Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Spire.com grabs $9M in first VC round

By Mass High Tech Staff

A social-networking site for the rich just got richer: Spire.com has closed a $9 million Series A round of venture capital financing.

Boston-based Spire Inc. plans to use the capital to support the expansion of the website, company officials said. Spire.com was founded last year and targets members with an average annual income of more than $250,000 and assets in excess of $1 million.

Investors include the New York-based Hearst Corp.; Trident Capital, which operates an office in Westport, Conn.; and TL Ventures, which operates offices in Pennsylvania and California.

Spire was founded by Janet Kraus, co-founder of Boston-based Circle Co. Associates Inc., an online concierge service, and Suzanne Aaronson, the founder of SuzannesFiles.com, a website offering travel tips and other suggestions for affluent members.  Suzanne’s Files content is now branded The S-Files on Spire.com and Aaronson will remain curator of the site’s content.