I’m late in reporting this (was out in meetings) but venerable local search site Angie’s List has gained a whopping $35 million investment from VC firm Battery Ventures. Given that the company is a decade old and profitable it’s a big win for Angie’s List — one of the few Internet companies to succeed as a consumer subscription model. However, there’s also advertising and the company has a small format magazine that members receive.
It’s a lot of money for a reported minority stake. Angie’s List is a safe investment and Battery smells an exit. (But why is Angie’s List looking for money? That’s a more interesting question . . . hmmm . . . unless it’s to bulk up for an anticipated big exit.)
Angie’s List’s success is a statement about how “slow and steady” wins the race in local. In a way, the company is like Craigslist — if it were to launch today it likely wouldn’t succeed (at least with the same model). But because it’s been around for more than 10 years it has built a brand and a solid base of support.
Here’s a previous post on the company and perspective on Angie’s List’s subscription success.
April 15, 2008 at 2:12 pm |
[...] Angie?s List Gets $35 Million from Battery I’m late in reporting this (was out in meetings) but venerable local search site Angie’s List has gained a whopping $35 million investment from VC firm Battery Ventures. Given that the company is a decade old and profitable it’s a big win for Angie’s List — one of the few Internet companies to succeed as […] Bookmark YellowPagesGoesGreenSubscribeDiggdel.icio.usFacebookNewsVineRedditStumbleUpon [...]
April 30, 2008 at 6:56 pm |
[...] spoke to Angie Hicks of Angie’s List a little while ago about the Battery Ventures $35 million (minority) investment and what it might be used for. She told me that Angie’s List wasn’t looking for money [...]
November 18, 2008 at 10:28 pm |
[...] April of this year the company got $35 million from Battery Ventures. The stated reasons for the additional funds are “continued growth and international [...]