritze in Höhe von 15 Millionen Dollar erhalten [...]
[...] What else, besides $20 million dollars, do you need to recruit quality programmers to a startup in SF? Topical Tags:public [...]
[...] that you’ll only keep your shares if the company gets support from the venture community. They get $15 million. You buy more [...]
[...] Om says that the Twitter funding round is done, even though the company’s actual service has become increasingly sporadic. $15m with an $80m [...]
[...] it be a new business plan? A way for Twitter to generate revenue and justify the private equity it’s received. Could it be a corporate version of Twitter (a la Yammer) where it could make [...]
[...] the $20 million in VC funding, there is bound to be an element feeling a little twitchy at the [...]
[...] blurry line between an application that has been made for fun to just help people and one that gets 10’s of millions of dollars in investment – both of them might have no business model or idea on how to monetize their [...]
[...] and down-round term sheets are the norm, one can only wonder: how much is enough? According to GigaOM, Twitter has taken down a little over $20M in funding thus far. When will the next [...]
[...] Om reported on May 21that Twitter had finally got hold of its $15 million second round, with a valuation said to be $80 million. Past backer USV is said to have contributed, as well as an unnamed main investor rumoured to be Spark Capital of Boston. [...]
[...] Twitter needs to make money. They can’t continue on venture capital for much longer. People will only throw money at a business opportunity that doesn’t make any [...]
[...] company has so far raised $20 million, with $15 million coming in June 2008. New investors Spark Capital and Bezos Expedition joined previous investors Union Square [...]
[...] is a company that raised $15-million in May 2008, and apparently looking to raise another [...]
[...] is a company that raised $15-million in May 2008, and it’s now apparently looking to raise another [...]
[...] Die in das 2006 gegründete und heute 29 Mitarbeiter zählende Startup aus San Francisco insgesamt investierte Summe übersteigt damit die [...]
[...] outside the area of my expertise, but I know it’s probably a little bit easier when you’ve got $15M up your sleeve, a group of patient investors and a gargantuan user base. This entry was written [...]
[...] of CNET by CBS for $1.8 billion or Google’s purchase of YouTube last year for 1.6 billion. Om Malik broke the Twitter Venture Capital Story [...]
[...] speculative, but I think Twitter is going to be making some purchases. They’ve got a truckload of funding, with little to spend it on. They openly stated in article about premium accounts, that they were [...]
[...] equity firm Insight Venture Partners are said to be the new investors in the micromessaging site. Spark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners, who have previously invested in the San Francisco, Calif.-based [...]
[...] new VC funding http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_11701745 Twitter VC Funding Done, Raises $15M http://gigaom.com/2008/05/21/twitter-series-b-funding-done-raises-15-mm/References [...]