A New York-based tech company with a Richmond office is close to raising a large chunk of venture capital, according to media reports.
Tumblr, a free blogging platform, is in the final stages of raising between $75 million and $100 million, a deal that would value the company at $800 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Greylock Partners, which also is an investor in Facebook and Groupon, is one of the firms reportedly attached to the capital raise.
Eleven employees work at the company’s Richmond office in Manchester. That office houses Tumblr’s community support staff and mobile developers. It opened in January, not long after the company closed on a $30 million round of funding. The company has a total of 45 employees, according to the WSJ.
Tumblr has declined to comment on its latest financing efforts.
From the WSJ:
The investment significantly raises Tumblr’s valuation and highlights how interest in promising new technology companies lingers despite growing concerns about the broader economy. In December, Tumblr disclosed that it raised $30 million from Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures in an investment that valued the company at $120 million.
Tumblr’s investors say they believe the company’s active user base gives it tremendous potential to make money. Roelof Botha, a partner with Sequoia Capital and a Tumblr director, said in an interview this May that he is impressed with Tumblr’s growth in users and page views and believes it will find a way to make money from this young, active audience.
“Questions around monetization still exist,” he said. “But the company has absolute scale, massive traction, and huge growth and money-making potential.”
BizSense interviewed Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp in January. Read that Q&A here.
A New York-based tech company with a Richmond office is close to raising a large chunk of venture capital, according to media reports.
Tumblr, a free blogging platform, is in the final stages of raising between $75 million and $100 million, a deal that would value the company at $800 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Greylock Partners, which also is an investor in Facebook and Groupon, is one of the firms reportedly attached to the capital raise.
Eleven employees work at the company’s Richmond office in Manchester. That office houses Tumblr’s community support staff and mobile developers. It opened in January, not long after the company closed on a $30 million round of funding. The company has a total of 45 employees, according to the WSJ.
Tumblr has declined to comment on its latest financing efforts.
From the WSJ:
The investment significantly raises Tumblr’s valuation and highlights how interest in promising new technology companies lingers despite growing concerns about the broader economy. In December, Tumblr disclosed that it raised $30 million from Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures in an investment that valued the company at $120 million.
Tumblr’s investors say they believe the company’s active user base gives it tremendous potential to make money. Roelof Botha, a partner with Sequoia Capital and a Tumblr director, said in an interview this May that he is impressed with Tumblr’s growth in users and page views and believes it will find a way to make money from this young, active audience.
“Questions around monetization still exist,” he said. “But the company has absolute scale, massive traction, and huge growth and money-making potential.”
BizSense interviewed Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp in January. Read that Q&A here.