Evernote, which is up for a Crunchie award, rang in the New Year with an extra $4.5 million of cash from Russian investment firm Troika Dialog. A mid-December report had put the investment at $5 million, but the company did not actually close its B round until December 31. He is still trying to raise another $3.5 million tranche, but believes the current funding will hold the company through 2010. CEO Phil Libin says:
The rumors that circulated in the beginning of December were very premature—we still had unresolved issues and the closing was far from guaranteed.
Evernote turns photos and Web clippings into searchable notes, so you never forget anything. (At least, that’s the idea). It has gained 630,000 registered users since its public launch last year, with more than half of those on the iPhone. Libin’s New Year’s resolutions are:
I want to end 2009 with two million users, high-value partners and a tested revenue model. The real goal is profitability in 2010. I think that there are going to be fewer shiny objects on the Internet a year from now than there were a year ago, but the general thrust of innovation won’t slow down for long.
Expect him to spend that money on apps that support more kinds of mobile phones, different language versions, and creating more premium services that he can charge for. Here is his Elevator Pitch: