Are you sitting down? Pasadena-based EHarmony sold $100M preferred stock to 14 investors including Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures.
Chief Executive Greg Forgatch:
This sends a signal that the venture capitalists who are funding the company have faith that they can have a very successful initial public offering in the next couple of years — or that they expect it to be a very attractive acquisition target. The company has identified 10,000 marriages linked to its service, but believes there are more. A goal for 2005 is to track 100,000 marriages linked to the service.
I’m taking note of that, 100,000 marriages next year. EHarmony plans to use the $110 million for working capital and advertising.
EHarmony supposedly converts registered members to full-time subscribers at a rate that’s six to 10 times the industry average, Forgatch said. The service has 6 million registered members. A privately held company, EHarmony does not disclose its annual revenue or say whether it is profitable.
The funding spigot is definitely flowing more freely these days, this is not the only big ticket deal I’ve heard about recently.
More on this monumental event and the implications it will have on the industry coming your way.
