Visual.ly Adds $2M

Visual.ly, the startup that connects infographics creators with publishers, has closed on $2 million in seed funding from Crosslink Capital, SoftTech and 500 Startups. Other investors, including Kapor Capital and Giza Ventures, also joined the round. The company will use the new capital to add staff, and continue development of its self-serve data visualization tools.

PRESS RELEASE
Visual.ly ( www.visual.ly ), the new Silicon Valley-based platform that connects creators of infographic content with audiences and publishers, today announces a $2 million round of seed funding, led by Crosslink Capital, SoftTech and 500 Startups. Notable angels also joined the round, including Kapor Capital, Giza Ventures, early investors in 99 Designs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Mint.com; MediaTrust and Omniture, Theorem Group, and Anthemis Group.

With more than 4,000 indexed, searchable data visualizations, Visual.ly is the largest resource of its kind on the Web. The funds will help support additional teammates as the company builds toward the launch of its array of self-serve data visualization tools, scheduled for later this year.

“Even for a company designed around big data, the numbers we’ve seen since the introduction of our website in July have been astounding. The interest in — and excitement around — what we’ve already achieved is thrilling, and our next phase of acceleration signals big things for data visualization,” said Stew Langille, co-founder and CEO of Visual.ly. “This seed round not only helps us continue to build an A-team, it also brings together some of the best minds in the business.”

Infographics and data visualizations are shifting the way people find and experience stories and interact with brands, creating a new medium for storytelling and information exchange in an increasingly data-driven world. They help communicate complex ideas in a clear, compact and beautiful way by presenting deep data in a compelling visual shorthand.

Visual.ly by the Numbers

Previewed at 500 Startups’ Demo Day in April and launched into public beta in July, Visual.ly has grown at an impressive pace, with:

— More than 26,000 users signed up for the public beta for Visual.ly’s tools, which will become available later this year

— Over 1 million monthly page views to the website

— More than 300,000 infographics generated and shared on Twitter through Visual.ly’s inaugural labs project

— The number of indexed, searchable infographics since launch has doubled

“The volume of interest in what we’re doing is the best validation that we’re on to something huge,” said Lee Sherman, Visual.ly’s co-founder. “When we launch our self-service tools later this year, the richness of data visualization — for journalists, marketers, academics, and really ANYONE with a lot of information to process — will change the way people produce content.”

Visual.ly in Good Company

Part of the growth acceleration is due to the Visual.ly team establishing partnerships with some of the most noted advertising, publishing and data companies, including: AskMen, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, CNNMoney, The Economist, GOOD, NASDAQ, National Geographic, Skype, Wall Street Journal and more.

Visual.ly’s unique solution is built on deep technology specially designed to deliver, including:

— A search engine that indexes all existing Web-based data visualizations

— A powerful data warehouse that brings together datasets from governments, non-profit agencies, and for-profit companies

— A cloud based platform for simplifying and automating the creation of data visualizations

Founded by the masterminds behind Mint.com’s social and content and data strategy, Visual.ly taps the genius of known visual designers Jess Bachman, founder of Wallstats.com and byjess.net; Nate Whitson, formerly of Picturelab, Shane Snow, a regular contributor to Mashable, and a world class engineering team. Tal Siach, one of the Internet’s leading social media marketers is the third co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, and Adam Breckler, Vice President of Product rounds out the founding team.

About Visual.ly ( www.visual.ly )

There’s more data than ever, and more ways to get it. As the world gets more complex and attention spans grow shorter, Visual.ly makes it possible to present infomation in a bite-sized visual way that makes sense for the age of big data. Our platform democratizes the creation and sharing of visualizations, making it possible for everyone to participate.