Feedback like this from Qwiki's Alpha led to an $8,000,000 Series A by Founders of Facebook, Youtube, and other leading Internet companies
What greater goal is there in life than to create something truly beautiful… and useful! To marry Art & Science? Not one we can think of.
Since our private alpha launch at TechCrunch Disrupt, the team has been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to Qwiki’s form and its function. In fact, the response we hear most when demo-ing the alpha is:
“It’s beautiful! This is going to make ____ so much easier”
Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Usefulness too. Fortunately, some pretty bad-ass beholders have been so inspired by Qwiki they’ve provided us with $8 Million in Series A financing. The official press release is here.
A little background: to move beyond the Alpha and bring the Qwiki platform to life, we needed $$$$. But not from just any investors! Our investors had to have a burning desire to do more than build a business. They needed to wake up every day with the same goals we have – make history, tread headfirst into completely unchartered territory, and create something truly beautiful.
Happy to report we got that and so much more!
The $8 Million round was led by primary investor Eduardo Saverin, a co-Founder of Facebook. Eduardo was the first to invest in the vision of the social graph forever altering the future of the web and now, he’s expecting Qwiki’s information experience to do the same.
Eduardo is joined by Pradeep Sindhu, the Founder & CTO of Juniper Networks; Jawed Karim, a co-Founder of Youtube; plus a syndicate of other individuals and institutions who share our purpose and vision – who’ve all changed the world and can help us move fast and think big. This includes leading early stage firms Greylock, Lerer Ventures, Contour Ventures, and Tugboat Ventures.
Raising such a large round primarily from individuals is not very common for startups, but it provides Qwiki with the independence and strategic know-how to build something beautiful & useful without the distraction of third party control. Special thanks to Felix Investments of New York City – great guys who help entrepreneurs help other entrepreneurs build big businesses independently; Pejman Nozad, our trusted friend and advisor; as well as the tireless folks at Sullivan & Cromwell’s Palo Alto office.
Of course, none of this would be possible without Qwiki’s amazing CTO, Dr. Louis Monier, and our incredible team… as well as the original and unflinching support of our first seed investors: Bobby Yazdani, Navin Thukkaram, and the boys at Stylecaster/Sociocast as well as the first believers, Nader Mousavi & Gregory Smith.
We have huge goals for 2011 – this year, you’ll be able to find, use and create Qwikis on most any subject… on any device. Most importantly, we’re adding to our team. Qwiki needs incredibly brilliant, passionate scientists and artists to join the revolution! And now we can even pay you ☺. So join us.
It’s been a wild ride since the ‘moment of truth’ en route to Buenos Aires just under two years ago and we especially couldn’t have made any progress without the enthusiastic support of Qwiki’s brilliant and forward-thinking user base.
So let’s make something beautiful & useful. And let’s make it matter! Stay tuned…
Much love,
- Doug Imbruce, Louis Monier & The Qwiki Team