PatientsLikeMe Lands $8M

PatientsLikeMe, a Cambridge, MA-based firm that provides social networking sites for people with specific illnesses, has raised $8 million of a planned $30 million round of equity financing, according to an SEC filing. Ben Heywood, the president and co-founder of the firm, said that his company doesn’t comment on financings. The company’s previous investors include CommerceNet of Silicon Valley, the private equity firm Invus, the Omidyar Network, which is the Redwood City, CA, philanthropic investment group started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, and Collaborative Seed and Growth Partners, based in the Boston area. PatientsLikeMe was founded in 2004.

Author: Ryan McBride

Ryan is an award-winning business journalist who contributes to our life sciences and technology coverage. He was previously a staff writer for Mass High Tech, a Boston business and technology newspaper, where he and his colleagues won a national business journalism award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in 2008. In recent years, he has made regular TV appearances on New England Cable News. Prior to MHT, Ryan covered the life sciences, technology, and energy sectors for Providence Business News. He graduated with honors from the University of Rhode Island in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. When he’s not chasing down news, Ryan enjoys mountain biking and skiing in his home state of Vermont.