Voyager, Steamboat Ventures line up behind secretive Ground Truth |
Register here for our next TechFlash Live networking event, March 23, featuring an expert panel discussing the future of online advertising.
Voyager, Steamboat Ventures line up behind secretive Ground Truth
Last week, we reported on the secretive mobile analytics startup Ground Truth, noting the involvement of some heavy hitters from the Seattle tech startup scene. At the time of that post, we reported that a venture round was nearing completion with Voyager Capital.
Well, today documents were filed with the SEC indicating that the company has raised $2.6 million. Listed in the filing as directors are Erik Benson and Tom Huseby, investment professionals at Voyager. Also listed as a director is Beau Laskey of Burbank, Calif. Laskey is listed as the managing partner of Steamboat Ventures, the venture arm of The Walt Disney Co.
Now, the key question is: Why would Steamboat -- which invests in consumer-oriented companies -- be interested in a mobile analytics startup?
Laskey does have some experience in the mobile realm, previously investing in companies such as Zyray Wireless. He's also a board member at Seattle-based Ontela, a mobile photo sharing services that also is backed by Huseby.
The company was founded by Michael "Luni" Libes, who previously co-founded mobile search startup Medio Systems. Ground Truth's president is Sterling Wilson, a former executive at Qpass and Concur Technologies.
UPDATE: In an email, Libes confirmed that the deal is closed but he said the amount listed in the filing is incorrect. He said they are not ready to announce the actual funding amount or the company's backers, but he did note that they are moving ahead in terms of building the team and the product.
About John Cook
John Cook is co-founder and executive editor of TechFlash. He has been covering the technology beat for nearly a decade, writing about startups, entrepreneurs and venture capital, most recently serving as a reporter/blogger at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
READ FULL BIOGRAPHYRecent Sponsor Posts
Seattle University Software Engineering
Chinwe Okeke (MSE’08) pursued her graduate degree while working as a developer and technical analyst for the Boeing Company. She picked the SU-MSE program for small class sizes and real world learning opportunities offered through the academic service-learning and capstone projects.
The MSE program at Seattle University is geared for working professionals with classes offered in the evenings. The program builds upon the computing experience of its students and offers courses in a variety of technical and management areas of software engineering, with an emphasis on teamwork and a disciplined approach to problem solving.
Marchex is one of Seattle’s largest ad technology companies with 300+ employees providing call and click based performance marketing products, and managing over $100m in ad budget for tens of thousands of advertisers. Our customers range from local businesses to the Fortune 500.
Our talented and creative product engineering group is hiring.
If you are an innovative software design engineer interested in solving difficult problems at scale, across a wide array of technologies from Lucene to Hadoop to Asterisk and SIP then we’d love to hear from you!
Apply now.
Technology Tax Planning – Did You Take The Deduction?
Technology companies require professional advisors who can assist in all aspects of the business. The BDO Technology Practice provides a full range of services tailored to help address the changing needs of domestic and international companies. In addition to core audit and tax services, BDO professionals can assist technology companies with:
· Revenue recognition
· Business combination accounting
· R&D tax credits
· Compensation and benefits
· Business valuations
Backed by 38 national offices and an international network in 110 countries, we have the domestic and global footprint to serve growing technology companies. Contact sphilpott@bdo.com (audit partner), mreeves@bdo.com (audit partner), psmith@bdo.com (tax partner), tzambito@bdovaluation.us.com (valuation), tfiscus@bdo.com, Director, 206.624.2020
Job Listings
- LEAD SDET, Mobile Device Strategy and Commercialization - 705105
- Microsoft Corporation
- Sr. SDE - 712257
- Microsoft Corporation
- Principal SDE - Software Development Engineer - External - 704722
- Microsoft Corporation
- Software Development Engineer - Display Advertising
- Business Services Company
- Principal IT / OPS Program Mgr - 711209
- Microsoft Corporation
