Posts Tagged ‘DC’
Monday, June 13th, 2011
 WASHINGTON, DC -A DC Facebook agency says the popular social network a good tool for research as well as advertising for politicians, providing insights about the issues people care about and that have the most motivating power.
SocialCode, a full-service Facebook agency and subsidiary of The Washington Post Company, disclosed results from a new Republican political message study conducted on Facebook. The study was designed to demonstrate how the world’s largest social networking platform, when used correctly, can be a powerful research tool for politicians and brands.
“We believe this message test shows just how effective Facebook is as both an advertising and research platform for brands and politicians,” said Laura O’Shaughnessy, general manager at SocialCode. “Campaigns like this on Facebook give advertisers powerful insights into specific audiences and messages and allow advertisers to quickly understand what is resonating with a targeted group.”
SocialCode conducted a randomized campaign among Facebook users in Iowa and New Hampshire to gauge the power of specific messages for seven potential contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. Between May 23 and June 4, Facebook users in these critical early voting states were asked to show support by clicking “Like” in response to randomly displayed image combinations of seven declared or prospective candidates (or a GOP elephant) with five common Republican messages.
TOP FINDINGS INCLUDE:
- On every message former Alaska governor Sarah Palin received the highest “Like” rate in both New Hampshire and Iowa;
- “Values” rank fourth of the five-item message list across candidates, but it’s a major driver for Palin, who remains a shadow candidate. For Palin, the 2008 GOP vice-presidential nominee, the values-oriented message performs significantly better than does a focus on the economy;
- Palin is the only one of the seven potential candidates where economic messaging scores last;
- Across candidates the most resonant GOP message is to tack against the president: of five common GOP themes for winning back the White House in 2012, a straight-ahead anti-Obama message tested best;
- While President Obama’s re-election hopes may hinge on the fate of the nation’s struggling economy, from a pure policy standpoint it is the president’s health care overhaul that generates the sharpest opposition in this online message test;
- While some GOP strategists see Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health plan as his Achilles’ heel in the nomination fight, an “anti-ObamaCare” message performs nearly as well for the former governor as does an economic one, the one he’s made the centerpiece of this bid for the GOP nod;
- Romney and health care combination performed better online than did a combination of health care and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.
Rank order of 2012 GOP messages (by “Like” rate)
| Message |
|
Overall |
|
Iowa |
|
New Hampshire |
|
| Anti-Obama |
|
26% |
|
24% |
|
27% |
|
| Healthcare |
|
21% |
|
23% |
|
20% |
|
| Economy |
|
18% |
|
19% |
|
17% |
|
| Values |
|
17% |
|
17% |
|
18% |
|
| National security |
|
17% |
|
17% |
|
18% |
|
- By State – in Iowa, the health care message rivals the basic anti-Obama meme, but in New Hampshire, the health care message fails to resonate as clearly;
- By Age – the economy is a stronger message for younger adults in Iowa and New Hampshire than it is for those aged 30 and up. Across the two states, it’s particularly important for those aged 25 to 29. Values-based and national security messages are the lowest performers across all age groups;
- By Gender – the anti-Obama message resonates far better with men than it does with women.
“If the 2008 campaign proved one thing, it’s that social media works when it comes to reaching voters who are researching issues online, reading blogs and debating issues with friends on Facebook,” continued O’Shaughnessy. “SocialCode’s methodology is focused on getting the exact right ads in front of users, allowing politicians and brands to tailor messages to maximize positive response among different segments of the population.”
SocialCode, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company, is a full-service Facebook agency. SocialCode’s unique tools are built on a research engine that offers analytics and information for advertisers that far surpasses what they could get anywhere else. With advanced quantitative methods, SocialCode specializes in building targeted communities, engaging those audiences and monetizing potential customers all while conducting research to inform strategy.
Tags: 2012 elections, anti-Obama sentiment, DC, economy, Facebook agency, Facebook as political tool, Facebook poliitical research, GOP themes, healthcare bill, Iowa, Mitt Romney, national security concerns, New Hampshire, ObamaCare, Sarah Palin, Social Code, social networking and 2012 elections, values, Washington
Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, Potomac, Studies, surveys, reports, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
 The Angel Venture Forum – D.C. (AVF), a group of investors, leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals in the Mid-Atlantic region, has launched a year-long networking and education programs designed to discover and develop early stage companies in the Washington metropolitan area. It is the first program of its kind in Washington D.C., with a consortium of individual investors from across the region seeking entrepreneurs who are in the midst of building their businesses.
The application process opened on May 1. All high- and low-tech early stage, as well as expansion stage, companies seeking up to $3 million in capital are encouraged to apply to participate.
The application deadline is August 1, 2011. All companies seeking angel funding or investor mentors should submit a business proposal online at: www.angelventureforum.com/id20.html and click Submit Application.
AVF-D.C. features five months of education and training programs for every applicant that applies. There are no membership fees – only a $150 application fee for companies is required, which includes unlimited access to all AVF education and training sessions, as well as direct feedback from experienced investors. The program formally kicks off July 12, with the AVF Academy, a day-long education, training and networking session that prepares entrepreneurs on how to most effectively find and work with angel investors.
The program culminates with a select number of companies presenting their business plans to accredited private investors on October 18 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Unique Program
The Angel Venture Forum provides a unique, all-in-one education, networking and training program that screens, prepares and grooms best-of-class entrepreneurs for accredited investors over a five month period prior to the Forum.
Fifty semi-finalists will be selected from an expected pool of 150 company applications by a panel of active angel investors after a day of live presentations by the companies on September 8. Ultimately, 30 companies will be selected and groomed to further present their company and to network at the Angel Venture Forum on October 18.
According to Ryan Meinzer, founder and CEO of PlaySay.com, a language learning technology, AVF provided him with real world guidance on how to court investors. “Working with AVF, I learned investors are interested in traction, the product’s appeal, an experienced team and social proof,” says Meinzer.
