INVEST
Investing in Visionary Entrepreneurs
At CRV, our approach to investing is simple: we seek out visionary entrepreneurs, and give them the support they need to build great companies from the ground up.
Meet our Team
BUILD
Great Entrepreneurs Build Great Companies
We focus on highly charged industry sectors which we believe are rich in opportunity. Take a look at our current portfolio of companies―ones we believe will define the future of these market categories:
- Communication & Technology
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Yammer, Inc.
Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: ‘What are you working on?’
Yammer was founded by former PayPal COO David O. Sacks and officially launched on September 8, 2008. Yammer’s management team includes seasoned industry veterans drawn from the ranks of PayPal, eBay, eGroups, Tribe, and other leaders in the software industry.
12/13/2011
Yammer #3 on RWW’s Top 10 Enterprise Products/Trends of 2011 more
09/28/2011
BusinessWeek: Ex- Facebook exec leads $17M investment in Yammer more
09/28/2011
Forbes: Yammer Nabs $17M Led By Former Facebook Exec Chamath…more
09/27/2011
VentureBeat: Yammer raises $17M from former Facebook VP to improve…more
09/16/2011
CRV Investments Zendesk and Yammer to present at FASTech Nov.…more
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InVisage Technologies
InVisage Technologies, Inc. is a venture-backed fabless semiconductor company based in Menlo Park, Calif. that is developing QuantumFilm, a breakthrough imaging-sensing technology that will replace silicon. Its first product enables the high-fidelity, high resolution images from handheld devices like camera phones and PDAs. Founded in 2006, InVisage Technologies is venture funded by RockPort Capital, Charles River Ventures, InterWest Partners, and OnPoint Technologies. More information is available at http://www.invisageinc.com.
03/22/2010
InVisage Technologies in the Wall Street Journal: Startup Says Quantum…more
03/22/2010
InVisage Technologies in New York Times: Company Sees Leap for…more
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Heartland Robotics
Heartland Robotics is combining the power of computers - embodied in robots - and the extraordinary intelligence of the American workforce, to increase productivity and revitalize manufacturing.
11/30/2010
Heartland Robotics on Xconomy: Heartland Robotics Raises $20M More to…more
09/08/2009
Xconomy Boston: Heartland Robotics Confirms $7M Funding Round; Charles River…more
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24M Technologies
24M will commercialize a novel technology that originated with A123 and was further developed at MIT. This technological advance combines attributes of rechargeable batteries, fuel cells, and flow batteries to enable scalable cost-effective, high-energy storage systems for emerging markets, including transportation and the electric grid.
08/16/2010
24M Technologies Launches Based on Technology from A123 Systems and…more
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- Software & Services
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bni video
BNI empowers video service providers by giving them more control, functionality and flexibility in delivering new and next-generation services to their subscribers. BNI’s uniquely open, scalable video control plane software was designed from the ground up to enable the deployment of video and other next-generation services to any end point more rapidly, easily and reliably than ever before, allowing providers to achieve greater operational efficiencies and enhanced revenues, and end users to enjoy more personalized and rich media experiences.
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Zendesk
Zendesk is inspiring the help desk 2.0 movement through a focus on enlightened customer support. By leveraging the benefits of Web-based communications and social media, Zendesk extends good help desk karma to any company looking to offer professional-grade support service with very little effort. Backed by Charles River Ventures, Zendesk was founded in 2007 and has more than 1,000 customers including John Lewis, MSNBC and Twitter. To learn more, go to www.zendesk.com or follow @zendesk on Twitter.
12/06/2011
VentureBeat: Zendesk upgrades help desk app for Android phones, tablets more
09/16/2011
CRV Investments Zendesk and Yammer to present at FASTech Nov.…more
09/12/2011
Zendesk on TechCrunch: Zendesk Adds A Twilio-Powered VoIP System To…more
08/25/2011
VentureBeat: Zendesk opens new Denmark office, teams up with startup…more
08/02/2011
TechCrunch: Zendesk Brings Customer Service SaaS To The Enterprise more
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Sincerely
Sincerely is focused on making it easy to send real photos in the mail from your phone. We believe printed photos are meaningful & a photo sent to a friend is the most ubiquitously appreciated gift on the planet. http://www.sincerely.com
10/26/2011
Sincerely on Gigaom: Sincerely secures $3M funding, debuts greeting card…more
10/26/2011
Sincerely on TechCrunch: Sincerely Raises $3 Million To Deliver Real-World…more
10/26/2011
Sincerely on Mashable: Never Mind Apple: Sincerely Raises $3 Million…more
10/26/2011
Sincerely on CNET: Mobile postcard startup Sincerely finally hot, now…more
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HubSpot
HubSpot Inbound Marketing Software helps our 4,000+ customers generate traffic and leads through their websites, and convert more of those leads into customers.
HubSpot software includes tools for: blogging, landing pages, lead nurturing, marketing analytics, content management, social media, SEO, CRM integration, email marketing, and more.
