June 24th, 2008
Twitter closes another funding round, backed by Bezos and Sabet
When I spoke with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone a couple of weeks ago, he specifically said “we have plenty of money.” He wasn’t lying. Stone announced on the Twitter Blog earlier this afternoon that the microblogging powerhouse has brought on two new investors — Jeff Bezos and Bijan Sabet.
The amount of the investment was not disclosed but since the rumors of a new funding round began several weeks ago, it’s been reported that this series raised $15 million.
Bezos, of course of Amazon.com fame, and Sabet, who is also an investor in social media site Tumblr and will serve on the Twitter board of directors, were joined in this round by existing investors Union Square Ventures and Digital Garage. Sabet said on his blog a few moments ago that he admire’s the Twitter team’s “passion and dedication to make Twitter into a global communication utility.”
On the Twitter Blog, Stone reiterates his earlier comments to ZDNet that investing in people and growing its team is at the top of the company’s list.
“To reach our goal, Twitter must be reliable and robust. Private funding gives us the runway we need to stay focused on the infrastructure that will help our business take flight. We will continue hiring systems engineers, operators, and architects, as well as consultants, scientists, and other professionals to help us realize our vision.”
With hope this investment and guidance from this team of successful Internet business folks will help the company achieve its first priority of reliability. With the new monetary injection I imagine that Twitter users will want to see the company move swiftly in expanding it’s team and resources. Twitter has been down much of the day today, raising the question that perhaps this announcement was strategically timed to reassure users that the service will get better.
What’s your take?
Jennifer Leggio is passionate about all things social media, especially how it relates to fueling business endeavors and how it is shifting the communications industry. Please send any news, tips or ideas to mediaphyter SHIFT 2 gmail DOT com or follow her on Twitter. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
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| 06/24/08
