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Venture Capital News: BranchOut Raises $25M

2012-04-19
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Largest professional networking application on Facebook, has surpassed 25 million registered users. BranchOut has closed $25 million in Series C financing led by Mayfield Fund.
BranchOut, the largest professional networking application on Facebook, has surpassed 25 million registered users, adding more than three new registered users every second.

The continued adoption of BranchOut by global users spurred another round of funding, as BranchOut has closed $25 million in Series C financing led by Mayfield Fund. Previous investors Accel, Norwest Venture Partners and Redpoint Ventures also participated in the round. This financing brings BranchOut's total funding to $49 million.

Powering the Professional Profile for Everyone
BranchOut is the first professional network to enable all workers, regardless of industry, role, or level, to create secure professional profiles on the Facebook Platform.

"We power the professional profile for the Facebook generation," said BranchOut Founder and CEO Rick Marini. "Online networking is not just for managers and executives. New college graduates, retail workers, nurses, software engineers and military veterans re-entering the workforce can all benefit substantially from having strong professional profiles on Facebook. We're making it easier for our users to find jobs through their established and authentic Facebook relationships."

BranchOut is a powerful tool for both job seekers and recruiters because it enables them to utilize their real relationships, while tapping into the unprecedented scale of Facebook. BranchOut's 25 million registered users can leverage their network connections of more than 400 million professional profiles to help them find jobs, recruit talent, and open doors to new opportunities.

Network Effect Fueled by Mobile and Global User Growth
Much of BranchOut's growth has come from its emerging mobile user base. Since adding the ability to connect with Facebook friends from its mobile application in February, 40 percent of its new users now join from mobile devices. BranchOut is now accessible via Android smartphones, Apple iOS devices, and tablets.

With an average of nearly two million new registered users joining weekly since February, BranchOut is also growing rapidly from increased international adoption. Approximately 50 percent of all new users join from countries outside of the U.S. -- primarily in the U.K., Europe, Australia, Canada, and India -- to utilize both their personal and professional relationships on a single network.

International growth has been fueled by key overseas partnerships. Earlier this year, BranchOut partnered with StepStone and totaljobs.com, the leading job sites in continental Europe and the U.K., respectively. BranchOut's "Inside Connections" feature is integrated on both sites, allowing job seekers to leverage their Facebook friend networks to land jobs.

The Series C funding will allow BranchOut to expand its San Francisco-based team of 45 people.

"It's unprecedented to see this type of growth, which makes BranchOut one of the most used apps on Facebook," said Tim Chang, a managing director at Mayfield Fund. "I'm excited by the opportunity BranchOut has to introduce the notion of a professional social network to the 90 percent of the population that is not on LinkedIn. BranchOut is about establishing and crafting your professional identity, which extends far beyond just job searches and connection requests."

Chang joins BranchOut's Board of Directors, which also includes Marini, Kevin Efrusy from Accel Partners, Geoff Yang of Redpoint Ventures, and Co-founder of Ooga Labs, Stan Chudnovsky.

About BranchOut®
BranchOut launched in July 2010 as a free application that allows users to create a professional profile on Facebook. Since then, BranchOut has grown into the largest professional networking application on Facebook with more than 25 million registered users and over 400 million professional profiles. BranchOut allows users in more than 200 countries to leverage their Facebook friend network to find jobs, recruit talent, and strengthen relationships with professional contacts.

BranchOut offers a suite of recruiting products for both job seekers and recruiters. BranchOut's enterprise products help recruiters and hiring managers source talent more efficiently. BranchOut's CareerConnect allows users to publish job postings on a company's Facebook Page. BranchOut's social job posts allow people to display inside connections within a job post, as well as share those posts on Facebook and Twitter. With more than three million jobs and 20,000 internships, BranchOut also operates the largest job board on Facebook. For more information, visit www.branchout.com.
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