Charles Rivers Ventures

INVEST

Investing in Visionary Entrepreneurs

At CRV, our approach to investing is simple: we seek out visionary entrepreneurs, and give them the support they need to build great companies from the ground up.

Meet our Team

team member Hassan Ahmed Philip Kaplan Devdutt Yellurkar Jack Genest Sarah Reed Mike Zak Austin Westerling Rick Burnes Ted Dintersmith Chris Baldwin George Zachary Bruce Sachs Saar Gur Jon Auerbach Izhar Armony Bill Tai

Jon Auerbach

BUILD

Great Entrepreneurs Build Great Companies 

We focus on highly charged industry sectors which we believe are rich in opportunity. Take a look at our current portfolio of companies—ones we believe will define the future of these market categories: 

Communication & Technology

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  CRV Team

  Bruce Sachs

  iControl Networks

  Palo Alto-based iControl Networks is a venture-backed software and services company providing award-winning, mass-market solutions for the remote monitoring market, designed for residential and small-business use. iControl Networks partners with home security companies, Internet service providers and telecommunication companies to bring its award-winning solutions to market. Investors in iControl include Intel and Charles River Ventures. Visit http://www.icontrol.com.

  07/22/2009

  iControl Networks Raises $23 Million in Series C Funding   more

  04/08/2008

  iControl Networks Raises $15.5 Million For Home Security 2.0   more

  04/02/2008

  ICONTROL NETWORKS RAISES $15.5 MILLION FOR HOME SECURITY 2.0   more

  02/12/2008

  VOXCOM Security Systems and iControl Networks Announce Partnership to Deliver…more

  09/10/2007

  ICONTROL NETWORKS OFFERS NEXT GENERATION OF HOME SECURITY, MONITRONICS INTERNATIONAL…more

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  CRV Team

  Devdutt Yellurkar

  Heartland Robotics

  Heartland Robotics is combining the power of computers - embodied in robots - and the extraordinary intelligence of the American workforce, to increase productivity and revitalize manufacturing. 

  09/08/2009

  Xconomy Boston: Heartland Robotics Confirms $7M Funding Round; Charles River…more

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  CRV Team

  Izhar Armony

  iSkoot

  With offices in Cambridge, Mass. and Israel, iSkoot is dedicated to enabling mobile Internet voice and chat services. iSkoot software allows users to view their buddy lists, make and receive Internet calls, and enjoy instant messaging using nearly any mobile handset. Supported on native platforms (Symbian S60, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, UIQ, and Palm) as well as J2ME and BREW platforms, iSkoot uses proprietary technology and has many patents pending for its unique client server protocol and interfaces, Mobile-to-Skype gateway and integrated presence system. For more information, visit http://www.iskoot.com.

  11/11/2008

  iSkoot Raises $19 Million in Series C Round   more

  02/27/2007

  iSkoot Raises $7 Million in Series B Financing   more

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  CRV Team

  Mike Zak

  Verenium

  Today’s world faces mounting pressure arising from the end of the era of low-cost oil that fueled global prosperity in the 20th century. Diminishing oil supplies, growing concentration of petroleum in the hands of unstable or hostile political regimes, and the mounting threat of climate change all point toward the need for new ways to produce fuels and other chemical products in the 21st century. Verenium (Nasdaq: VRNM) is a new biofuels industry leader for the green millennium. The company formed as a result of a merger of publicly-held Diversa and Celunol, a CRV portfolio company.Verenium, a new biofuels industry leader for the green millennium.

  06/20/2007

  Diversa and Celunol Complete Merger to Create Verenium Corporation, a…more

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Software & Services

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  Rick Burnes

  Passport Corporation

  Passport Corporation delivers mobile workforce management solutions that help companies enhance the productivity of front-line employees and the accountability of operations. Using Passport’s mobile software applications to track labor and manage jobs at the point of activity, companies gain accurate and timely information to improve costing, billing, payroll, compliance and resource management. Founded in 1990, Passport serves customers in manufacturing, logistics, energy, construction, facilities services and other industries with mobile or remote employees. For more information, visit http://www.passportcorp.com.

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  Izhar Armony

  Virtusa

  Virtusa (NASDAQ: VRTU) is a global information technology (IT) services company providing IT consulting, technology implementation and application outsourcing services. Using its enhanced global delivery model, innovative platforming approach and industry expertise, Virtusa provides cost-effective services that enable its clients to use IT to enhance business performance, accelerate time-to-market, increase productivity and improve customer service.

  Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Massachusetts, Virtusa has offices in the United States and the United Kingdom, and global delivery centers in India and Sri Lanka. For more information, visit http://www.virtusa.com.

  08/03/2007

  Virtusa Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering   more

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  Saar Gur

  Progress Financial

  Progress Financial Corporation is a consumer finance company that offers unsecured credit to Hispanics that lack established credit and banking relationships. Customers are hard working immigrants who have been in the US for 10 years and at the same job for 3.3 years. Under the brand name, Progreso Financiero, the company markets, sells and disburses $500 - $5000 loans in Spanish from a network of distribution points located inside large Hispanic supermarkets and high traffic malls. Currently locations are in the Bay Area, but the company has plans to expand rapidly to other parts of California and the United States. For more information, visit http://www.progressfin.com.

  01/20/2010

  Progress Financial in The Wall Street Journal: FDIC:Banks Not Regularly…more

  01/20/2010

  Progress Financial in San Francisco Chronicle: 25% of U.S. households…more

  01/20/2010

  Progress Financial in Bloomberg: Gutierrez Says Progreso Has Made Over…more

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  Izhar Armony

  RPX

  RPX Corporation is a patent acquisition services company for technology and e-commerce company’s Intellectual Property and Litigation Counsels and CFOs who want to reduce their patent assertion and litigation costs and risks. Funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Charles Rivers Ventures, the company has acquired over $30 million in patent rights to date and is on track to acquire $100 million in its first year. The company was founded by patent industry professionals with over $2 billion in patent transactions in their careers. RPX will not enforce the patents that it purchases. RPX headquarters is in San Francisco, CA.

  02/01/2010

  RPX in BusinessWeek: Tech Giants’ New Way to Thwart Patent…more

  07/23/2009

  Index Ventures Joins Kleiner Perkins and Charles River in RPX…more

  11/25/2008

  RPX Introduces First Defensive Patent Aggregation Service   more

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Media & Entertainment

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  Bill Tai

  WangYou

  WangYou, based in China, is developing a cross-media user-generated content community through its internet-based wireless platform.

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  Austin Westerling

  Eons, Inc.

  Eons, Inc. is a social networking site empowering a new generation of spirited boomers through interactive content, tools and community. Founded by Jeff Taylor, creator of Monster.com, Eons has attracted a team of renowned advisors and industry-leading partners and is backed by venture capital financing from General Catalyst Partners, Sequoia Capital, Charles River Ventures and Intel Capital, as well as Humana, Inc. It is supported by corporate founding partners Harrah’s Entertainment, Humana, Inc., Liberty Mutual Group, Fidelity and Verizon Wireless. Eons is headquartered in Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston. For more information about Eons, visit Eons.com.

  03/06/2007

  Eons Closes $22 Million In Series B Funding Led By…more

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  George Zachary

  Twitter

  Twitter is a social utility for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected. Time Magazine says, “Twitter is well on its way to becoming the next killer app,” while the New York Times says, “It’s one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet.” Twitter is all about the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Find out more at http://www.twitter.com

  09/28/2009

  New York Times: Twitter Snags New Investment, Backers   more

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  Saar Gur

  WonderHill

  WonderHill creates social games for you to play with your friends and family online. When building games, we think of the kind, clean, unspoiled spot down deep inside every one of us, that maybe the world has made us forget, and maybe our games can help to recall (paraphrasing Mr. Walt Disney). Our mission is to create the most happy and magical online games in the world.

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EMERGE

We Back Emerging Industry Leaders

iSkoot

SpotlightOn: iSkoot

Bringing leading internet services like Skype™ to mobile handsets around the world, delivering rich consumer experiences with minimal impact on operator networks.

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iControl

SpotlightOn: iControl

Introducing the iControl Remote Home Monitoring System that helps people stay connected in real-time to what matters most—their family, property, home, and business—from anywhere in the world, anytime, day or night.

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SocialMedia

SpotlightOn: SocialMedia

Meet the first company focused solely on advertising in social media.

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Progress Financial

SpotlightOn: Progress Financial

Meet a progressive financial services company serving the needs of the growing Hispanic market, helping them build credit in the United States and gain access to better lives and mainstream financial services.

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Nantero

SpotlightOn: Nantero

Meet thet nanotechnology company using carbon nanotubes for the development of next-generation semiconductor devices.

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Maxthon

SpotlightOn: Maxthon

Discover new Internet browsing technology that delivers users an easier yet more productive surfing experience.

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LiveGamer

SpotlightOn: LiveGamer

Meet the developer of the world’s premiere publisher-supported virtual marketplace.

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