“This helped us to effectively scale with the help of trusted advisors.” The company now employs five people, including programmers and a linguistic specialist, product people and metric specialists. One day this month, PlaySay saw more than 500 users sign up for their service.
Rooted in Success
Valerie Gaydos, angel investor, founder of Capital Growth, and former Director of the Baltimore Technology Council, ran the Angel Venture Fair in Philadelphia (no affiliation) for the past six years, making it one of the most prolific angel venture networking programs on the East Coast. Since its founding in 1998, more than $30 million has been raised by emerging growth companies in first round and follow-on capital.
When asked about her change in venue from Philadelphia to D.C., Gaydos said she was approached by several colleagues in the angel community about bringing her network to Washington D.C.
“It became apparent that nothing like this exists in the greater Washington, D.C. market,” says Gaydos. “There is a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem, many active angel investors groups, several private investors and many valuable supporting organizations, but there is no organization with the scale and scope of resources to bring many of these interest groups together in one place in this sort of way.”
Treating Entrepreneurs with Respect
Growing a start-up into a scalable business takes time, money and resources. While the Internet provides access to a wealth of information, experts who have grown successful companies point out that access to and engagement with professionals who have the experience and expertise to scale a business is critical.
Lenard J. Harac, PhD, a partner of the Angel Venture Forum, and a consultant who shows small businesses how to build successful enterprises, says the value of this program extends well beyond a financial investment,
“There is no shortage of organizations and events designed to help start-ups,” says Harac. “What sets the Angel Venture Forum apart is we provide more than money; We set up entrepreneurs to succeed well after the event ends. We stay with them to make introductions to advisors and strategic partners that not only provide direction, but put the business owner on a glide path for success.”
Fulfilling a Need
“There is definitely a need in this market,” says Alex Castelli, Principal at the Reznick Group in Vienna, VA. “It is still difficult for a start-up to get bank financing. And in most cases, venture capitalists find these companies too small to take an active interest in.”
Castelli points out that entrepreneurs benefit from more than just financing alone. “It’s not just the money; The mentoring by these investors is critical to these companies. Angels are successful entrepreneurs who have been there, done that. They commit themselves to groom and grow these companies who lack the experience.”
Scarcity of deals
“Starting a company is about surviving long enough to be relevant,” says Dean Rutley, a venture capital attorney with Womble Carlyle in Tysons Corner, Va. “Having access to sophisticated, experienced angels who provide insight and advice increases a start-up’s odds of being one of the ‘survivors.’
Statistics suggest a regional start-up group could help spur deal making. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ report, first quarter 2011 data shows investment deals in start-ups in Maryland dropped from 18 to 16, and the amount of investment fell from $89 to $86 million.
Deals in the District of Columbia inched up from two to three, but the amount of investment plummeted from $26 to $7 million. One bright spot was Northern Virginia, where transactions increased from 12 to 19 and amount of investment increased from $90 to $102 million.
Tags: Alex Castelli, Angel Venture Forum launches year-long program for Potomac area startups, Capital Growth, DC, Maryland startups, networking programs, Philadelphia, PlaySay.com, Reznick Group, Ryan Meinzer, VA, Valeria Gaydos, Vienna
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
 WASHINGTON, DC – LivingSocial, the DC-based local discount deals firm that is second only to Chicago’s Groupon in that space, has closed on an additional $.59 million equity raise, according to an equity filing. The company raised $400 million in April and a total of $600 million since its founding as it races to put people on the ground in market after market in competition with Groupon and a host of smaller local group buying firms.
LivingSocial investors include Amazon, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Rowe Price, and Institutional Venture Partners, Case Foundation Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, and Grotech Capital Group.
The latest raise, disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, shows that the space remains hot. Although this raise is minimal compared to previous ones, investors apparently still want a piece of the action.
We previously noted reports in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg that the company was considering a $500 million raise at a valuation of around $2 billion. VCExperts says the raise could actually value the company at around $3 billion.
LivingSocial now offers it daily deals in more than 200 markets and putting people on the ground in most is part of what costs so much money.
The company raised $175 million from Amazon and $8 million from its other venture backers three months ago, following a $950 million raise by Groupon.
In December, LivingSocial said it brings in about $1 million a day.
Some reports have said that LivingSocial could actually overtake Groupon in terms of dealflow by next year if current trends continue. An additional $500 million would likely accelerate their progress.
Although both LivingSocial and Groupon are well-financed and have a huge lead in creating national organizations, both face competition from smaller players, often operating in just a handful of markets. We recently reported on Twongo, one such competitor based in the Research Triangle, which operates in several North Carolina and Canadian markets.
We would be willing to be both Groupon and LivingSocial will start buying up some of the smaller players with viable, successful markets. The question is whether they will keep whatever differences made the smaller players successful in their markets.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Amazon, and Institutional Venture Partners, Case Foundation Ventures, Chicago, DC, financing, Grotech, group buying, Groupon, LIghtspeed Venture Partners, LIvingSocial, local deals, Rowe Price, SEC, U.S. Venture Partners
Posted in Internet/New Media, Money, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
 SAN DIEGO–Want to live a longer life? Move to Salt Lake City, the DC-Balitmore area, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, San Francisco, or Austin. On the other hand, Knoxville and Nashville, TN, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, and Tampa and Jacksonville, FL, may make you old before your time. So says and new report by RealAge.
Southeast and western cities are among the top ten on RealAge’s list of the “youngest” cities in America—metropolitan areas with such healthy lifestyles that on average their residents are physically at least two years younger than their chronological age, and many are years younger than that. RealAge analyzed data from the largest 50 metropolitan areas to compile the rankings.
A passion for fitness and a loathing for smoking are key factors in Salt Lake City’s number one ranking. At the other extreme, residents of Knoxville, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, and Nashville are aging faster than they should. (Get an infographic of the 10 youngest and oldest cities here.)
What are the 10 metro areas where you have the best odds of staying young?
