MojoPages Raises $5M in Series A Funding From Austin Ventures

Investment to Accelerate Roll Out of Media Partner Distribution, Further Media Partner Acquisitions and Upcoming New Product Release


SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - June 30, 2009) - MojoPages (http://mojopages.com), a next generation local search solution, today announced it has raised $5 million in a Series A financing led by Austin Ventures. MojoPages will use the funds to expand its core offering, a private-labeled local search solution for media properties, to attract new partners and to develop its position as a leader in the expanding local search market.

"MojoPages has developed a differentiated solution which enables local media companies to extend their brands into the most attractive and profitable online advertising segment -- local search," said Mike Dodd, Venture Partner at Austin Ventures and MojoPages board member. "We were impressed at the number and caliber of media partners the company was able to put under contract over the last six months which is a strong indicator of the value in their offering."

MojoPages was founded over two years ago with the intention of helping friends, family and neighbors find the best local businesses online. The company has developed a directory with over 15 million local merchants, reviews and ratings from its community and aggregated from across the web, and an innovative interface with the latest social networking features. MojoPages' unique offering is a private-label search directory linked to the home pages of media partners such as local newspapers, TV and radio stations.

"Partnering with MojoPages was a great decision for our business! We are now able to provide more complete content for our users and have also enjoyed a dramatic increase in site traffic and revenue," said Gina Landau, Vice President and General Manager of KFMB in San Diego.

By partnering with local media companies, MojoPages allows consumers to find the most relevant and highest rated local businesses. MojoPages' embedded directory benefits local media properties through additional content, substantial increase in traffic, a new channel for revenue and an enhanced consumer experience on the web. There are currently more than 1,000 sites under contract from major media brands and conglomerates, such as Belo Corp., KFMB (CBS8), Salem Web Network and Triton Digital.

"We have an innovative solution for our local media partners to easily access the large and rapidly growing online local search market. This financing gives us the resources to build on our initial momentum with our partners and evolve our offering to the next level. We are very excited to release the next version of our solution which is slated for September 2009," said Jon Carder, founder and CEO of MojoPages.com. "And we are thrilled to have Austin Ventures on board as we continue to innovate and grow."

About Austin Ventures

Austin Ventures ("AV") has worked with talented entrepreneurs to build valuable companies for nearly twenty-five years. With $3.9 billion under management, AV is the most active venture capital and growth equity firm in Texas and one of the most established in the nation. With an investment focus on business services and supply chain, financial services, media and information services, software and Internet, and Texas special situations, AV invests at all stages of company development, from $100,000 in "planned experiments" in early stage ideas to $100+ million investments in expansion rounds, minority recapitalizations, and buyouts of lower middle market growth companies. AV's strategy is to partner with talented executives and entrepreneurs through its CEO-in-Residence and Entrepreneur-in-Residence programs. Visit austinventures.com for more information.

About MojoPages.com

MojoPages.com is a next generation local search solution which private labels its technology for media websites, such as local newspapers, TV and radio stations. The company's solution includes a directory of over 15 million domestic merchants that are ranked based on their reviews and ratings so that the best businesses rise to the top of search results. This enables its partners to help their audience easily locate the best local businesses. To date, MojoPages has contracted with more than 1,000 partner sites in a number of the largest U.S. cities with some of the best known media brands and conglomerates, such as Belo Corp., KFMB (CBS8), Salem Web Network, and Triton Digital. MojoPages is headquartered in Solana Beach, California. Visit http://mojopages.com for more information.

Contact Information: For more information contact: Kim Hughes Austin Ventures 512.657.7222 Stephanie Liu MojoPages.com 858.436.7048 x1002