Text message crowdsourcing startup TxtEagle raises $8.5m
Through partnerships with mobile operators in dozens of countries, the company offers people free airtime in exchange for answers to questions. These might be market research surveys or ‘microtasks’ such as providing mapping information for GPS services, auditing local advertising or helping with translations into local languages.
Nathan Eagle set up the company in 2008 with Ben Olding after creating a system to allow nurses in Kenya to report on blood supplies at their hospitals by text.
The firm claims that its deals with mobile operators give it access to more than two billion people.
TxtEagle is looking to increase its headcount to 15 or 20 people by the end of the year, and invest in its back office systems to allow it to reach more people.
This latest round of funding was led by Spark Capital, whose founder Todd Dagres joins TxtEagle’s board. Flywheel Ventures, RBC Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures and angel investor Esther Dyson, who all previously contributed to the company’s $1.2m seed funding, also took part.
Read our interview with Nathan Eagle from January here.
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1 Comment
Tonya Van Dijk
14 years ago
Congratulations to TxtEagle for its new funding! Surely, this will be another big step for the company to make their services even better! Looking forward to another year of success! To know more about TxtEagle, here's another interesting article, http://crowdsourcing.org/l/1020.
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