VIZU CORPORATION RAISES $2.9 MILLION TO REVOLUTIONIZE ONLINE RESEARCH
Web's first do-it-yourself polling service brings market research to the masses
San Francisco, CA – January 31, 2007 – Vizu Corporation (www.vizu.com), the company democratizing market research, announced today that it has secured $2.9 million in funding, led by a $1.5 million investment from Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The additional resources will help the company continue to market and develop its premier service -- Vizu Answers (http://answers.vizu.com), the web’s first do-it-yourself opinion polling and market research service.
“The beauty of Vizu Answers is that it is both simple and revolutionary. It breaks open the market for polling and primary research by making it easy, fast, and affordable, while creating an entirely new way to monetize web page views without having to resort to more ads,” said Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson. “We are big believers in value-added networks as a business model, and Vizu Answers is a great example of that.”
“With this additional funding, Vizu will invest in marketing and development to maximize the service’s benefits for both the researchers and publishers,” said Mack Tilling, Chairman and CEO of Vizu. “Just as advertising networks in the ‘90s disrupted the traditional advertising model, we are shaking up the world of market research.”
The market potential for Vizu’s service is enormous - knowledge workers in organizations of all sizes can use Vizu Answers. Anyone who does not have the time, money or know-how to invest in expensive market research initiatives can take advantage of Vizu Answers to find the answers they need quickly. During its private beta testing stage, Vizu Answers was used by financial institutions, consumer products companies, entrepreneurs, and more. The publisher network grew 2-3 times larger than initial projections during the beta period, and is growing over 35% per month.
“I’ve followed the research industry very closely for many years, and applaud Vizu Answers' breakthrough approach to quick polling, currently a hot spot in the market research industry,” said Louise Garnett, Vice President and Lead Analyst, Outsell Inc. “The Internet has driven the need for faster answers, which is currently being addressed by on-line market research techniques. Vizu takes it a step further into building a real time publisher network where quick polling can be done on the fly, benefiting both the researcher and the publisher. That is a unique value proposition, which would not have been feasible even just a couple of years ago.”
Ravi Belani of Draper Fisher Jurvetson adds, “With the explosion of self-publishing online through blogs, social networks, and other media, the Internet is an unrivalled resource to poll the specific audience you are seeking.”
Vizu is a privately held company backed by WR Hambrecht + Co, Amicus, LLC and angel investors including Ron Conway, Esther Dyson, Mike Maples, Jr., and Dave Whorton. The Vizu team brings together backgrounds in market research, customer service and technology. Vizu executives have worked with industry-leading companies such as Modem Media / Digitas, Market Tools, Agency.com, and The Clorox Corporation.
About Vizu
Founded in 2005, Vizu is democratizing the market research industry by developing services that make online polling easy, accessible, and affordable to everyone. The company’s premiere service, Vizu Answers (http://answers.vizu.com), combines a revolutionary market research technology with a vast network of web sites, offering highly targeted audiences to answer a wide variety of questions. Vizu Answers is also an innovative way for online publishers to monetize their site traffic in a reader friendly way. Vizu is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson is the pre-eminent venture capital firm with global presence through a network of affiliated funds, with offices in more than 30 cities around the world and over $3.5 billion in capital commitments. DFJ's mission is to identify, serve, and provide capital for extraordinary entrepreneurs anywhere who are determined to change the world. Over the past twenty years, DFJ has been proud to back more than 300 companies across many sectors including such industry-changing catalysts as Hotmail (acquired by MSFT), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), United Online (UNTD), Overture (acquired by YHOO), Interwoven (IWOV), Four11 (acquired by YHOO), Parametric (PMTC), and Digidesign (acquired by AVID).
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