Monday, October 6, 2008

Slater slots $350K into R.I. startup WaveSyndicate

By Mass High Tech Staff

Rhode Island’s startup venture capital fund, the Slater Technology Fund, reports that it has committed $350,000 in seed funding to Providence, R.I.-based software developer WaveSyndicate.

The digital media analysis and syndication company will use the investment to expand its product development for early-stage customers and work toward wider release by year-end. WaveSyndicate is designed to enable bloggers and website operators to attract and retain online visitors, company officials said.

WaveSyndicate is led by Jared Rosoff, a founder of Providence-based telecom policy management company Tazz Networks Inc., and Bob Chatham, former CMO of North Carolina-based web analytics vendor Visual Sciences Inc. and principal analyst at Forrester Research.

The Slater Technology Fund is a state-backed venture capital fund that invests in new companies committed to basing and building their businesses in Rhode Island. Slater focuses on the support of entrepreneurs who have the vision, leadership and commitment to build commercial enterprises, officials said.

In September, the Slater Technology Fund committed $3.1 million in funding to 11 technology ventures in the Ocean State during the fiscal year that ended June 30, it said this morning.

Four of the 11 investments were new investments for Slater, and the remaining seven were follow-on investments in ventures that Slater had previously funded. Five of those seven follow-on investments were made in conjunction with co-investors. In those deals, Slater pumped a combined $1.1 million into the companies, while co-investors contributed $2.3 million.