MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 22 Split Rock Partners, a venture capital firm focused on emerging software and internet services companies, is pleased to announce that Matt Coffin has joined the firm as a Venture Advisor.
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Mr. Coffin was the Founder and CEO of LowerMyBills and built the company into a leading internet marketing services company. Split Rock Managing Director Jim Simons was a lead investor in the company and served on its board of directors. From its founding in 1999, LowerMyBills expanded rapidly and profitably, eventually growing revenues to over $200 million and was one of the leading providers of leads in financial services and telecommunications. In 2005 the company was acquired by Experian, Inc. for approximately $380 million, and Mr. Coffin remained CEO of LowerMyBills and General Manager of Experian until 2007.
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Since leaving Experian/LowerMyBills, Mr. Coffin has been an active investor and advisor to several early stage companies. Representative companies include Billshrink, Buscape (comparison shopping in South America - sold in 2009 for $330m), CyberRain, Demand Media, Docstoc, Hautelook, Impact Radius, Inadco, Machinima, Mahalo, Rubicon Project, and 2tor. In addition, the Split Rock team has partnered with Mr. Coffin on eBureau, a predictive scoring and information services company for online advertisers - where he is an investor and serves on the board of directors.
"Matt is a highly successful and talented entrepreneur who brings great insight and an extensive resource network into the online marketing services sector. We have enjoyed working closely with Matt over the past decade, and we are excited to build on that success as he joins us as a Venture Advisor," said Jim Simons, a Managing Director at Split Rock Partners. "Matt understands the online marketing ecosystem and the challenges and opportunities presented in launching and building a company in a high growth and capital-efficient manner. We look forward to working with Matt to identify promising investment opportunities and building value within our portfolio."
As a Venture Advisor with Split Rock Partners, Mr. Coffin will be identifying and evaluating new opportunities as well as working with the Split Rock team on its existing investments.
"I am excited to expand my long-standing relationship with the Split Rock team, leveraging my own resources and the firm's extensive experience in the online marketing sectors and related areas," said Mr. Coffin. "We remain at the early stages of the shift in marketing budgets online, and innovative new businesses or value propositions are going to accelerate that shift. I believe great businesses will be formed at the intersection of consumers, social networking platforms, and ecommerce technologies, and I am looking forward to advising or partnering with the Split Rock team to find or develop them."
About Split Rock Partners
Split Rock Partners, with offices in Minneapolis and Menlo Park, seeks emerging opportunities in software, and Internet services as well as healthcare. Split Rock closed a $275 million inaugural fund in April of 2005, and a $300 million second fund in May, 2008. Representative internet services companies backed by Split Rock's team include Alvenda, Compete, eBureau, Flycast Communications, HireRight, Internet Broadcasting, LowerMyBills, MyNewPlace, Nexxo, and QuinStreet. Additional information about the firm can be found at www.splitrock.com .
SOURCE Split Rock Partners
