DocuSign, a company that eases the process of electronically signing documents, has received a $12.4 million cash infusion.
Last year, the Seattle company laid off some of its workers and earlier this year recruited a new CEO, according to the Seattle PI. It has been making a recovery since, and claims that it tripled its business in the first nine months of 2007.
To electronically sign documents, users generally have to check off a box to signify agreement. However, more serious contracts like mortgage agreements require a legally binding signature, which takes more steps, as well as a special authentication code.
Simplifying and speeding up the process of electronically signing important documents for end users is big business for DocuSign; The company estimates that it has processed over four million signatures since its launch in 2003, charging $3 to $5 per “envelope”.
DocuSign counts some highly recognizable names like Expedia, RE/MAX and Sony among its 1,500 customers. Its competitors include EchoSign and Verisign.
The funding was led by WestRiver Capital, although previous investors Frazier Technology Ventures, Ignition Partners and Sigma Partners participated. Together with two previous investments, the total amount of investment in DocuSign to date is about $30 million. The company has 45 employees.
6 Comments
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Jeffrey McManus said:
Chris, an electronic signature is indeed a “legal” signature and has been under federal law for seven years now. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Signatures_in_Global_and_National_Commerce_Act
What you probably meant to say was a “paper” signature which has persisted mainly for cultural reasons rather than legal reasons.
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David Wall said:
Our congratulations to DocuSign for getting more cash from investors to help them grow and perhaps generate revenues that eventually may sustain the company.
Please note that Yozons, with its Signed & Secured and eSignForms products, is a competitor who has been in business since 2000 and has a fast growing business with significant customers (Enterprise, Citrix, Pitney Bowes, several universities and Comcast among a long list of smaller businesses), many of whom selected Yozons over DocuSign.
You also failed to mention that alamode’s SureDocs is a direct competitor in the print-to-sign electronic signature space and has a fixed annual price that is dramatically less than what DocuSign offers.
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Christopher Sun said:
Another competitor in the space is EchoSign. Echosign has been doing well, particularly through their deep Salesforce integration (via ApEx)
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Chris Morrison said:
Jeffrey: I meant to say what I said, “legally binding”. It’s not a certainty that your average web signature, from checking a “I agree” box to putting in initials, would hold up in court — Act or no. Thus, these companies exist, to do the extra work required.
David: Thanks for mentioning your company.
Chris: Echosign is mentioned above.
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Billy McPherson said:
Are they still in business? I guess a bad attitude can raise money, but even the founder bailed out
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John said:
another competitor is SigneDocs http://www.signedocs.com which offers a much better solution.
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VentureBeat » Roundup: CNET sells Webshots, Comcast not alone, fundings and more said:
[...] raised $9.5 million. EchoSign takes $6 million for signature automation — A month ago today, we reported that competitor DocuSign had taken $12.4 million to continue developing its electronic signature [...]