1. Salt Lake City, Utah
2. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Calif.
3. Austin, Texas
4. Denver, Colo.
5. Boston, Mass.
6. Washington, DC/Baltimore, Md.
7. San Diego, Calif.
8. Raleigh-Durham/Chapel Hill, N.C.
9. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.
10. Seattle/Tacoma/Bremerton, Wash.
Which metro areas are likely to make you old before your time?
1. Knoxville, Tenn.
2. Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, N.C.
3. Nashville, Tenn.
4. Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, Mich.
5. Cincinnati, Ohio
6. Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.
7. Oklahoma City, Okla.
8. Las Vegas, Nev.
9. Jacksonville, Fla.
10. Tulsa, Okla.
“Each city’s ranking is more than just a number,” says Keith Roach, MD, Chief Medical Officer of RealAge and a co-creator of its test. “It’s a unique assessment of the healthy lifestyles, or lack of them, in each metro area—of how people live there, what they’re doing right and what they need to change. If you live in one of the 10 oldest cities, take this as the alarm on your body’s aging clock going off! It’s never too late for a fresh start.”
Note that half of the 10 youngest cities are in the Western U.S., from Denver to Seattle.
“Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the mountains, but Western cities have adopted active lifestyles that can slow down the aging process,” says Dr. Roach.
Behind the Rankings
To compile the rankings, RealAge analyzed data for America’s 50 largest metropolitan areas generated by its landmark online assessment, the RealAge Test, taken by over 27 million people. This is the first time the company has analyzed aggregated results on a city-by-city basis.
A random sample of 1,000 RealAge members was drawn from each city. The sample data was adjusted for age differences, so a metropolitan area that’s a magnet for retirees wasn’t penalized, and a city jammed with university students didn’t benefit.
The Test uses a powerful algorithm that combines the latest scientific studies with lifestyle, genetics, and medical history to calculate your RealAge—how old your body thinks you are.
What Makes a City Younger or Older
While multiple lifestyle factors are involved, here are four big ones that help people in Boston (the 5th youngest city), for example, stay younger and healthier than those in Cincinnati (the 5th oldest):
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| 1. |
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Getting the right amount of sleep. Six of the 10 youngest cities are among those with stellar sleep habits. And (surprise) New York isn’t the city that never sleeps—the Big Apple ranks second in ZZZ’s; Austin is first. Sleeping six to nine hours a night can make your RealAge as much as 3 years younger. |
| 2. |
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Stubbing out cigarettes for good. Four of the five fastest-aging cities have the highest percentage of smokers. |
| 3. |
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Not sitting around. Six of the 10 youngest cities are among the most physically active in the country. A daily 30-minute walk can make your RealAge up to 3.5 years younger. |
| 4. |
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Controlling your blood pressure. Five of the 10 fastest-aging cities—Knoxville, Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, and Tulsa—are among the worst for high blood pressure. Nothing ages you faster. Who has the lowest BP? Residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the 9th youngest city. |
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Austin TX, Baltimore, Cincinnati, CO, DC, Denver, FL, Greensboro, High Point, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Las Vegas, MD, Nashville, NV, OH, OK, Oklahoma City, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Realage.com, San Diego, San Fransciso, Seattle, St. Petersburg, Tampa, TN, Tulsa, Winston Salem
Posted in Carolinas, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Other SE, Potomac, Studies, surveys, reports, Tennessee, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
 WASHINGTON, DC – LivingSocial, the DC-based local discount deals firm that is second only to Chicago’s Groupon in that space, has raised $400 million from existing investors, including Amazon, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Rowe Price, and Institutional Venture Partners, according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
According to the reports, the deal closed last week. The Times reported the raise on its Dealbook blog.
The company has authorized sale of more than $500 million in new Series E Convertible Preferred Stock, according to the venture capital research site, VCExperts.com, which cites a regulatory filing.
See the comments for the source. We originally thought it an SEC filing, but that was incorrect.
We previously noted reports in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg that the company was considering a $500 million raise at a valuation of around $2 billion. VCExperts says the raise could actually value the company at around $3 billion.
LivingSocial now offers it daily deals in more than 200 markets and putting people on the ground in most is part of what costs so much money.
The company raised $175 million from Amazon and $8 million from its other venture backers three months ago, following a $950 million raise by Groupon.
In December, LivingSocial said it brings in about $1 million a day.
Some reports have said that LivingSocial could actually overtake Groupon in terms of dealflow by next year if current trends continue. An additional $500 million would likely accelerate their progress.
Although both LivingSocial and Groupon are well-financed and have a huge lead in creating national organizations, both face competition from smaller players, often operating in just a handful of markets. We recently reported on Twongo, one such competitor based in the Research Triangle, which operates in several North Carolina and Canadian markets.
We would be willing to be both Groupon and LivingSocial will start buying up some of the smaller players with viable, successful markets. The question is whether they will keep whatever differences made the smaller players successful in their markets.
Tags: Chicago, DC, financing, group buying, Groupon, LIvingSocial, local deals, NC, SEC filings, shares authorized, Twongo
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Money, North Carolina | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 4th, 2011
 GregvPapadopoulos CHEVY CHASE, MD – New Enterprise Associates (NEA), the global venture capital firm, has named Greg Papdopoulos, Ph.D., formerly Sun Microsystems CTO, a venture partner.
Papadopoulos will work closely with seed and early-stage companies in NEA’s portfolio to help guide fundamental technology development and define go-to-market strategy.
Papadopoulos began working with NEA as entrepreneur in residence in 2010 on the heels of a highly successful career as a senior executive and serial entrepreneur, including his most recent role as CTO at Sun Microsystems, where he directed the company’s $2 billion research and development portfolio.
“When Greg joined NEA as an EIR last year, we couldn’t wait to see what he would do next,” said NEA General Partner Scott Santell. “We are incredibly fortunate that he’s decided to stay with NEA full time, where he’ll play a critical role in helping growing companies define and refine their strategy at pivotal moments.”
