paidContent - Dow Jones-Backed Tributes.com Raises $1.2 Million In Second Round
This story was written by Joseph Tartakoff.
Tributes Inc., the Dow Jones-backed obituaries site, has raised $1.2 million in a second round of funding from existing and new investors. The company said it would use the new cash to fund the continued development of Tributes.com, which it is pitching as an alternative to traditional obituary classifieds. Visitors can create online obituaries for their loved ones—complete with pictures, videos, and music. A basic option is free, although users have to pay to include additional content and eliminate ads from their listings.
With the new funding, Tributes will have raised a total of $5.4 million. In February 2008, Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS), now part of News Corp., participated in Tributes’ $4.3 million first round of funding, along with Eons, the boomer social network which initially spun off the site. Dow Jones did not participate in the latest round, president Elaine Haney tells us. However, the company said backers did include a “strategic group of both existing and new investors representing both funeral service and the Boston tech community.”
In September, the WSJ started running obits from Tributes on its website. Tributes also powers obituary listings on a number of local television sites and has partnerships with major players in the funeral industry. Release.
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By Joseph Tartakoff