LONDON -
Bragster, a leading social network for dares and social bets, today
announced it closed a $3.5 million Series A round of venture capital
funding led by Intel Capital, the global investment arm of Intel Corp.
The funds will be used to support future product launches, scale the
team, accommodate new partners
’ requests and
market the site.
The funding comes at a key moment for the year-old site, which has built
an audience of 800,000 viewers in just 12 months. As social networking
has spiralled upward to millions of users and $1.2 billion in
advertising revenues last year, its success has a price: The leading
social networks have become too large, unwieldy and homogenized for many
users. Bragster founders Wim Vernaeve and Bertrand Bodson are leveraging
the audience shift to connect with more targeted communities. They
believe a site with higher-value content that targets a specific
audience will create more engaged users and, by extension, a more
attractive value proposition for advertisers.
“How many times have you told a friend ’I
bet you can't do this?’ That’s
the inspiration behind Bragster,” said
Vernaeve, who worked at Morgan Stanley in London before launching the
site in 2007. “Bragster was founded to record
all the crazy things our friends were bragging about but never seemed to
happen. There's a competitive spirit in each of us and challenges
everywhere, and Bragster is available to record and enrich them.”
Bodson, who co-founded Bragster after working at Amazon.com, said the
site is a unique entertainment channel. “Every
story has its own build up and rich media content, created by our
community of users. Intel Capital‘s role as
an investor will help us write the next exciting chapter in our young
company’s history.”
“The social networking market segment is
experiencing tremendous growth but has yet to find an optimal business
model,” said Alain-Gabriel Courtines,
Investment Director at Intel Capital. “Bragster’s
understanding of social media along with its broad entertainment appeal
positions it to capitalize on this opportunity and create a richer,
deeper experience for both advertisers and users.”
Intel Capital led the funding round, joined by David Frankel through
Puressence Limited. Frankel previously invested in companies including
GetMeIn and SiteAdvisor, sold to Ticketmaster and McAfee, respectively.
About Bragster
Bragster is the place to dare your friends online and brag about it
after posting evidence. It combines the power of online communities with
the fun of having dares, challenges and bets among friends. The company
was founded by Wim Vernaeve and Bertrand Bodson in 2006 and the site
launched in January 2007, reaching over 800,000 unique visitors from
over 150 countries by the end of its first year. The largest markets by
far are the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. More information
can be found at http://www.bragster.com.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, makes equity
investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide.
Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware,
software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health,
consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing, and cleantech. Since
1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$7.5 billion in
approximately 1,000 companies in 45 countries. In that timeframe, 168
portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the
world and 212 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2007, Intel
Capital invested about US$639 million in 166 deals with approximately 37
percent of funds invested outside the United States. For more
information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com.
Blanc and Otus Public Relations for Bragster
Meredith Obendorfer,
415-856-5167
mobendorfer@blancandotus.com
