TigerText Closes $21 Million Series B Round

0

If TigerText did nothing else as a company, it could forever be known as the company that birthed teen-friendly privacy app Whisper.

But rather than becoming a latter-day Odeo, the podcasting startup famous for housing the early makings of Twitter and then disappearing, the enterprise messaging company in Santa Monica has gone out a raised a round.

The $21 million Series B round was led by Shasta Ventures, with participation from OrbiMed, Reed Elsevier Ventures and Telus Corp. There were also follow-on investments from Series A contributors Easton Capital, New Leaf Venture Partners and New Science Ventures. The total raised by TigerText is now $31 million.

When TigerText was founded in 2010 it sold a consumer app for sending text messages with a built-in self-destruct feature. It was an early player in the ephemeral messaging category later made viral by neighboring Snapchat Inc. in Venice. Despite the popular myth, company founders insist the app’s name was not derived from Tiger Woods, victim at the time of a few unsecured text messages.

But the company has since shifted its focus to enterprise, pitching itself as a secure platform to send private information. The app is compliant with privacy regulations, and has been used by a number of heath care organizations. Doctors in hospitals use it to send messages carrying sensitive information to other doctors, administrators and patients.

With short-form messaging becoming more common in the workplace, building a secure platform for enterprise could be a lucrative area. A release from the company touted 2013 as big growth year, with triple digit sales increases (revenue specifics were not disclosed).

“This new capital will help support our continued expansion efforts and fuel future growth as the demand from enterprises for our secure mobile messaging solution accelerates,” Tiger Text Chief Executive Brad Brooks said in a release.

No posts to display