Online Community For Small Businesses Manta Raises $44M From ...

Leena Rao currently works as a writer for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney???s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was... ? Learn More

Manta, an online community dedicated entirely to small business, has raised $44 million in funding from Norwest Venture Partners. This brings the company?s total funding to $61 million. With this investment NVP?s Jon Kossow and David Su have joined Manta?s board of directors, which includes previous investors Athenian Venture Partners and Reservoir Venture Partners.

Manta is an online community meets social network for small business owners. The network aims to help these businesses easily gain an online presence, increased visibility with customers and prospects and ultimately increase sales. Owners can create, manage and share an online profile for their business; promote their companies, products and services; as well as build and engage with other businesses on the platform. The company aims to provide these services for businesses who have less than $5,000 in marketing spend.

?Our investment in Manta is in line with NVP?s strategy to invest in profitable, rapidly growing business leaders,? said David Su, vice president of Norwest. ?The $40B+ addressable market in which Manta plays is immense, and the company continues to grow rapidly as small businesses look to expand their online presence.?

Currently, the company is seeing 3,000 business owners joining per day (up from 1,000 last year), and now has 2 million members. CEO Pamela Springer adds that Manta is seeing 28 million uniques per month. And the company is profitable.

While MerchantCircle also offers a social network for small businesses, Springer sees Manta?s competition as Google (via Places) and even Facebook pages. But she feels that Manta, with its focus on connecting small businesses, is able to suit merchants? and entrepreneurs? needs more efficiently.

Manta helps small businesses profit, connect and grow through the largest online community dedicated entirely to small business. Millions of people come to Manta each day to buy from, partner with and connect to companies. By joining Manta, small businesses easily harness the power of the Internet. Get visible, grow your business for free at www.manta.com.

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