Piczo secures $11m investment for global teen market

LONDON - Teen social networking website Piczo has secured $11m (£5.8m) in funding from US Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners, as part of its plans to expand its global presence in the youth market.

Piczo, which appointed Ad2-one to sell advertising on its in October 2006, said the securing of funding from US Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners would be in addition to its existing investment from Sierra Ventures and Catamount Ventures.

The teen portal said the $11m would be used to expand Piczo's global presence, invest in new tools for the website and to create a safe online environment for its users, primarily girls aged 13 to 16.

Jeremy Verba, chief executive officer of Piczo, said: "The funding from USVP and Mangrove Capital validates our strategy of expanding globally to reach the highly desirable teen demographic."

Verba added that securing European and US funding would help Piczo, which claims to be the fastest-growing teen social networking site in the world, to further grow its business.

Gerard Lopez, managing partner of Mangrove Capital Partners, added: "Teens control billions of dollars of spending worldwide. Understanding this demographic and knowing how to market to them online is a skill that Piczo can bring to its partners and advertisers."

Piczo, which was founded in 2004 by Verba, recorded a 9,669% increase in website audience in 2005 according to Nielsen//NetRatings, making it the first placed web brand for audience growth for the year.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s new Market Reports.

Find out more

Enjoying ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s content?

 Get unlimited access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s premium content for your whole company with a corporate licence.

Upgrade access

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content