OpenCandy Downloads $3.5 Million From Bessemer Venture Partners and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures
Former DivX Executive and Co-Founder Helping to Revitalize the Software Community
San Diego, CA Nov 12, 2008 OpenCandy, Inc., a startup that delivers
distribution and revenue to software developers, announced today that the
company has raised $3.5 million in Series A funding from Bessemer Venture
Partners, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV) and angel investors including
Reid Hoffman (Chairman of LinkedIn, Board of Mozilla), and Jordan Greenhall
(Former CEO and Co-Founder of DivX). The funding will enable OpenCandy to
expand the depth and reach of its unique platform for software developers.
David Cowan of Bessemer Venture Partners joins OpenCandy co-founder and CEO
Darrius Thompson as a member of the company’s Board of Directors.
OpenCandy was started by founding and early members of DivX, where the team
had developed a distribution engine that drove more than a hundred million
software downloads and significant profits for DivX. They started OpenCandy
to deliver the same kind of opportunity to all software developers, especially
open source teams and others who lack resources to distribute and monetize.
“It doesn’t take a giant software company to build a great app,” said
OpenCandy CBO, Chester Ng. “Everyday around the world software developers
create great products. But without marketing and distribution, many of them
are developing the best software you’ll never see.”
OpenCandy’s technology enables developers to recommend other software
products, with or without compensation. These recommendations help users
discover great applications much in the way that the SpreadFirefox program
brought massive visibility to Firefox.
“Early in new markets, everyone thinks they can become a star on their own.
Soon, though, power laws emerge, and some stars burn brighter than others,”
said Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media. “OpenCandy has figured out a way for the
most successful software developers to share the attention flow that comes
their way with other developers whose work they admire. It’s a unique
application of the implicit social graph in the software development
community.”
“Bessemer is always looking out for great software teams to fund because -
regardless of the economic climate – innovation doesn’t slow down,” said David
Cowan of Bessemer Venture Partners. “And that’s exactly why the software
community needs OpenCandy now more than ever.”
Gokul Rajaram, Member of the Board of Advisors and former Product Management
Director of Google AdSense, said, “OpenCandy’s platform provides compelling
value to software developers by greatly improving distribution and
monetization of software applications, which ultimately benefits users through
broader availability of innovative software products. The OpenCandy team has
tremendous experience around the entire ecosystem of software, and I am very
excited to help them achieve their vision.”
“We were very fortunate in this economy to attract the investment partners of
our choice,” said OpenCandy CEO Darrius Thompson. “No one understands the
needs and potential of the technology community better than Tim O’Reilly. And
David Cowan, who funded Flycast, LinkedIn, BabyCenter, Hotjobs and Blue Nile,
brings his great track record and unique expertise in how recommendations
drive e-commerce.”
For more information on OpenCandy, visit http://www.opencandy.com
About OpenCandy
OpenCandy was founded in February of 2008 in by former DivX product,
engineering, and business leads including Darrius Thompson, a co-founder and
former executive officer of DivX. The OpenCandy team was responsible for the
management and development of the consumer software distribution business at
DivX which included the DivX Player, the DivX Software Codec, and the Stage6
web site.
The OpenCandy network, recently launched, lets software creators recommend and
increase the distribution of other software they believe deserves more
visibility. Recommendations are made during the installation process, in a
user-friendly, highly effective manner. The software in the OpenCandy network
and the recommendation experience is held to a high bar of quality, user
experience and security standards.
About Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners (http://www.bvp.com) is a global investment group
with offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, Bangalore, Mumbai, Beijing,
and Tel Aviv. As the oldest venture capital practice in the United States, BVP
has partnered as an active, hands-on investor in Ciena, Ingersoll Rand,
Parametric, Skype, Staples, VeriSign, and W.R. Grace, among many others. More
than 100 BVP-funded companies have gone public on exchanges in Canada, India,
London, and the United States.
About O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures
O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV) is in the business of funding disruptors,
innovators and hackers of the status quo. From open source to the early days
of the web and its recent resurgence, O’Reilly Media has played a key role as
trend spotter and advocate for putting world-changing technologies on the map.
OATV is our effort to bring the legacy, resources and relationships of
O’Reilly to each investment we make. http://www.oatv.com
Published on PR Wire, Nov 12, 2008
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Contact:
Stephanie Mansolino, Director of Marketing
OpenCandy, Inc.
press@opencandy.com
www.opencandy.com