Previously, Papadopoulos worked as a development engineer at Hewlett-Packard and Honeywell, and as architect at Thinking Machines. He has also helped found several companies including: Ergo (high-end PCs), Exa Corporation (computational fluid dynamics) and PictureTel (video conferencing). He also worked as an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he led numerous research activities.
“The value that the venture community brings, aside from capital, is to help fill the gap between recognizing a transformational idea and actually delivering it to market,” said Papadopoulos.
“At NEA, that style of innovation is an integral part of the culture. It’s an incredibly ambitious approach to investing that looks to create not just companies but entirely new segments of the market, and to do that in a way that really makes a difference.”
With approximately $11 billion in committed capital, NEA invests in information technology, healthcare and energy technology companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm’s long track record of successful investing includes more than 165 portfolio company IPOs and more than 265 acquisitions, including investments in technology leaders like Data Domain, CareerBuilder, Diapers.com, Groupon, Juniper, Macromedia, Playdom, Salesforce.com, and TiVo.
In the U.S., NEA has two offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and one in Menlo Park, California.
Tags: DC, fomrer Sun Microsystems CTO, Greg Papadopoulos, named venture partner, NEA, New Enterprise Associates, venture capital firms
Posted in Maryland, People, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Monday, March 14th, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC -LivingSocial, one of the major players in the group local deal space, has acquired Reston, VA-based InfoEther Inc., a pioneer and one of the leading technology consultancies specializing in the Ruby software development language and its related Web development framework, Ruby on Rails (“Rails”), which is the basis of the technology upon which LivingSocial and numerous other high profile online companies are based.
Financial details were not disclosed. The company says the acquisition will enhance it’s ability to innovate more effectively.
“Together, we can out-execute and out-innovate, which we consider to be one of our major differentiators and the underpinning of our future success,” said Aaron Batalion, CTO and co-founder of LivingSocial. “Their reputation in the technology community is a testament to their technical capabilities and nimble team, and when combined with LivingSocial’s proven excellence, we will dominate the local commerce marketplace.”
Established in 2001, InfoEther is believed to be the first US-based company that generated revenue from the open source Ruby language, which was created in Japan. Since 2007 it has specialized in the popular open source Rails framework, which is based on Ruby, in more than 40 client engagements internationally.
The company’s principals and staff, including Rich Kilmer, Chad Fowler and Glenn Vanderburg, are renowned technology conference organizers, speakers, authors and trainers in a range of technologies, which include Ruby and Rails, communications, security and mobile-based applications. The firm is also known for its user experience/interface and interaction design expertise critical to how people work with the technology, particularly with the growing popularity of the mobile Web.
We get this acquisition. The group local deals space is crowded, and while LivingSocial is a major player, it is going to have to stay on its digital toes to stay ahead of the competition, large and small. The venture-backed company, second only to Chicago-based Groupon in the group-buying local deals space, has raised about $224 million, including $175 million from Amazon. Groupon, which reported turned down a $6 billion buyout offer from Google, most recently raised $950 million. Smaller competitors, such as Raleigh-based Twongo, operate in many smaller markets.
At some point, we expect to see consolidation and thinning in the space through mergers, acquisitions and competition. Some of the smaller players may even have a shot at providing better, less expensive and more personal service in local markets.
LivingSocial launched a new local commerce program recently, Instant Deals in Washington, DC. Instant Deals help consumers discover immediate deals at restaurants and attractions within a .5 mile radius via their LivingSocial mobile application.
LivingSocial acquired majority stake in Let’s Bonus, one of the pioneer social shopping sites in Europe. Additionally, in 2010, LivingSocial acquired adventure company Urban Escapes and launched two new verticals including LivingSocial Escapes, a travel site offering unbeatable savings on curated adventures and LivingSocial Family Edition. In addition, the company has launched one market per day on average and expects to reach 300 markets in 2011.
The company recently gained a slew of customers but also stirred up some controversy with a half off Amazon coupon deal that went awry for some. –Allan Maurer
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: acquistiions, Chad Fowler, DC, Glenn Vanderburg, Groupon, InfoEther, LIvingSocial, NC, Raleigh, Reston, Rich Kilmer, Ruby on Rails, Twongo, VA, venture capital
Posted in Acquisitions, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Money | Comments Off
Friday, March 11th, 2011
 Atlanta is 2nd on the list of most socially networked cities. RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – Washington, DC took the top spot as most socially networked, followed by Atlanta in the number two position in a ranking by Men’s Health magazine, it calls “Twittertowns.” Raleigh ranked 12th, Orlando, 7th, Tampa, 31st, and Baltimore 58th.
The magazine ranked US cities by adding up the number of Facebook and LinkedIn users per capita and overall Twitter use as monitored by NetProspex.It also measured traffic generated in each city by social networks and factored in the percentage of households checking out chat rooms and blogs.
You can meet some of the most wired people in Atlanta at TechMedia’s Digital Summit May 16-17 at the Cobb Galleria.
Here’s the top ten, according to the magazine:
Most socially networked
1 Washington, DC
2 Atlanta, GA
3 Denver, CO
4 Minneapolis, MN
5 Seattle, WA
6 San Francisco, CA
7 Orlando, FL
8 Austin, TX
9 Boston, MA
10 Salt Lake City, UT
Here’s the Full List.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Atlanta, Baltimore, DC, Digital Summit, facebook, LinkedIn, Men's Health TwitterTowns ranking, most socially networked cities, Orlando, Raleigh, social media, Tampa, twitter
Posted in Carolinas, Facebook, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Potomac, social media, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Monday, March 7th, 2011
 WASHINGTON, DC- LogRhythm, a company formerly headquartered in DC but now in Boudler, Colorado, has raised $4.9 million raise from investors including Virginia-based Grotech, according to a regulatory filing.
