Company to accelerate global growth plans and media partnerships
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Banjo, a highly visual app and website that allows users to experience breaking news and live events in real time through the eyes of the people who are there, announced today it has completed a $16 million Series B round of financing. Balderton Capital led the round with participation from existing and new investors, including BlueRun Ventures and Vegas Tech Fund, bringing Banjo's total funding to $21 million. The investment will be used to accelerate ambitious growth plans by recruiting top talent, expanding the global user base and enhancing the enterprise platform for media partnerships.
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"Banjo has harnessed the pervasive nature of mobile location technology and social platforms to create a unique real time events engine," said John Malloy, General Partner and Co-Founder, BlueRun Ventures. "For users this means a contextually relevant view of events as they unfold, anywhere, any time. For our media partners this unprecedented real time fusion with relevant social content adds context and extends the value of their offering."
"In addition to being a destination for consumers, the media business is recognizing Banjo as a critical partner that provides access to on-the-ground content for breaking news and live events," said Roberto Bonanzinga, Partner, Balderton Capital. "We are impressed Banjo has been working side by side with media companies that include NBC, FOX and BBC to report real time events and news as they happen. This type of adoption is rare for companies at this stage, and I believe this is just the beginning."
Last week, Banjo launched its first web version and went live on iOS and Android with a groundbreaking new feature called Banjo Rewind. The technology behind Banjo Rewind allows people to search past events and go back to specific moments in time. Now Banjo combines its real time location-based curation with a full historical view into what happened anytime, anywhere around the world.
"Banjo is changing the way people consume breaking news and experience live events online and on mobile," said Damien Patton, CEO, Banjo. "Rewind is doing for the Internet what TiVO did for television. We serve a world of people consuming and posting digitally, and now there is a way to marry the past and present in a seamless user experience. Within seconds on Banjo you can get caught up on the latest world event or take a breath to relive a defining moment in sports, news or entertainment history with Rewind. Banjo has become part guilty pleasure, part critical source, and as I see it my job is to continue to drive features that enhance the user experience and change the game for our media partners."
About Banjo
Founded in 2011 by Damien Patton, Banjo is known as 'The Live Internet,' because it offers users an all access pass to breaking news and live events. By indexing the world's largest collection of social posts by location, time and content, Banjo users can experience what's happening anywhere in the world through the eyes of the people who are there. In 2013, Banjo was named one of the World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Local by Fast Company, and recognized as a top mobile developer by Google in 2012. Visit http://ban.jo/.
Website: http://ban.jo/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/banjo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamBanjo
Media Contact: Hunt & Gather
Erin Kurtz
Email
+1 646 -790-1613
Balderton Contact: Carmen Murray or Ellie Sweeney
Email
+44 20 7250 1446