StatusNet Closes $875K Seed Financing Round

Delivers first open-source micro-blogging platform

MONTREAL, Oct. 27 // - StatusNet, the company that develops an Open Source micro-blogging platform, has completed an $875,000 financing round. Investors include local venture capital groups Montreal Start Up and iNovia Capital as well as European angel investor Oleg Tscheltzoff of Fotolia.com.

"We're excited by the opportunity for growth this investment brings," says Evan Prodromou, CEO of StatusNet Inc. "We plan to use this capital to build the sales, support and marketing power needed to take our software and services to the marketplace."

Founded in 2008, StatusNet develops the software that runs hundreds of micro-blogging sites across the Web, including the popular Identi.ca community. The StatusNet engine allows companies and communities to set up their own Twitter-like Web site, so that employees, customers or friends can share quick status updates, links, and files. The engine includes APIs and tools to receive and send updates through IM and SMS as well as through Twitter and Facebook.

"StatusNet is ready to take its place in the market as the WordPress of microblogging," says John Stokes, lead partner at Montreal Start Up. "The growth of the Twitter platform has proven the importance of this medium, and we believe that StatusNet can play an important role in bringing this capability to broader audiences."

The company has commercialized the Open Source offering with support, customization services, and a hosting platform at status.net. The hosted service, currently in private beta, is scheduled to launch publicly before the year end. Customers can choose between private sites, similar to yammer.com, and public sites for publishing or community engagement.

"iNovia team recognizes the opportunity to bring micro-blogging to corporate users, media outlets and brands among others," says Josko Bobanovic, principal at iNovia Capital. "Evan and his team have demonstrated they can provide a valuable service while being supported by a strong business model. We look forward to helping this dynamic team further its growth in the ever-changing business market."

For further information see http://status.net or contact Evan Prodromou (evan@status.net)

About StatusNet

Founded in 2008 by CEO Evan Prodromou, StatusNet Inc. develops the Open Source microblogging tool by the same name. Based in Montreal, the nine-person team provides service and support as well as the hosting platform status.net

About Montreal Start Up:

People, ideas, finance, and luck: these four factors are necessary to create any successful company; Montreal Start Up provides start-up finance to people with ideas. For more information, visit www.montrealstartup.com.

About iNovia Capital

iNovia provides venture capital to entrepreneurs who transform innovations into successful companies. The team is comprised of sector experts in information technology, life sciences, and clean tech. In addition, iNovia's extensive network of industry and academic partners provides portfolio companies with unique access to intellectual property. iNovia has $165M under management across two seed and early stage funds. For more information, visit www.inoviacapital.com or follow iNovia on Twitter at http://twitter.com/iNovia

About Oleg Tschertzoff

Oleg Tscheltzoff co-founded http://fotolia.com, the first global online social marketplace for creative digital stock images in 11 languages, where photographers and designers of all levels can store, share and monetize their photographs and illustrations. As CEO, he led the company from inception to its rapid rise to one of the world's largest microstock photography site. On May 21, 2009, Fotolia launched http://photoxpress.com, the world's largest free stock images web site.

SOURCE INOVIA CAPITAL