The company sells an appliance with features that include log management and analysis, file integrity monitoring, event management, network and user monitoring, and geolocation tracking, this product can provide the detail needed for in-depth security event analysis. It helps firms comply with regulations and secure their networks.
The company disclosed the raise in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which cites Ray Croghan, of Longmont, CO-based Croghan Investments, Frank Mendicino III of Denver’s Access Venture Partners, and Joe Zell of Grotech Partners among the principals.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Boulder, CO, DC, financing, Grotech, log analysis, LogRhythm, Viriginia
Posted in Money, Potomac, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Monday, February 28th, 2011
By Joe Procopio
 Joe Procopio Eric Boggs needs money, people, and maybe small arms.
He’ll be making the trip to Atlanta with hundreds of other entrepreneurs, investors, advisors, and, well, me, for this year’s Southeast Venture Conference (hosted by TechMedia, the fine folks behind this very digital publication) on March 2nd and 3rd.
But for Eric and the company he co-founded, social media marketing software company Argyle Social as well as more than a handful of local early-stagers, this is more than just handshaking and a demo.
It’s a revolution.
Viva Argyle!
A little history. Argyle Social was formed roughly 15 months ago when Eric and Adam Covati decided they had found their product. The two had always planned on starting a company, so much so that when Eric graduated from Kenan-Flagler in 2009 (a return trip after several years as the first employee at Bronto), he didn’t bother looking for a job. He knew starting a company was in his blood, it was just a matter of what to make.
Ten months later, at (yet another ridiculously valuable startup event from TechMedia) Internet Summit, Argyle won Best in Show. Go figure that a social media marketing company took home the voter prize – Eric cringes at the thought of what losing would have said about the company. The prize included a March-Madness-like automatic bid to present to investors at this year’s SEVC.
Diaper Dandies?
Not that they needed the automatic invite, however, as Argyle is one of several promising early stage startups in the RTP. They raised their seed round earlier this year with investors like Idea Fund Partners, who themselves have a pretty decent sense of what’s going to work, along with iContact’s Aaron Houghton, ReverbNation’s Jed Carlson, and Shoeboxed’s Taylor Mingos; dudes who know a thing or two about starting up.
Their board, which includes Idea Fund’s Lister Delgado as well as Stephen Vanderwoude, has been of enormous value to Argyle, and it’s a good bet they’ll be very helpful down in Atlanta as well. Argyle is looking for three to four million in a Series A round, with which they hope to release the rabid wolverines.
Rabid Wolverines?
Yes. Rabid wolverines.
Sorry. This is something of an inside joke. No wait, it’s totally an inside joke, one that came out of Argyle when software engineer Mike Novi stated that’s how they should attack their target segment. So they put “rabid wolverines” in the job posting, to highlight the productivity expectations, and they tweeted it, and that in turn got picked up by Fast Company as one of the reasons why startups have an edge on hiring rock star talent.
Downtown Durham’s Alpha Release
Argyle is one of the first, if not the first, product born of the revitalization of Durham as an entrepreneurial hub.
They’re in downtown Durham in the Snow Building, an art-deco landmark on Main Street. And by “landmark” I mean it has the single most frightening elevator I’ve ever ridden in, including downtown London and the Tower of Terror. Eric and Adam are both products of other local startups. Their investors include the aforementioned successful entrepreneurs, all of whom are still diligently at work locally building their companies.
That’s evidence enough right there, but Eric and Adam have also spoken, presented, or attended most of the startup 2.0-style meetups and events. They’re an NC Idea grant winner. And as mentioned, they pivoted from there to Internet Summit and now SEVC.
They also have seven full-time employees, customers, revenue, and measurable growth, including doubling revenue month over month in 2011 thus far.
How can you not want to find out how this is going to play out?
“We’re Going to Succeed”
Eric is not just of hopeful for Argyle’s success, he’s convinced of it. Whether the next big step comes out of SEVC or not, whether it’s this investor or that, no matter the amount of tweaks to the plan or the strategy, they’re going to make it.
It isn’t a boastful thing, it’s a competitive thing and an aggressive thing. A wolverine thing.
And that ethos isn’t just limited to Eric and Argyle. SEVC will be packed with half-a-dozen companies presenting, and likely dozens of other entrepreneurs or soon-to-be entrepreneurs, who will someday evolve into the companies that solidify the RTP’s hold on the startup map.
I use Argyle as one example, the proof that Downtown Durham, and all the efforts going into the revitalization of the RTP as an entrepreneurial hub, and all these second-wave startups and the ever-increasing number of organizations and people and resources that are becoming available – deep breath – are all working.
So bring on the wolverines. It’s their time.
Joe Procopio heads up product engineering for sports media startup StatSheet. He also retains ownership in consulting firm Intrepid Company and creative network Intrepid Media. In full disclosure, StatSheet and Argyle have what can only be called a “full-blown ping-pong feud” underway. It’s bloody. Joe can be reached via twitter: www.twitter.com/@jproco.
Tags: AaronHoughton, Argyle Social, DC, Eric Boggs, icontact, Jed Carlson, Joe Procopio, NC IDEA, Rabid Wolverines, ReverbNation, Southeast Venture Conference, Stephen Vanderwoude, Taylor Mingos, Washington
Posted in Carolinas, Columns, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Friday, February 25th, 2011
 DULLES, VA – Echo 360, a company that captures college lectures so students can replay them online on demand, has raised $2.97 million in a mixed securities offering, according to a regulatory filing.
The company raised $26.3 million in April 2010, another $2 million later in the year, and $15 million in 2008. It disclosed the latest raise in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company evolved as a subsidiary of Anystream, which sells digital media production and management software to media companies. Anystream acquired Lectopia, which sold lecture capture technology in New Zealand and Australia, in 2007. It blended Anystream’s video and IT expertise with educational lecture capture to create the Echo360 platform.
The result, it says, is a repeatable, on-demand educational experience that is easy for institutions to deploy and support while providing students exceptional playback quality and options in line with their mobile lifestyles.
