When Twitter announced a round of financing last week they mentioned most of the investors – an A list crowd that includes Union Square Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Marc Andreessen, Dick Costolo, Ron Conway, and Naval Ravikant. But they didn’t disclose the amount raised, even though it is customary to do so. We sniffed around and heard that the the company held a special meeting with their new investors and specifically asked them not to disclose the amount raised. We heard that it was a small round, between $1 – $5 million, but frankly I suspected it would be on the low end of that range.
Other startups, notably Technorati, have also tried to keep venture rounds quiet. But inevitably they leak because so many of the limited partners who invest in these funds must disclose information to the SEC. That hasn’t happened yet with Twitter, but the numbers are leaking. As best as we can tell, the company raised a $5 million round, on a $20 million pre-money valuation.