Angie's List Receives $35 Million Investment

INDIANAPOLIS (April 10, 2008) - Angie’s List (www.angieslist.com ) the nation’s leading source for local service provider ratings has added Battery Ventures, one of the nation's oldest and most well respected venture capital firms, to its list of investors. Battery invested $35 million in exchange for a minority stake in the company. Angie's List will use the investment to continue its aggressive pattern of growth and service expansion.

“We’re very excited to be working so closely with Roger Lee and his partners at Battery," said Angie Hicks, founder of Angie's List. "They were helpful even before we finalized the deal, and we know we're going to enjoy working with them as we continue to grow our presence and the services we offer."

Recognized nationally as an Internet pioneer, Angie's List holds a unique position at the intersection of local search, user-generated content and subscription-based services. Further setting the company apart in the local ratings space is its data integrity process, which maximizes the accuracy and reliability of the information available on Angie's List. Angie's List does not allow anonymous postings, and service providers cannot add themselves to the List.

Currently serving more than 600,000 members in 124 major cities across the United States, Angie's List will celebrate its 13th year by opening service to any consumer in the country in the second quarter of 2008. Expansion to Toronto and London will follow. Last month, Angie's List began collecting ratings on the health care industry, including reports on doctors, facilities and insurers.

“Angie's List has really cracked the code on using the web to link consumers to reliable service providers, and has been delivering value to members since day one,” said Roger Lee, a general partner at Battery Ventures. “The team, their business model, their national reach and the integrity of the data they make available puts them far ahead of the pack. We’re thrilled to support them in this next phase of growth, and have every confidence the company will continue increasing the value it offers its growing membership.”

“We're happy to see additional support for this great company,” said Mathias Schilling, general partner at BV Capital. “We view it as validation, of sorts, of our strategic investment decisions, and we continue to expect great things from Angie's List.”

Source: Angie's List

Tech firm to bring 300 jobs to Marion

Veriana Networks Inc. announced Tuesday it would begin construction early next year on the headquarters near the Interstate 69 and Indiana 18 interchange. Veriana is a spin-off company from San Diego-based Verimatrix, which is working in the development of Internet Protocol Television.

Rob Swagger, co-founder and interim CEO of Veriana Networks, grew up in the Grant County town of Van Buren and graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion.

Swagger said about 100 people should be hired in the company's first year of operation and that could grow to about 285 workers by 2012. Its main business will be developing ways to target advertising specifically to the viewer through handheld media players and personal computers.

AT&T will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony this afternoon to officially open its new call center in Evansville. The facility is expected to employ 600 people by April 2008. The call center will provide wireless customer care operations for AT&T’s business-to-business organization.