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10/05/2004
Stonehenge Invests in Critical Mention, Leading TV Search Engine and Monitoring Co.
New York. Critical Mention, Inc., the leading provider of television search and monitoring services, today announced that it has raised more than $2 million in a Series A Preferred Stock financing. The oversubscribed financing was led by Silicon Alley Venture Partners and Stonehenge Capital. Other investors included Meyer Ventures, Scott Kurnit (founder and former CEO of About.com) and other members of the New York Angels group, as well as prior investor Pennell Venture Partners.
The new financing will be used to expand Critical Mention's data collection network to the top 100 U.S. markets, increase sales and marketing initiatives, and develop new product features for its soon-to-be-unveiled Critical TV platform. Additionally, Critical Mention plans to expand its technology team and client services group to support its growing list of more than 100 customers.
"Our technology replaces the analog and manual processes of traditional broadcast monitoring while empowering professionals with the capability to search television as they would any other medium," said Sean Morgan, Founder and CEO of Critical Mention. "Our goal is to establish Critical Mention as the de facto leader of television search and monitoring with the most comprehensive, robust and intuitive solution available. This latest round of funding gets us another step closer to that goal, and we are very pleased to welcome such a distinguished list of investors. We look forward to aggressively growing the company."
Several members of the Critical Mention team, including Mr. Morgan and CFO Alan Davison, previously worked together at Pinnacor, formerly ScreamingMedia, which was purchased by MarketWatch, Inc. earlier this year for $103 million. Stephen B. Brotman of Silicon Alley Venture Partners will join Mr. Morgan on the Company's Board of Directors.
"Given its strong and experienced management team and an impressive list of satisfied customers, we believe Critical Mention is well positioned to redefine broadcast monitoring and dominate the emerging market of television search," said Stephen B. Brotman, Managing Director of Silicon Alley Venture Partners. "The company's advanced technology changes the way people search and obtain television coverage, and we are excited to be a part of its success and ongoing expansion."
About Critical Mention:
Critical Mention Inc. is a leading provider of television search and monitoring services. Critical Mention's "Critical Dashboard" provides customers with a full-featured system for tracking current and archival video clips as well as associated closed-caption text. Critical Mention's solution includes instant alerting filters, sophisticated search capabilities and the ability to securely send video clip links to colleagues via email or to a password-protected video clip library. All digitized content is stored securely on Critical Mention's servers. The company currently serves more than 100 customers in corporate communications, financial services, professional services, non-profit and government verticals. Critical Mention is headquartered in New York City and can be found online at www.criticalmention.com
About Stonehenge:
Stonehenge Capital, based in Baton Rouge, La., is a nationwide specialty finance firm with expertise in risk capital management, tax credit finance and structured finance transactions. Stonehenge manages approximately $500 million in capital with offices in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin. For additional information about Stonehenge, visit the firm's web site at
The new financing will be used to expand Critical Mention's data collection network to the top 100 U.S. markets, increase sales and marketing initiatives, and develop new product features for its soon-to-be-unveiled Critical TV platform. Additionally, Critical Mention plans to expand its technology team and client services group to support its growing list of more than 100 customers.
"Our technology replaces the analog and manual processes of traditional broadcast monitoring while empowering professionals with the capability to search television as they would any other medium," said Sean Morgan, Founder and CEO of Critical Mention. "Our goal is to establish Critical Mention as the de facto leader of television search and monitoring with the most comprehensive, robust and intuitive solution available. This latest round of funding gets us another step closer to that goal, and we are very pleased to welcome such a distinguished list of investors. We look forward to aggressively growing the company."
Several members of the Critical Mention team, including Mr. Morgan and CFO Alan Davison, previously worked together at Pinnacor, formerly ScreamingMedia, which was purchased by MarketWatch, Inc. earlier this year for $103 million. Stephen B. Brotman of Silicon Alley Venture Partners will join Mr. Morgan on the Company's Board of Directors.
"Given its strong and experienced management team and an impressive list of satisfied customers, we believe Critical Mention is well positioned to redefine broadcast monitoring and dominate the emerging market of television search," said Stephen B. Brotman, Managing Director of Silicon Alley Venture Partners. "The company's advanced technology changes the way people search and obtain television coverage, and we are excited to be a part of its success and ongoing expansion."
About Critical Mention:
Critical Mention Inc. is a leading provider of television search and monitoring services. Critical Mention's "Critical Dashboard" provides customers with a full-featured system for tracking current and archival video clips as well as associated closed-caption text. Critical Mention's solution includes instant alerting filters, sophisticated search capabilities and the ability to securely send video clip links to colleagues via email or to a password-protected video clip library. All digitized content is stored securely on Critical Mention's servers. The company currently serves more than 100 customers in corporate communications, financial services, professional services, non-profit and government verticals. Critical Mention is headquartered in New York City and can be found online at www.criticalmention.com
About Stonehenge:
Stonehenge Capital, based in Baton Rouge, La., is a nationwide specialty finance firm with expertise in risk capital management, tax credit finance and structured finance transactions. Stonehenge manages approximately $500 million in capital with offices in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin. For additional information about Stonehenge, visit the firm's web site at
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