Students can replay any professor’s lecture on a PC or Mac, hear or watch a podcast, and even follow closed captioning. Not only that, students can go to any part of the lecture via key word search.
The company’s customers in the Southeast include Florida Coastal School of Law; Florida Atlantic University, Barry Kaye College of Business; George Washington University; North Carolina State University; the University of North Carolina at Wilmington; and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Nationally, customers include M.I.T., and Notre Dame, among many others. Internationally, it has schools from London to China.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
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Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: DC, Dulles, Echo 360, financing, Internet, NC, online lecture rewind, VA
Posted in Carolinas, Education, Florida, Internet/New Media, IT, Money, North Carolina, Potomac, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
 ROCKVILLE, MD – Clean Currents Inc., which sells wind and solar power technology and supplies wind-sourced electricity to home owners and businesses, has raised $1.43 million of a $1.75 million offering it expects to complete in the next 30 days, according to a regulatory filing.
The firm has over 7,000 commercial and residential customers.
Residents of Maryland, Delaware, Washington DC, or Pennsylvania, you can choose their electric supplier. Clean Currents provides electricity sourced from clean wind power.
It also does solar installations.
The company’s management team, cited in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the raise, are veterans of the green tech field.
CEO Charles A. Sergerman was previously director of Green Development for the Tower real estate company in the DC region. He was project manager for the Rockville Tower building, one of the Potomac region’s first large-scale green structures.
C0-founder Gary Skulnik created the Clean Energy Partnership in 2004 and has worked for Greenpeace, Sierra Club and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
Tags: Charles A. Sergerman, Clean Currents, DC, financing, Gary Skulnik, MD, Rockville, wind and solar power
Posted in Energy, Maryland, Money, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Monday, January 31st, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – LivingSocial sold an amazing 3.5 million Amazon discount cards in a deal that vaulted its traffic to new highs but also caused some difficulties for the second largest social deals company. We reported on the deal and its trials and tribulations in previous posts.
We asked LIvingSocial how it has responded to the problems the deal created and the company responded with the following unattributed comments:
“LivingSocial combs through all purchases after the sale closes to prevent scammers. As this was one of the biggest days in online sales in history, the LivingSocial team was working as quick as possible to manage the high volume of sales and customer care requests.. Overall, on a percentage basis, the number of customer care requests were on par with a normal deal.
To handle the influx of inquiries, LivingSocial updated its help page with a designated link to answer questions specifically about the Amazon.com gift card voucher and alerted customers that confirmation emails might be slightly delayed due to the overwhelming success of the Amazon.com gift card deal.
Using Twitter, LivingSocial tried to address customer complaints by directing them to the help page and confirming that customer service reps were working hard to get back to everyone in a timely matter.”
In the LivingSocial help section, they addressed the issue of delayed email confirmation and receipt of a redemption code. Here, they also provided information on how the service works on any other day, such as instructions on how to receive a gift card for free when three of your friends also buy the voucher.
Now, on LivingSocial’s homepage, there’s a clear link to Amazon deal purchasers to assist them with redeeming and applying their LivingSocial voucher to their Amazon account.”
LivingSocial is the second largest player in the hot social deals space, which is led by Chicago-based Groupon.
We suspect the influx of new customers – assuming most had no more trouble redeeming the deal than we did – will outweigh the difficulties the company had with some people on the deal. But we continue to watch how it handles the response to criticism, since that can itself be a “big deal” online.
–Allan Maurer
Email TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournal South dot com.
Tags: Amazon discount card, DC, Groupon, LivingSocial describes how it's handling negative response to its Amazon deal, online reputation, Washington
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 28th, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – LivingSocial, the local social deals rival to Chicago-based Groupon, boosted its traffic by 80 percent selling a $20 Amazon card for $10 last week, but the deal spawned a rash of negative comments on the LivingSocial Facebook page and stories about the deal across the Web on sites that allow comments.
Some LivingSocial users complained they still had not received their paid for deal days afterward. Some users apparently tried to take advantage of the deal more than once, which is not allowed. Others claimed they were unfairly accused of doing so. Complaints ranged from credit card problems to the way LivingSocial agents responded. Many complaints about the company were harsh.
We have requested a response from LivingSocial both when we did our original story on the deal last week and again this morning.
Hitwise Intelligence data shows that LivingSocial “closed the gap” between it and Groupon, with its traffic surging 80 percent while Groupon’s actually fell 20 percent. Hitwise suggests that means that “the race for dominance in the group coupon space is far from over.” Mashable opined that LivingSocial’s traffic is likely to return to Earth this week, although the company likely gained many new members and national attention, good and bad, from the deal.
Groupon is recognized at the 800-pound gorilla in the space. Groupon turned down a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google, which is launching Google Offers, its own version of social deals amid rumors that Facebook may also become a competitor, further demonstrating how hot the sector remains.
Not all comments on stories about LivingSocial’s Amazon deal were negative. One pointed out that in a deal this size (reportedly 1.3 million people bought the Amazon discount, the company says) there are always some disgruntled customers. However, the way a company deals with such responses on a social media platform and otherwise can seriously affect its business going forward.
The Amazon deal followed the online retail giant’s investing $175 million in LivingSocial, the second larger player in the space currently.
I noted in our first story that I bought the Amazon discount card from LivingSocial using a credit card and had no problems with the deal.
For more see: Was LivingSocial’s Big Amazon Deal a Bust?
–Allan Maurer
Email TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournal South dot com.
Tags: Chicago, Complaints about LivingSocial Amazon deal, DC, Groupon, LivingSocial closes gap on Groupon, LivingSocial deal a bust?, local deals, Marketing, social deals space, Washington
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 21st, 2011
By Allan Maurer
 WASHINGTON, DC – LivingSocial offered a great deal this week, a $20 Amazon gift card for $10. People grabbed it too: more than 1.35 million of them. But the size of the deal apparently caused some technical difficulties for the rapidly expanding local deals firm.
