Jingle Networks keys up $7.5M for directory assistance
Jingle Networks, the company that operates national telephone directory assistance (1-800-FREE-411), landed $7.5 million in a fourth round of funding, according to VentureWire. The Menlo Park, Calif. firm will add this sum to the $75 million in capital it previously raised from Goldman Sachs, Hearst, IDG Ventures, Liberty Associated Partners and Comcast Interactive Capital. First Round Capital joined for the recent round.
Jingle Networks operates through voice-recognition software that breaks down callers’ queries. It brings in… Continue Reading
Free 411 service Jingle raises $13M
Jingle Networks, a provider of free telephone directory services, has raised $13 million in a third round of funding, according to VentureWire.
The service, called “1-800-FREE-411″, is pretty simple, and it’s completely automated: You dial a number, listen to an ad and then get the information you need. The Boston-based company has signed up around 150,000 advertisers.
When we covered Jingle back in 2006, the startup had just raised $30 million to build out its network —… Continue Reading
Jingle Networks rings up $13M for directory assistance
A competitor to free phone directory assistance services offered by Microsoft and Google, Menlo Park’s Jingle Networks runs 1-800-Free-411, one of the most popular in the category.
We’ve written about Jingle before. Back in 2006, we reported that it had just taken $30 million with a $150+ million valuation, driven by advertising played back to callers.
In the interim, the company has grown from a base of some 200 advertisers to over 50,000, according to the Investor’s… Continue Reading
Roundup: Lawyer sues Avvo, Google’s acquisitions, Lifelock’s strange story & more
Here’s the latest action:
Lawyers finally sue Avvo – Earlier we reported the angry response of lawyers to the new site, Avvo, which lets users rate lawyers. Well, now lawyer John Browne has followed through on earlier threats to sue, after he decided he didn’t like the profile rating he was given. The rating noted he’d been disciplined by state authorities. The Seattle PI’s John Cook has the story. His suit is even going after Avvo… Continue Reading
Jingle gets $30M to grow its free directory assistance service
(Updated below with comments from chief executive George Garrick)
Jingle Networks, a Menlo Park start-up which provides free phone directory assistance, has raised a whopping $30 million more in venture capital — upping the ante in what is now a crowded field.
This area has become popular because people find this an easy way to avoid the $1 to $3 they get charged using regular DA service.
Jingle, which markets itself as 1-800-Free-411, supports the free service by… Continue Reading
Chinese-U.S. spy wars in Silicon Valley; Are you safe?
FBI investigators want to charge two men for spying in Silicon Valley to benefit China, and they say it is just the tip of a massive effort by the Chinese government to set up front companies to do this sort of thing.
In the latest case, they say Lan Lee, an American citizen, and Yoefei Ge, a Chinese national, stole chip designs and software from their employers NetLogic Microsystems of Mountain View and Taiwan Semiconductor… Continue Reading