Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Jonathan Kraft, Mark Cuban buy into CitySquares Online

By Mass High Tech Staff

CitySquares Online Inc., a Boston-based search website operator, reports that it has attracted an undisclosed amount of investment from Jonathan Kraft, president of the New England Patriots, and Mark Cuban, Internet and enternmaint entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

CitySquares, which launched its website in 2005, disclosed the investment in conjunction with a planned November national expansion that Mass High Tech reported in June.

At that time, CitySquares increased the number of its listings from 64,000 to 1.5 million compared after buying additional data from a Chicago-based Amacai Information Corp., CEO Ben Saren said. By Spring 2009, CitySquares is scheduled to list more than 16 million businesses.

Saren founded CitySquares with partner Bob Leland. The pair initially launched websites for seven neighborhoods in Somerville and Cambridge and quickly expanded to cover 25 separate communities from South Boston to the Allston-Brighton area.

The company, which housed four employees while based in Somerville last year, now operates with 14 employees in the South End of Boston.

In 2007, CitySquares closed on its first round of institutional funding, provided by the eCoast Angel Network, based in Portsmouth, N.H., followed by another angel round this year. As of June, it had collected about $1.5 million in total investment, but Saren declined to disclose the exact amount.

CitySquares’ No. 1 search category is for food-related businesses, such as restaurants and cafes, Saren has said. He’s projecting revenue to reach $1 million this year.