Badgeville, a white-label platform for publishers looking to integrate social rewards into their websites, announced today that it has raised a $2.5 million round.
The startup offers widgets and APIs to‚ publishers looking to add game mechanics such as badges and rewards to their sites. Publishers can add existing widgets or create a more personalized experience through working with Badgeville&'s APIs to reward visitors for performing various actions on their site &8212' for example, leaving a comment.
CEO Kris Duggan says offering social rewards helps increase reader engagement and build a community. a4‚¬AIta4‚¬a4„s not about pageviews anymore,a4‚¬ť he told us when we spoke to him in September, also mentioning that the company is on track to reach $1 million in revenue by the end of this year.
Since launching at the‚ TechCrunch Disrupt conference in September where it won the audience choice award, Badgeville has garnered an impressive amount of traction. It has partnered with publishers such as Comcast Sports, TechCrunch, Philly.com, The Next Web, and Blackbook.
Its competitors include BigDoor, which raised $5.47 million last month.
Previously, Badgeville raised $250,000 as part of an angel round. Investors in this first institutional round include senior executives from eBay, Paypal, Chegg, Shopping.com, Drugstore.com, Palantir, and Warner Music.
Previous Story: Paula Abdul takes a crack at startups with a way to find fame on the Internet
Print Email Twitter Facebook Google Buzz LinkedIn Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Delicious Google More&8230'
Companies: Badgeville, BigDoor
People: Kris Duggan
Companies: Badgeville, BigDoor
People: Kris Duggan
Sid Yadav is a contributor to VentureBeat. He currently studies computer science and psychology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He is also the creator of Memiary, a micro-diary utility. You can reach him at sidyadav@gmail.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @sidyadav.
VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters. Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
Comments