myYearbook.com Raises $4.1M in Venture Funding.U.S. Venture Partners and First Round Capital See Bright Future in Online Youth Market NEW HOPE, Pa. -- myYearbook.com, a leading social networking site A Web site that provides a virtual community for people interested in a particular subject or just to "hang out" together. Members create their own online "profile" with biographical data, pictures, likes, dislikes and any other information they choose to post. for teens, announced today that it has raised $4.1 Million in Series A funding from U.S. Venture Partners (USVP USVP United States Venture Partners ) and First Round Capital. "We're excited to have USVP and First Round Capital on board. Their investment will help finance the expansion of myYearbook including significant additions to technical infrastructure, sales, and product development," announced Geoff Cook Geoffrey Cook (born October 9, 1951, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire) is a former English cricketer who played in 7 Tests and 6 ODIs from 1981 to 1983. In county cricket he played for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club later moving to Durham County Cricket Club when they gained , co-founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of myYearbook.com. Rick Lewis will represent USVP on the myYearbook.com Board of Directors. "myYearbook.com has quickly attracted a large audience by focusing on providing an enjoyable and useful environment for teens, at a time when advertisers are struggling to reach teens through traditional media," said Rick Lewis of U.S. Venture Partners. "We are delighted to work with the myYearbook.com team to realize the site's full potential as a leading teen media property." myYearbook.com goes beyond banner ads A graphic image used on Web sites to advertise a product or service. Banner ads come in numerous sizes, but are often rectangles 460 pixels wide by 60 pixels high. Also 460 x 55 and 392 x 72 sizes are commonly used. by implementing effective and innovative web marketing programs for teens. From promoting movies to sparkle body sprays, myYearbook serves ads that enhance rather than compete with the user experience. This strategy effectively attracts loyal members, which in turn become strong consumer audiences for everything from educational materials to movies and energy drinks. "Teens don't want banner ads on their profiles," explained Catherine Cook, co-founder and high school student. "Banner ads negatively affect the user experience, and it's not clear that they're effective. I am the 'target demographic' and I am constantly listening to our members. I know that the main way to convince teenagers to see a movie or to buy a product is to show us that our friends are doing it. Ads on myYearbook.com are tools to not only introduce a product, but also to add to a user's experience on the site." myYearbook.com currently counts more than 1.7 million members in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and around the world, and over 5 million unique visitors A count of how many different people access a Web site. For example, if a user leaves and comes back to the site five times during the measurement period, that person is counted as one unique visitor, but would count as five "user sessions. per month. About myYearbook.com myYearbook.com is an online yearbook for the digital age where more than 1,700,000 young people around the world--from teens to college students to young professionals--gather to socialize so·cial·ize v. so·cial·ized, so·cial·iz·ing, so·cial·iz·es v.tr. 1. To place under government or group ownership or control. 2. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable. . The youngest internet site for social networking See social networking site. social networking - social network , myYearbook.com was founded by Catherine Cook, a high school senior, and her older brother Dave Cook, who graduated from high school in June 2006 and is now a freshman at the University of Colorado University of Colorado may refer to:
About U.S. Venture Partners U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) is a leading Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build world-class companies that are leaders in their industry. USVP focuses on early stage opportunities in sectors where the Partners have the domain expertise, operating experience and network of relationships to provide meaningful contribution to the success of the enterprise. These sectors include communications and networking systems, internet and e-commerce businesses, semiconductors and optical components, enterprise and technical software, and medical devices and biopharmaceuticals. Since its inception in 1981, USVP has invested more than $1.8 billion in over 350 companies, resulting in over 70 IPOs and numerous positive merger outcomes. Today, there are more than 100 active companies in the USVP portfolio. About First Round Capital First Round Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm dedicated to helping talented entrepreneurs build remarkable companies. First Round Capital typically funds pre-revenue companies - and often provides a company's first outside capital. As former entrepreneurs, the partners at First Round understand the challenges of launching a new enterprise, and offer insight and expertise that are as valuable as its venture capital. The firm has invested in dozens of early stage companies including Aggregate Knowledge, Jingle Networks Jingle Networks, Inc. is an American media network offering a free directory assistance service called 1-800-FREE411. Consumers dial 1-800-FREE411 (1-800-373-3411) from any phone in the United States to use the toll-free service, which allows callers to obtain any (1-800-FREE411), Krugle, Riya, StumbleUpon and VideoEgg. Additional information on First Round Capital is available via the Internet at http://www.firstround.com. |
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