Press Releases
Jingle Networks Secures $26 Million of New Financing After Explosive Growth of 1-800-FREE411 Service Additional Financing Includes Comcast Interactive Capital, Liberty Associated Partners and IDG Ventures; New Directory Service Receiving Seven Million Calls Per Month and Growing
April 20, 2006 – Menlo Park, Calif. Jingle Networks, operator of the 1-800-FREE411 directory assistance service, announced today it has raised $26 million of Series B financing, led by Series A investor Liberty Associated Partners. Also participating in the round are Series A investors First Round Capital and IDG Ventures Boston, as well as new investor Comcast Interactive Capital.
1-800-FREE411 (800-373-3411) is the nation’s leading advertiser-supported directory assistance service. Instead of paying between $1 and $2 for each call, consumers may hear a short marketing offer and are then given the opportunity to either respond or to continue with their lookup request. The service otherwise offers the same lookup services as paid directory assistance services.
Since launching the service in September 2005, Jingle is currently processing over seven million calls per month from over three million unique consumers. The service is already showing strong signs of expanding the overall 411 category; users are averaging four times as many directory assistance calls through the free service as users of traditional paid services. In a recent survey, 80% of consumers said they preferred an advertiser-supported free service versus a paid service.
“This financing from top media and telecommunications entities is a testament to the enormous size of our business opportunity and the great momentum and leadership we have established out of the gate,” said Jingle president and CEO George Garrick. “We believe this is nothing less than a major new consumer advertising medium, appropriate for both brand and direct-response advertising. We are building a new kind of media channel which has very similar characteristics in terms of reach, targeting and measurability to paid search and radio, but which provides a voluntary and attentive consumer who has chosen this channel over a paid service.”
“Jingle has shown incredible growth during its initial launch period, and has proven that consumers are eager for a free directory assistance that provides information like yellow pages and the Internet,” said David Berkman, managing partner of Liberty Associated Partners. “With 1-800-FREE411, advertisers have a tremendous new opportunity to reach highly targeted consumers with promotional messages that drive action in an unprecedented way.”
“Jingle is the leader in an exciting new interactive media marketplace that through precise targeting benefits both consumers and advertisers, such as large brand advertisers, direct marketers and local businesses,” said Louis Toth, managing director of Comcast Interactive Capital. “Jingle impressed us by its accomplished management team of Internet and advertising pioneers and its leadership position in this very promising market.”
About Jingle Networks & 1-800-FREE411Jingle Networks, operator of the nation’s leading ad-supported directory assistance service 1-800-FREE411, has significantly changed the directory assistance market by giving consumers an anytime, anywhere source of free information on the phone. 1-800-FREE411 is for anyone who owns a phone and needs information but is dissatisfied with the high cost of directory assistance. Jingle Networks has changed the industry by creating an exciting new media channel through 1-800-FREE411. With nearly 130 million annual calls, 1-800-FREE411 offers advertisers highly targeted and timely promotional opportunities to reach a large but targeted customer base who are ready-to-buy, garnering a response rate twice that of other direct response media. For more information, visit: www.free411.com.
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Deann Mayeda
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