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- Media & Entertainment
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ViKi
Our dream is a world without language barriers, where everyone can communicate with anyone. Thanks to you, our amazing community and content partners, we are bringing down these barriers and sharing each others’ cultures through the best of world TV, movies and pop culture.
10/20/2011
Viki on TechCrunch: $20M In International Video Site ViKi more
02/02/2011
Viki Wins Crunchie for Best International Startup more
12/08/2010
Viki in The Los Angeles Times: ViKi: Making online video…more
12/08/2010
ViKi on TechCrunch: ViKi Raises $4.3 Million from VC All-Stars…more
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Active Network, Inc.
The Active Network, Inc., based in San Diego, Calif., provides application services technology and marketing access to community service organizations, and is a leading online community for active lifestyles. The company’s solutions help sports and community service organizations improve customer service capabilities, increase revenues, and reduce the cost and complexity of managing and marketing activities and events. Its full service marketing and promotions agency, Active Marketing Group, brings direct knowledge, insight and access to active and on-the-go consumers. Through its Web properties, http://www.Active.com, http://www.eteamz.com and http://www.ActiveGolf.com, The Active Network provides consumer services and resources that support participation in healthy lifestyles. For more information, please visit http://www.TheActiveNetwork.com or call 1-888-543-7223.
03/09/2011
CRV is proud to be investors in 4 of Top…more
09/27/2010
Active Network Teams Up with Survey.com to Launch Active Lifestyle…more
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WonderHill
WonderHill creates social games for you to play with your friends and family online. When building games, we think of the kind, clean, unspoiled spot down deep inside every one of us, that maybe the world has made us forget, and maybe our games can help to recall (paraphrasing Mr. Walt Disney). Our mission is to create the most happy and magical online games in the world.
10/22/2010
Wonderhill on VentureBeat: Kabam acquires social game developer WonderHill more
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CampusLive
CampusLIVE is a platform that enables students to connect to brands in fun and exciting ways. We create “engagement” campaigns for sponsors like Ace Ticket, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Comcast, HotelPlanner.com and Big Y Supermarkets. These campaigns offer students the opportunity to win awesome prizes, exclusive trips and huge discounts in exchange for playing social games. These games might include polls, surveys, scavenger hunts, team matches and more.
12/14/2011
Boston Globe: McDonald’s enlists CampusLIVE to help promote coffee, Peppermint…more
08/04/2011
The Young & The Funded: Boris Revsin of CampusLIVE more
04/26/2011
CampusLive on TechCrunch: CampusLive Raises $3.1 Million To Help Brands…more
04/15/2011
CampusLive on Xconomy: CampusLive Nabs $3M more
04/15/2011
CampusLive in The Boston Globe: $3 million for CampusLive, connecting…more
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George Zachary
Chris Baldwin
Devdutt Yellurkar
Izhar Armony
Bruce Sachs
Saar Gur
Ted Dintersmith
Jon AuerbachEMERGE
We Back Emerging Industry Leaders
- RPX
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SpotlightOn: RPX
RPX invests in broad patent portfolios to protect their large and small technology clients against lawsuits from patent trolling firms. The result of such a rational solution? Patent-holders are fairly compensated, while the technology industry spends more time innovating and less time litigating.
- ZenDesk
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SpotlightOn: ZenDesk
Ever had a moment of Zen courtesy of customer service? Didn’t think so. Zendesk aims to change that. CEO Mikkel Svane believes that by enabling companies to easily track all customer service interactions, they’re creating a simpler and more intimate relationship between company and customer that results in… well, moments of Zen.
- SpiderCloud Wireless
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SpotlightOn: SpiderCloud Wireless
The reason your indoor wireless coverage can be so spotty is because your carrier doesn’t want to spend the money to create a signal robust enough to reach indoors with the same data and voice reliability. SpiderCloud Wireless takes your carriers existing architecture, and extends its reach to your indoor area, making spotty indoor coverage a thing of the past.
- Scribd
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SpotlightOn: Scribd
From start-up to world’s largest online library of original writing, Scribd has turned reading and publishing into an online social experience. With over 50-million users, co-founders Trip Adler and Jared Friedman are well on their way to achieving their goal of making Scribd a top 20 website.
- Rive Technology
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SpotlightOn: Rive Technology
They may look like ordinary grains of sand to the average eye, but Rive sees piles of cash in its revolutionary oil refining catalyst. By helping oil refineries produce more gasoline and less asphalt from their crude, Rive increases refinery profits, while reducing their environmental impact.
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Follow CRV on Twitter: @CharlesRiverVC
12/22/2011
Terrapower in The Wall Street Journal: RIL Buys Minority Stake in U.S. Nuclear Reactor Design Company more
12/22/2011
GigaOm: India’s Reliance backs nuclear startup TerraPower more
12/20/2011
Bloomberg: Nuance to Acquire Vlingo to Expand Voice-Command Technology more
12/14/2011
Bloomberg West: Zachary Discusses Opposition to 500-Shareholder Rule more
12/14/2011
Boston Globe: McDonald’s enlists CampusLIVE to help promote coffee, Peppermint Mocha more