Mobile social networking app Path raises $30 million
Social networking mobile app maker Path said Monday that it raised about $30 million from venture capital firms such as Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures and individual investors such as Virgin Group’s Richard Branson and DST Global’s Yuri Milner.
The investment values the San Francisco company at $250 million.
Path, which had previously raised $11.2 million, is the brainchild of former senior Facebook executive Dave Morin and Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning. It’s riding the new wave of tech companies that are building for mobile, not the Web. Path has been compared to Instagram, which Facebook said last week it would buy for $1 billion. Instagram had more than 30 million users but no revenue.
Path, which has nearly 3 million users, is looking to connect people in more intimate ways than Facebook. It limits its users to 150 connections. The average user connects with 40.
The company, which is not profitable, will use the extra dough to double its staff, expand internationally and do more marketing. It plans to sell a premium version of its app.
Path has gotten into a few scrapes. In February it was discovered that Path stored users’ address books without their permission. The company apologized and changed its software.
Morin rejected a $125-million buyout offer from Google shortly after he launched Path.
“Our ‘Path’ has only just begun,” Morin said.
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