STELLAService Secures $2M Investment
Battery Ventures and DFJ Gotham Lead Recent Financing, STELLAService to Amplify Customer Service Ratings Platform and Expand Marketing Efforts with New Website
New York, NY (March 21, 2011) – STELLAService, the first independent customer service ratings provider for online retailers, today announced that it has raised $2 million in early stage funding, led by institutional investors Battery Ventures and DFJ Gotham Ventures. RRE Ventures, Consigliere Brand Capital, Doug Lebda, Mark Wachen and other angel investors also participated.
STELLAService objectively measures, rates and highlights the service quality of online businesses. The company was founded in 2009 with the dual goal of helping online shoppers make more informed buying decisions, while also helping Internet retailers grow their businesses through insightful customer service data and marketing services. Many of the world’s leading ecommerce sites, including Diapers.com, Zappos.com, and 1-800-Flowers.com, now showcase the STELLAService SEAL on their sites.
“Until now online shoppers have lacked a reliable ally for sorting through thousands of websites and uncovering retailers that offer great customer service,” said co-founder and CEO Jordy Leiser. “With this funding, STELLAService can play a critical role in building transparency for online shoppers and shine light on those online stores that truly employ best practices when it comes to the overall customer experience.”
STELLAService will use the proceeds to leverage its rigorous evaluation system to rate several thousand online retailers. The company will also significantly expand and enhance its website with new tools and features aimed at making it an indispensible, trusted resource for online shoppers.
“STELLAService is bringing unparalleled transparency to ecommerce customer service,” said Satya Patel, Partner, Battery Ventures. “Prices and product selection are moving towards parity in ecommerce, so customer service is the basis on which the leading ecommerce sites will differentiate themselves over the long term. STELLAService is already working with some of the top ecommerce companies. With this financing, we look forward to working with the company to provide consumers with much deeper and broader customer service data across all ecommerce sites.”
“We are very excited about working with the talented team at STELLAService to address this important need in the huge and rapidly growing ecommerce market,” added Ross Goldstein, Co-Founder and Managing Director at DFJ Gotham Ventures. “The company has quickly penetrated the market with its innovative solution, and we look forward to it further expanding its product offering and market presence with this financing.”
About STELLAService
Dedicated to helping consumers make more informed online shopping decisions, STELLAService is the first and only independent provider of customer service ratings for online retailers. Using its proprietary, rigorous evaluation system, STELLAService rates thousands of retailers each year across a broad array of criteria, including usability and online tools, shipping and returns and customer support. To maintain its independence and objectivity, STELLAService pays for all products it purchases and relies on its staff of trained, full-time customer experience analysts to test the companies it evaluates. Based in New York City, the company also publishes reports and other research to help companies worldwide improve their service operations. For more information, visit www.STELLAService.com. Follow us on Twitter at @STELLAService.
About Battery Ventures
Since 1983, Battery has been investing in technology and innovation worldwide. The firm partners with entrepreneurs and management teams across technology sectors, geographies and stages of a company’s life, from start-up and expansion financing, to growth equity and buyouts. Battery has supported many breakthrough software and digital media companies, including: Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), Infoseek (acquired by Disney), Internet Brands and Omniture (acquired by Adobe). Current companies in Battery’s portfolio include: Angie’s List, Bazaarvoice, BlueKai, Freewheel, Glassdoor.com, Gogobot, Groupon, and Skullcandy. Battery’s investments range from as little as a few hundred thousand dollars in seed and early stage financing, to $50 million or more for late stage/expansion deals. From offices in Boston, Silicon Valley and Israel, Battery manages $4B in committed capital, including its current fund of $750M. For more information, visit www.battery.com. Follow us on Twitter at @BatteryVentures.
About DFJ Gotham Ventures
DFJ Gotham Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City focused primarily on early-stage information technology companies on the East Coast. DFJ Gotham Ventures partners with extraordinary teams of entrepreneurs to build strong and successful businesses that make a huge impact in their industries. DFJ Gotham Ventures takes pride in being an active partner, leveraging its experience, knowledge and relationships to provide substantial value to its portfolio companies. DFJ Gotham Ventures is proud to have backed such category leaders as Massive (acquired by MSFT), XOsoft (acquired by CA), Q-Link (acquired by Adobe), Drop.io (acquired by Facebook) and Mimeo.com, among many others. For more information, please visit www.dfjgotham.com.