What the &*?#@ Happened with KickApps?

A former editor used to refer to what follows as “inside baseball” — and suggested that most readers could care less. So feel free to move on, and assume there is nothing to see here. But for the more voyeuristic…

Yesterday I reported that a company called KickApps had raised $20 million in Series B funding. This was incorrect – the company had raised $11 million (still a strong showing within the white-label social networking world).

Since this has caused untold headaches for KickApps, and confusion among more than a few readers, a brief explanation: I heard about the KickApps funding yesterday morning during a conversation about something else, with someone not directly involved with the company. They had few details. An email conversation with someone else turned up the lead – Softbank – and the valuation range. All okay so far.

The problem came when I found this SEC filing — KickApps.pdf — dated July 27 and signed by KickApps CEO Alex Blum. It lists $20 million in Series B preferred equity (only $6.5m called down). I later learned that a press release was slated for today, and I called KickApps for comment. They told me that a different media outlet had been given the exclusive, and that any information they gave me would have to be embargoed until the other pub ran it. I am an unabashedly aggressive reporter who felt the story was solidly-sourced, so told KickApps that I’d be publishing at around 4pm. I didn’t hear back from them.

Turns out that the $20 million figure in the filing referred to an original $6m Series A, some additional Series A raised later, the $11 million Series B and some venture debt. I don’t know why the filing didn’t mention any of this (they typically do), but the end story here is that my info was incorrect and caused a company hardship. Mea culpa. I’ll try to do better next time…