MENLO PARK--- Unisfair Receives $10 Million in Series B Funding from Norwest Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital
Unisfair, the leading provider of virtual events, today announced it has received $10 million in Series B funding led by Norwest Venture Partners and joined by existing investor Sequoia Capital. Unisfair, which includes Cisco, Cognos and IBM among its customers, will use the funds for product development and to further strengthen sales and marketing operations.
Demand for Unisfair virtual event technology solutions grew substantially in 2007 as the number of virtual events hosted by Unisfair customers grew 350 percent. Enterprises have seen significant return on investment results from leveraging Unisfair’s virtual demand generation and virtual recruiting software-as-a-service solutions.
“Unisfair’s rapid growth and marquee client list has positioned the company to capture this significant business opportunity and makes them a strong addition to our portfolio,” said Vab Goel, Partner, Norwest Venture Partners and new board member.
“Virtual events will have a significant impact on the way companies conduct business, bringing them greater returns without the need for travel,” said Shmil Levy, Partner, Sequoia Capital. “Unisfair is the recognized leader of virtual events for businesses. With its proven technology and growing customer base, Unisfair is on a path of continued success and leads the market in this important category.”
“In our virtual events and virtual business environments, we are taking the most advanced technology and adding the most business-applicable aspects of Web 2.0 and social networking to create a product that pragmatically solves a variety of real-world business challenges, from cost-effective marketing to recruiting,” said Guy Piekarz, CEO of Unisfair. “Teaming with Norwest and Sequoia gives us the resources to bring our offering to a larger audience and to continue delivering the product innovation our customers have come to rely on.”
About Unisfair
Unisfair powers the world’s virtual events and virtual business environments. Virtual events and business environments are used for marketing, recruiting and training purposes. If it can be done physically, Unisfair can replicate it virtually—with superior return on investment.
Unisfair has powered over 400 virtual events for enterprise clients including Cisco Systems, IBM, Cognos, and Quest Software; and for media clients including Nielsen, Tech Target, CMP, Rogers Publishing and Penton Media.
Unisfair is privately held with headquarters in Menlo Park, California and offices in New York, Boston and Israel.
About Norwest Venture Partners
Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is a global venture capital firm that has partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for more than 45 years. NVP focuses on investments in information technology including: consumer Internet and media, software, services, enterprise and communications systems, and semiconductor/components. The firm currently manages more than $2.5 billion in venture capital out of its office in Palo Alto, California. For more information, please visit www.nvp.com.
About Sequoia Capital
Since 1972, Sequoia Capital has provided early stage and growth stage venture capital for very smart founders and executives who have turned great ideas into sustainable companies of enduring value. As the "Entrepreneurs Behind the Entrepreneurs," Sequoia Capital's Partners have worked with accomplished innovators and operators who built great franchises such as Agile Software, Apple Computer, Aruba Wireless Networks, Cisco Systems, Flextronics, Google, Informix, Isilon Systems, Linear Technology, LSI Logic, Microchip, NetScaler, NetScreen, Network Appliance, nVidia, Oracle, PayPal, Pixelworks, Yahoo!, YouTube, and Netezza. To learn more about Sequoia Capital visit www.sequoiacap.com.