Foodspotting Raises $3 Million Series A Funding, Led by BlueRun Ventures January 10, 2011 - San Francisco, Calif - Foodspotting, a visual guide to go

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Foodspotting Raises $3 Million Series A Funding, Led by BlueRun Ventures

January 10, 2011 - San Francisco, Calif - Foodspotting, a visual guide to good food and where to find it, today announced that it secured $3 million in Series A funding. BlueRun Ventures led the financing with follow-on participation from seed round investors. Jay Jamison, a Venture Partner at BlueRun, will be joining Foodspotting's board.

The company launched publicly in January 2010 and closed this round of funding as it prepares to celebrate its first anniversary on the 15th. In its first year, Foodspotting has become the leading web and mobile app for rating dishes and a differentiated location-based service, reflected in a number of significant milestones:
- Surpassing 550,000 iPhone app users since launching in March 2010
- Releasing an Android app beta in December 2010
- Attracting over 300,000 monthly website visitors
- Collecting 275,000 dish recommendations worldwide
- Securing partnerships with leading media brands, including The Travel Channel, Zagat, Bravo and food publications such as Grub Street, Thrillist, TastingTable and YumSugar
- Raising $750k in July 2010 from respected angels and early stage funds including Aydin Senkut's Felicis Ventures, Dave McClure's 500 Startups, and Shana Fisher's High Line Venture Partners
- Being named a "Hot Trend of 2010" and "App of the Week" by Apple, one of 19 "Most Wired iPhone and iPad Apps of 2010" by WIRED, and one of the "50 Best Websites of 2010" by TIME Magazine

Foodspotting aspires to become the "Pandora for Food" -- the easiest way to find good food wherever you go -- and will put this funding to use by making the food discovery experience faster, smarter and more approachable to a broad audience that extends beyond "foodies." By collecting structured data about what people are consuming, not just where, Foodspotting is in a unique position to surface smart recommendations from friends, experts and the crowd and to eventually expand beyond food into other products.

To this end, Foodspotting will be growing their team of UX-minded developers and working with small businesses, food brands and partners to surface new kinds of content in the Foodspotting stream, such as expert recommendations, restaurant specials and local deals. By doing so, Foodspotting plans to give the 130 million people who eat out on any given day (in the US alone) even more reasons to download and launch Foodspotting.

Quotes
Alexa Andrzejewski, Foodspotting Founder and CEO: "I am incredibly grateful to the team, investors, partners and Foodspotting community that have helped us cover the earth with food sightings in just one year. We look forward to working with BlueRun Ventures, a mobile-focused VC, to help us leverage this rich information in satisfying the practical need of finding good food. We're not a food photo sharing site or food social network, rather, our aim is to be a resource that is powered by a passionate community."

Jay Jamison, Venture Partner at BlueRun Ventures: "We are very excited to lead Foodspotting's financing round. The Foodspotting user community is strong and vibrant, and their partner traction is extremely strong. Both are testaments to the team's focus and execution. We see great market potential in having the Foodspotting service provide guides, recommendations and information to people to help them figure out what they should eat."

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About Foodspotting
Foodspotting is a visual guide to good food and where to find it. The Foodspotting website and mobile apps make it easy to find and share your favorite foods: Instead of reviewing restaurants, you can recommend your favorite dishes using photos and see what others have recommended wherever you go. Foodspotting was founded in January 2010 by Alexa Andrzejewski (of Adaptive Path), Ted Grubb (of Get Satisfaction) and Soraya Darabi (of The New York Times).

About BlueRun Ventures
BlueRun Ventures is an early stage firm focused on mobile, consumer Internet, and software opportunities in key technology markets. BlueRun has worked closely with entrepreneurs to build disruptive companies such as PayPal, WiderThan, Slide, Like.com. BRV has offices in Menlo Park, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, and Helsinki. www.brv.com

Media Contact
Fiona Tang
Community Lead, Foodspotting
Email: fiona@foodspotting.com

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