Peanut Labs Raises First Round

Peanut Labs, a San Francisco-based provider of Generation Y market research for social networks and other online content providers, has raised $3.2 million in Series A funding. Backers include Leapfrog Ventures and BV Capital.

PRESS RELEASE 

Peanut Labs, provider of the largest Gen-Y sample for market research, today announced that it received $3.2 million in a series A financing round. The funding is led by top-tier venture capital firms Leapfrog Ventures and BV Capital.

The financing comes as Peanut Labs also announces company profitability and seven-figure revenues for fiscal year 2007 that have shown 20 percent month over month revenue growth. Peanut Labs expects eight figure revenues in 2008.

The $3.2 million cash infusion will be used for continued product development towards Peanut Labs' patent pending market research sampling technology, which is highly effective at reaching the sought after 13-25 year-old demographic known as Gen-Y. The funding will also be used to actively service Peanut Labs' burgeoning list of market research clients and enhance the survey-taking experience, a crucial part of Peanut Labs' Sample3.0 technology.

“With surveys from the gaming, consumer products, entertainment, automotive and cellular industries, the demand for our uninhibited access to this taste-making demographic is exploding. This round of funding will allow us to expand service to our active list of premier market research clients to give them the highest quality sample,” said Murtaza Hussain, chief executive officer and co-founder of Peanut Labs. “We feel our business model proves that social networks have alternative ways to maintain profitability that yield revenue increases up to five times higher than with ineffective, ad-based models.”

Found across more than seventy social networks, Peanut Labs helps web publishers create revenue streams through market research surveys. Each time a member of the social network completes a survey, the publisher earns a sum of money.

“Partnering with Peanut Labs has proven to be a most profitable way to monetize our Facebook applications,” said Josh Liptzin, CEO of Phase 2, Inc., a Peanut Labs publisher. “There has been much talk surrounding the effectiveness of advertising as a means of revenue, but there is no question that Peanut Labs' market research surveys are an excellent source of income and appealing to our users to enhance their overall experience.”