Seattle startup Pressplane just inked a new $3.5 million round, led by Madrona Ventures. Rob Glaser, founder of RealNetworks and now a partner at Accel, also invested personally and is joining board. Second Avenue Partners and chairman Mika Salmi (formerly of MTV Networks and Atom Entertainment) also participated.
The money will go into further development of Zapd, a mobile publishing platform that lets people create good-looking, customized Websites directly from their iPhones. (You can see it in action on this episode of Fly or Die). Since its launch in March, Zapd has been downloaded 320,000 times with very little marketing.
“We think its time to rethink websites. How they are made. How they are consumed,” says CEO Kelly Smith. He says the new funding will go into adding more features such as live realtime themes, interactive widgets, and hooks into social networks. Pressplane’s other product is Inkd, a custom printing, logo, and design service.
Pressplane has two main products: Inkd, a true “buy & sell” community (rather like CafePress, Zazzle, Etsy and even stock image companies) wherein designers upload print creative and businesses can download and use the content as a cost effective alternative to hiring a designer, and Zapd, an app that allows users to create instant, themed websites straight from their iPhones.
Madrona Venture Group has been investing in early-stage technology companies in the Pacific Northwest since 1995 and has been privileged to play a role in some of the region’s most successful technology ventures. The firm invests across the information technology spectrum, including consumer Internet, commercial software and services, digital media and advertising, networking and infrastructure, and wireless. Madrona currently manages nearly $1 billon and was an early investor in companies such as Amazon.com, Farecast, Isilon Systems, iConclude, and World...
Rob Glaser is a venture partner at Accel Ventures. He is the founder of RealNetworks which produced RealAudio, RealVideo, RealPlayer, and Helix, among other products and services. Before founding RealNetworks worked for Microsoft for ten years. Glaser is a graduate of Yale University with an MA degree in Economics and a BS degree in Computer Science.
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