The company, which recently received a $175 million investment from Amazon, seemed to experience a number of problems, from delays in getting out the deal emails to Snafus that led some members who spread news of the deal in hopes of getting theirs free to encounter a number of problems, according to comments on the company’s Facebook page.
Some people who shared the deal said they were charged more than once. Others said they received a message they tried to sign up for the deal more than once. Others said they got the email but did not find the discount code.
It’s Facebook account collected a good many complaints, some saying things such as “You really dropped the ball on this one.” Not a few making comments on LivingSocial’s Facebook page were irate. It will be interesting to see how they handle this. Reputation management online is a big deal because such things go viral on the Internet at the speed of light.
The company has serious competition in the local social deals space from Chicago-based Groupon and several other large players, not to mention a host of smaller ones. It’s one of the hottest spaces in Internet commerce right now.
Mashable has disclosed Google’s plans to create its own rival service, Google Offers. Google reportedly tried to buy Groupon for $6 billion, a deal the company declined. It then proceeded to raise $950 million more in venture backing.
I took the deal myself and while the email with the Amazon discount code did not show up until 2:30 a.m. Friday morning, I followed the procedure they outlined to claim it and had no difficulties myself.
We are contacting the company to see how they’re handling this and will update you upon receiving a response.
Email TJS editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournal South dot com.
Tags: Amazon discount deal, Amazon/LivingSocial deal, DC, facebook, LIvingSocial, reputation management
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Monday, January 17th, 2011
 Snagfilms now has an iPad app available and will be making its movies available on a number of digital devices. WASHINGTON, DC -SnagFilms has received $10 million in growth capital from new investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Comcast Interactive Capital (CIC). Existing investors, including Ted Leonsis (SnagFilms’ founder) and Steve Case, also participated.
The financing will be used to expand its distribution of independent films – including, for the first time, fictional independent releases – across all digital platforms and devices, and on a global basis.
SnagFilms is a leader in distributing free, ad-supported titles from a library of over 2000 non-fiction films. Last year, SnagFilms entered the transactional world with launches of video on demand channels on Comcast and Verizon FiOS, as well as titles for sale through the Apple’s iTunes store. Earlier this month, SnagFilms debuted its iPad application with the largest collection of award-winning U.S. films offered free to iPad users.
Didn’t need to raise outside capital
“As a profitable company with substantial private investors, SnagFilms didn’t need to raise outside capital,” said company founder Ted Leonsis.
“However, we saw overwhelming strategic value in involving NEA, a pioneer and leading venture capital firm, and CIC, the investment arm of Comcast. SnagFilms is very well-financed and uniquely positioned now to bring the full array of independent films – fiction and non-fiction, U.S. and foreign – to global audiences on all platforms and devices.”
He added, “We’ve amassed a library of 2,000 documentaries since our launch, and we’re now building distribution opportunities for tens of thousands of independent films in both categories. That’s great news for film fans and for filmmakers.”
“SnagFilms is perfectly positioned to fuse technology and content in a manner that has marked many of the transformational industry leaders we have helped build in the past,” said NEA managing generalpartner Peter Barris, who joins the Company’s Board of Directors. “New devices and digital platforms will allow consumers unprecedented access to quality content, and SnagFilms will be there to delight them.”
Barris also serves on the board of Groupon as its first VC investor
“This is the future of the business”
SnagFilms also announced that industry veteran Bingham Ray will join the Company to help guide its entry into distribution of fictional narrative and foreign-produced independent films. Ray, former President of United Artists, October Films and Kimmel Entertainment, and honored for Lifetime Achievement by the Gotham Awards, has deep experience in the acquisition, marketing and distribution of motion pictures, including Hotel Rwanda, Bowling for Columbine, Secrets & Lies, War Room, High Art, Last Days and Breaking the Waves.
“Bingham has been an advocate for filmmakers throughout his career,” noted Rick Allen, SnagFilms CEO. “His record of successful distribution on traditional platforms provides a strategic sense and depth of relationships that will be invaluable as we extend our model into a broader array of films.”
Ray said, “This is the future of our business.”
“SnagFilms plus Bingham Ray is a great combination,” said Tom Bernard, co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics. “Bingham knows the indie world as well as anyone alive and is admired for his experience and for always delivering for filmmakers. He’ll be a big asset to SnagFilms’ expansion.”
In addition, SnagFilms intends to use its new growth capital to expand its indieWIRE unit, now in its 15th year as the leading web source of news, reviews and analysis of independent film. “indieWIRE’s traffic is now ten times what it was when we purchased it two and a half years ago,” Allen said.
“Before the Academy Awards are announced later this month, you’ll see new editor-in-chief Dana Harris add ongoing features to our coverage of the indie world, and exciting new blogs to our Network, like the recently-added blog The Playlist.”
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Tags: Comcast Interactive Capital, DC, digital devices, indieWIRE, NEA, Peter Barris, SnagFilms, Steve Case, Ted Leonsis
Posted in Internet/New Media, Money, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
 WASHINGTON, DC – Local deal site and Groupon competitor LivingSocial has grabbed a majority stake in Let’s Bonus, one of the pioneer social shopping sites in Europe. Financial details were not disclosed.
The acquisition comes on the heels of LivingSocial’s latest investment, $175 million from Amazon.
The 800-pound gorilla of the social shopping space, Groupon, recently turned down a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google, according to reports, but just this week raised $950 million.
LivingSocial says the Let’s Bonus acquisition bolsters LivingSocial’s rapid international expansion, making it now live in ten countries with the addition of Let’s Bonus’ Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina and Mexico presences. LivingSocial now has more than 16 million subscribers, is live in more than 170 markets, and is projected to book in excess of $500 million in revenue in 2011.
“The addition of Let’s Bonus to the LivingSocial team is a great opportunity to expand into Latin Americaand continue our European growth,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial. “Not only is LivingSocial available in ten countries, but with this acquisition we’ve gone multilingual, offering deals in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.”
