2007 23
Pierre Chappaz Raises 4 Million Euros For Wikio
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Investments with No Comments
Pierre Chappaz just sent me the press release that appears below with the good news that Wikio raised 4 million euros. As an investor in the first round, when Wikio was nothing more than a concept, I am happy to see that Wikio has grown to be the most popular European blog and media search engine in only a year.
This round follows the Series A round that came less than a year after my investment in Netvibes, the very successful internet start up page now used by around 10 million people founded by my good friend Tariq Krim, but now also co managed by Pierre Chappaz. Interestingly Pierre Chappaz is also the founder of Kelkoo, sold to Yahoo a few years ago. Pierre is one of the few people in Europe with a keen eye for what´s up and coming on the internet. First in e commerce with Kelkoo and now in content and information management with Netvibes and Wikio. Congratulations Pierre Chappaz and the whole Wikio team!
Wikio Secures 4 Million Euros in Series A Funding
Blog and media search company receives funding for research and development, and international expansion
Luxembourg – January: Wikio, operator of the popular personalized Web information page announced today it has closed a Series ‘A’ round of funding totaling €4 million ($ 5.3 million). The financing round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners along with Gemini Israel Funds.
Wikio, launched in France last June, and currently operating sites in France, the US, Germany, Italy and Spain, is the first European blog and media search engine. To date, Wikio’s fast growing audience has reached nearly one million monthly unique users.
The new round of financing will enable Wikio to expand globally, and deliver the most innovative and customizable information service on the web. Aggressive investment in R&D and operations will enhance product development and accelerate the company’s already rapid growth. The launch of the Wikio UK site is planned for the second quarter of 2007, followed by additional European and American sites.
Wikio is the brainchild of CEO Laurent Binard, founder of Mediapps (European Software Publisher) and Chairman Pierre Chappaz, renowned French entrepreneur, former Yahoo Europe President, founder of Kelkoo (leading European shopping search engine) and co-
Follow Martin Varsavsky on Twitter: twitter.com/martinvars
No Comments
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Chessy on January 24, 2007 ·
Well done Martin! I gave a try to Wikio which seems to be a fantastic news service, a kind of all-in-one web site which offers relevant stories, a very good navigation system through tags and amazing personalized tabs. Not a Digg killer but a good mix between Google News, Technorat and Digg. Adopted!