Angus Davis’ new Swipely raises $7.5M

PROVIDENCE – Swipley Inc., a startup founded by local entrepreneur Angus Davis that lets shoppers share details of their purchases online, has closed on a $7.5 million Series A financing round, the company announced Tuesday.

Swipley’s system allows users to inform friends of what they have bought and to discuss each others’ shopping decisions by e-mail. A preview version of the free service is available by invitation on Swipely’s website. The service has already drawn attention from The New York Times.

“Our mission is to fundamentally change the way consumers shop and share by adding value to every swipe,” Davis, Swipely’s CEO, said in a news release. “Our service will transform everyday purchases at restaurants, movies or online retailers into conversations with friends, personalized recommendations and opportunities to save money.”

Davis grew up in Rhode Island and joined Netscape Communications Corp., developer of the landmark Web browser, in 1996 as an 18-year-old. He went on to co-found Tellme Networks Inc., a voice-services provider, which Microsoft Corp. bought in 2007 for a rumored $800 million.

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Swipely said the Series A round was led by Index Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Switzerland, and also included Greylock Partners, First Round Capital and a group of angel investors. The company has raised a total of $8.5 million so far.

Index Ventures’ Danny Rimer will join Swipely’s board of directors, and Greylock Partners’ Reid Hoffman, who co-founded the professional social-networking site LinkedIn Corp., will serve as an observer on the board. Davis is also among Swipely’s investors.

“We believe that the convergence of payments and social media is the natural next step in the evolution of the Web,” Rimer said. “The notion of being able to use day-to-day transactions as a conversation element makes a great deal of sense and we expect it to be extremely popular.”

Swipely said other investors include Lowercase Capital, led by Chris Sacca, the former head of special initiatives for Google; Keith Rabois, a former PayPal and LinkedIn executive; SV Angel, led by Ron Conway; Anton Commissaris, formerly of Mint.com and now a director at Intuit; Lee Hower, formerly a partner at Point Judith Capital in Providence; Charles Moldow, a former Tellme executive; and Emil Michael, a White House Fellow and former Tellme executive.

Swipely may face competition from another purchase-sharing startup, Blippy of Palo Alto, Calif., which has raised more than $11 million in less than a year. The company faced privacy concerns last month after it was reported that the service had inadvertently published users’ credit card numbers.

However, Swipely emphasizes that it gives users more control than other sites do over what information they share with others. The company has published this video explaining how its service works:

Additional information is available at swipely.com.

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