Optify Announces Series A Funding

Search Engine Optimization and Twitter for Business Software Firm backed by Investment from Madrona Venture Group, Founders and Prominent Angel Investors

SEATTLE, Jul 20 — Optify, Inc., (www.optify.net), a software-as-a-service provider of search and social media lead generation software for B2B marketers, today announced it received a $2.75M Series A round of financing led by Madrona Venture Group and several prominent angel investors and technology veterans.

Optify is developing hosted optimization service that makes search, social networking, and online lead generation fast, simple, and profitable for a broad variety of B2B marketers.  Optify was founded in August 2008 by Brian Goffman, former venture partner at Madrona, and veteran of Microsoft, Austin Ventures, and McKinsey & Company, and Erez Barak, former director of product marketing at HP and veteran of Mercury Interactive.  At Madrona, Goffman worked with entrepreneurs to build several companies in the online marketing area, including AdReady, Mixpo and AboutUs.

“Madrona has a history of backing innovative and successful software companies focused on online marketing. I’m thrilled to continue my relationship with Madrona as CEO of Optify,” said Brian Goffman.

“Search engine optimization and social media remain a black box for most online marketers,” said Matt McIlwain, Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group. “Lead generation is the ultimate measure of B2B marketing success. We’re excited to partner with a veteran team to build a service that enables customers to gain an edge on the Internet.”

As part of the financing, Matt McIlwain, Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group, will join Optify’s board of directors.  Investors in the financing include Optify’s founders and several prominent venture capital and technology industry veterans:

• Alan Axelrod - Alan is a private investor and former hedge fund manager at HIG Capital and Ziff Brothers Investments, and former media and technology investment banker at Goldman Sachs.  Alan holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
• John Cunningham - John is a general partner of Clear Fir Partners, L.P., a private equity investment partnership. John is a board member at Revenue Science, InfoSpace (INSP), and Citel (CITE.L), and on the board of advisors of Petra Mezzanine Fund. John previously served as President of Kellett Investment Corporation, an investment fund for private companies, and chairman and CEO of RealCom Communications Company, merged with MFS Communications. John holds a BA from Santa Clara University and an MBA from University of Virginia.
• Geoff Entress - Geoff is an active angel investor in the Pacific Northwest.  A former venture partner with Madrona Venture Group, he is currently on the board of drugstore.com, BuddyTV, and Sandlot Games. Geoff is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon and a JD from the University of Michigan.
• Marc Friend - Marc is partner with MF Capital, L.P., and former general partner at USVP, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and Summit Partners, a private equity firm.  Marc is a graduate of MIT and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
• Andy Liu - Andy is Publisher of BuddyTV, a leading content site for television fans. Andy holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
• David Niu – David is Editor-in-Chief of BuddyTV, where he leads the content team. David is a graduate of The University of California at Berkeley and holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Cooley Godward Kronish, LLP – Cooley Godward Kronish is a law firm that represents entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and emerging growth companies in major technology hubs around the world. The firm recently opened a Seattle office with leadership including John Robertson, former shareholder with Venture Law Group.

About Optify
Optify (www.optify.net) is a software-as-a-service company offering website optimization, lead conversion and social marketing applications to convert content into customers. Optify is led by a group of Internet veterans from Microsoft Corp., HP, and other top online companies. Optify was founded in mid-2008, with corporate headquarters in Seattle. Optify is a trademark of Optify, Inc.

About Madrona Venture Group
Madrona (www.madrona.com) has been investing in early-stage technology companies in the Pacific Northwest since 1995 and has been privileged to play a role in some of the region’s most successful technology ventures. The firm invests predominately in seed and Series A rounds across the information technology spectrum including consumer Internet, commercial software and services, digital media and advertising, networking and infrastructure, and wireless. Madrona currently manages over $650 million and was an early investor in companies such as Farecast, Classmates.com, aQuantive, ShareBuilder, Isilon (ISLN), and iConclude.

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Source: Optify, Inc.

Contact: Elise Hebb, Madrona Venture Group, elise@madrona.com, (206) 674-8702
Web site: http://www.optify.net/