Formspring Collects $11.5M

San Francisco-based Formspring, part of a small crop of Web-based question-and-answer services that has grown up over the past two years, said today that it has raised $11.5 million in Series A funding. Redpoint Ventures led the round, which was joined by Baseline Ventures and individual investors. The company’s service prompts users to share information about themselves through questions such as “What was the happiest moment of your life?” In an announcement, founder Ade Olonoh said the new funds would allow the startup to focus on ongoing product innovation and efforts to expand its team in San Francisco. Previous investors in Formspring, which has raised $14 million total since its November 2009 founding, include Floodgate Fund, Freestyle Capital, Polaris Ventures, Lowercase Capital, SV Angel, Founder Collective, Travis Kalanick, Dave Morin, Kevin Rose, Geoff Ralston, and Todd Wagner.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/