WebSideStory, a provider of Internet
tracking and traffic analysis, received a $30 million investment from Summit Partners and TA Associates, which are taking a minority
position in the company.
The two firms acquired shares from WebSideStory’s founders and contributed a
portion of the investment to the company.
This marks the first outside investment in WebSideStory, which says it has
been profitable throughout its nearly three years of existence. The company
was originally founded in 1996 by a French couple, Blaise and Agnes Barrelet,
who have managed growth to date entirely with retained earnings.
“Though we have been approached a number of times, I never saw the logic in
giving up control of the company by going the typical venture capital route,”
said Blaise Barrelet, founder and CEO of WebSideStory. “But I do recognize
that influential, business-savvy investors can help us grow the company to
its full potential.”
“Our philosophy is to invest in and support rapidly growing and profitable private companies
with outstanding management teams,” said Walter Kortschak, general partner at Summit Partners. “WebSideStory meets these criteria, and we
look forward to our partnership with the company and contributing to its
further success.”
“. . .we invest in
profitable companies with proven management and technologies. WebSideStory is
a perfect fit and we anticipate it will enjoy tremendous growth in the coming
years,” said Benjamin Ball, vice president with TA Associates.
WebSideStory is the creator of HitBOX Tracker, Web traffic analysis
technology; HitBOX.com, a community of independent Web sites ranked by
traffic; StatMarket.com, a source of data on Internet user trends; and
Yep.com, a search engine based on popularity and quality.