Exclusive ARLINGTON, VA—Clearspring Technologies, a syndicator of online tools called widgets, has raised an additional $10 million from one investor according to a regulatory filing. In March the company raised a $5.5 million second round that included participation from AOL founders Steve Case and Ted Leonsis, and former Fox Interactive COO, Mark Jung.
Bethesda-based Novak Biddle Ventures and ZG Ventures led the March round. At that time its funding totaled $7.5 million. The company Web site lists NBV, Case, Leonsis, Jung, Miles Gilburne, Joel Adams, and Bobby Yazdani as current investors.
Through its PR agency, Clearspring said it has no comment on the additional money raised at this time.
Widgets are bits of code Web developers, bloggers or marketers can add to sites to perform a variety of tasks and personalize sites. Widgets include headline grabbers, calculators, games, stock tickers, sports updates, audio players, quizzes and slideshows.
A Washington Post article cited several ways companies use widgets. Purina created one to alert pet owners when its good dog walking weather and a 20th Century Fox “Live Free or Die Hard” promotion features an iTunes player that issues quotes from the movie.
Clearspring’s flagship product simplifies the creation, syndication, and tracking of widget marketing campaigns. The company’s technology, officially launched in April, removes the technical complexity of syndicating content to various online platforms and also tracks where it goes.
At the time of the second round funding in March, CEO Chris Marentis, a former AOL exec himself, told TechJournal South the company’s technology is open and does not require registration by users, a factor that makes it more attractive to large users such as AOL. He adds that it is also scalable for both large and small users.
The NBA, Universal Pictures, Indianapolis Colts and RockYou have worked with Clearspring. The company is now serving upwards of 30 million widgets each day, more than any other provider.
Austin Fath, the 26-year-old co-founder, told “Business Week” magazine that people need similar bits of information on mobile devices and wireless widgets may be coming in the future. Co-founder Hooman Radfar was named one of Tech’s Best Entrepreneurs by “Business Week,” and writes a widget-centered blog called widgify (www.widgify.com).
Mark Jung is chair of the company’s board.
On the Web: www.clearspring.com
© 2007, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.