Launched in September 2009 in Barcelona, Let’s Bonus helped to pioneer the collective buying movement in Europe and is the leader in the Spanish market. The company offers daily deals with discounts of up to 70 percent on fun, exclusive activities including gourmet dinners, luxury spas and romantic escapes.
We suspect we’ll be seeing a good deal more acquisitions and partnerships in the hot, hot, hot social shopping space. The top players are well heeled with new cash and many smaller companies have niche pieces of the market.
Tags: acquisition, daily deals, DC, Groupon, Let's Bonus, LIvingSocial, social shopping
Posted in Acquisitions, Internet/New Media, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
 CHICAGO – Groupon, the Chicago-based daily discount service that competes with DC-based Living Social and other firms that offer online coupon-like deals, has raised $950 million from new investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and the new Andreessen Horowitz fund. Other investors include Battery Ventures, Greylock Partners, Maverick Capital, Silver Lake and Technology Crossover Ventures.
Groupon garnered a lot of press and quite a bit of comment when it reportedly declined a $6 billion buyout offer from Google Inc. One experienced entrepreneur we know asked, “What could they be thinking?”
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Groupon said it will use $345 million of the new cash to buy back stock from some shareholders. That may reduce the pressure on the company to sell or go public so some investors can cash out.
The big cash infusion for Groupon is just the latest in a series of mega investments in the social net in the last month. Facebook nabbed $500 million on a valuation of $50 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Twitter took $200 million at a valuation of $3.7 billion. LivingSocial grabbed $135 million from Amazon.
Talk of a new Internet bubble continues to rumble through the media.
But with the exception of Twitter, these are thriving businesses. In documents to potential investors, Facebook disclosed a surprisingly high 30 percent net profit margin and earned $355 million on $1.2 billion in revenue. Groupon’s revenue topped $500 million in 2010, according to analysts. It has 50 million members in 35 countries and employs 3,000 people.
I worked for one of the companies formed in the Internet bubble (LocalBusiness dot com). Major media companies invested $17 million in the firm over the two years I worked for it. It established daily news sites in more than 20 US markets, attracted decent traffic, and sold maybe two banner ads during all that time. It was a different time and a different Internet.
Think about this: do you miss any of the Web sites that died when the Internet bubble burst? Would you miss Facebook? Twitter? All the sites that help you find the best price on just about anything you want to purchase?
Today’s Internet is as essential to commerce as brick and mortar giants were in the past. Facebook could not acquire 500 million members globally if the Internet itself were not now so much a part of our lives. All the hype of that first Internet bubble is actually coming to pass – about a decade later.
The digital measurement service comScore has shown that even online display advertising moves package goods as well as a TV ad campaign.
Over the holidays, online spending set records (up 12 percent at more than $32 billion).
Not only that, the whole mobile sector is adding yet another access point that makes it even easier to do research, shop, and communicate online.
So, it may be early to be declaring another Internet bubble is in the works.– Allan Maurer
Email TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournal South dot com.
Tags: Andreessen Horowitz, Chicago, DC, facebook, Groupon, Internet bubble, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, LIvingSocial, twitter
Posted in Internet/New Media, Money, Viewpoint | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 7th, 2011
 WASHINGTON, DC – Personal Inc., a company developing an online mobile platform for sharing, has kicked up its funding to $7.3 million from investors including Grotech Ventures, Steve Case backed Revolution, and TCS Capital, according to a regulatory filing. We reported in September 2010 that the company had raised $1.2 million of a round targeted at $2 million.
Personal Inc. was founded in 2009 by former Nokia Corp. veterans Shane Green, Doug Wheeler, Edin Saracevic, Tarik Kurspahic and Jennifer Devereux,according to a Washington Business Journal report. Green was previously CEO of The Map Network.
The filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the new financing includes as principals directors Don Rainey of Vienna, VA-based Grotech; Tige Savage, co-founder of DC-based Revolution; and Erci Semler, of NY-based TCS Capital.
The company is still in closed beta mode.
It sounds as if the startup is riding two hot trends, mobile and social networking, although details are scare at this point.
Email TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournal South dot com.
Tags: DC, Don Rainey, Eric Semler, financing, mobile, Personal Inc., Revoltion, Shane Green, social networking, Steve Case, telecom, Tige Savage
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Potomac, Telecommunications, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Monday, December 20th, 2010
 ATLANTA – Earthlink Inc. (Nasdaq: ELNK) has agreed to acquire One Communication Corp. for $370 million, which includes payment of approximately $285 million of One Comm net debt. One Comm stockholders have the right to elect to receive the net merger consideration in the form of cash or EarthLink common stock.
One Comm’s shareholders will retain liability for all costs relating to One Comm’s pending litigation with Verizon New York Inc. The merger has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and the stockholders of One Comm.
One Comm, with corporate headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, and operational headquarters in Rochester, New York, is one of the largest privately held, multi-regional integrated telecommunications solutions providers in the United States.
With approximately 1,500 employees, One Comm serves approximately 113,000 small and mid-sized business customers in 17 states across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest, including the major metropolitan markets of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and the District of Columbia.
EarthLink plans to integrate One Comm into its newly established EarthLink Business division, which currently consists of products and capabilities of its former New Edge Network, Deltacom and EarthLink Business Solutions divisions.
After the closing of this transaction, EarthLink Business will operate a nationwide IP network with underlying fiber assets in 30 of the top 50 MSAs in the country. The combined fiber network will span approximately 28,000 route miles across 27 states, with 923 collocations, 55 IP and circuit-based switches and 68 metro fiber rings. With the addition of One Comm, EarthLink will have nearly 3,500 employees nationwide.
Tags: Atlanta, Balitimore, DC, Earthlink acquiriung One Communications, GA
Posted in Acquisitions, Georgia, Maryland, Potomac, Telecommunications, Washington, DC | Comments Off
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