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September 26. 2012 2:19AM
Startup moves to Milford after $2.5 million funding round
MILFORD — A second round of funding for young Internet startup FreePriceAlerts has fueled a move from its former Peterborough base to a larger office in Milford, enabling the company to hire more software engineers, founder and CEO Robert Wilkins said Tuesday.
“We’ve got some really good backers, and people that have been in this industry are making run for this thing,” he said. “The way to think about it is if you think about when Google first launched it was a search engine on the Internet. We’re the same thing. We’re a price engine.”
Since starting 22 months ago, the automatic price engine FreePriceAlerts has saved online shoppers more than $50 million, the company says.
Wilkins of Peterborough started the company in Peterborough in 2008.
On Monday, the company announced it had closed a series B funding round of $2.5 million. The round was led by Nick Grewal and joined by 10X Venture Partners. To date the company has raised more than $4 million.
“In today’s economy, any service that quickly and unobtrusively helps shoppers save money is a winner,” Grewal, who is now a member of the company’s board, said in a statement. “We’re excited about the growth opportunity for FreePriceAlerts and the impact this service will have on the continuous growth of the online shopping sector.”
Wilkins said Tuesday the latest funding has enabled the company to expand into a larger office space in Milford, expand its work force and extend marketing programs to continue to attract new users.
“We’ve hired six new software engineers. We’re continuing to hire software engineers. And we’ve got marketing out of here and sales out of (a second office in) Denver, Colorado,” Wilkins said.
The FreePriceAlerts service automatically alerts Web surfers to potential savings while they are shopping the sites they normally visit. Once the price engine is added to your browser, it searches for the best price every time the user shops online retail sites.
Tens of Thousands of leading retailers work with FreePriceAlerts, including Amazon, Macy’s, Home Depot, BestBuy, Sears and Walmart.
Shop wherever you want, set a price, order and make a global wish list, Wilkins said. “We think a global engine that does pricing for you is a big thing.”
Wilkins said the key to FreePriceAlerts’ effectiveness is it doesn’t attempt to change the user’s behavior online.
“Wherever you shop, Home Depot or wherever you want to, you know you are getting a good deal,” Wilkins said, because of the FreePriceAlerts pop-up. “With our service you know you have a great price, and you don’t have to spend time shopping around.”
The user base is fairly small at the moment, but the company is hoping the expansion will create more growth.
“We’re really happy with the growth right now. We also have an iPad app we hope to have out before Christmas too,” Wilkins said.
FreePriceAlerts makes revenue through different streams including affiliate fees and advertising, but never in a way that would impact the product price the consumer is paying, Wilkins said. “With our service we always side with the consumer.”
To sign up Wilkins said go to freepricealerts.com.
“All you have to do is go to our website one time and register. There’s no tracking. We don’t know who you are, and it doesn’t bother you unless you’re on a product page,” Wilkins said.
Dave Solomon may be reached at dsolomon@unionleader.com.
“We’ve got some really good backers, and people that have been in this industry are making run for this thing,” he said. “The way to think about it is if you think about when Google first launched it was a search engine on the Internet. We’re the same thing. We’re a price engine.”
Since starting 22 months ago, the automatic price engine FreePriceAlerts has saved online shoppers more than $50 million, the company says.
Wilkins of Peterborough started the company in Peterborough in 2008.
On Monday, the company announced it had closed a series B funding round of $2.5 million. The round was led by Nick Grewal and joined by 10X Venture Partners. To date the company has raised more than $4 million.
“In today’s economy, any service that quickly and unobtrusively helps shoppers save money is a winner,” Grewal, who is now a member of the company’s board, said in a statement. “We’re excited about the growth opportunity for FreePriceAlerts and the impact this service will have on the continuous growth of the online shopping sector.”
Wilkins said Tuesday the latest funding has enabled the company to expand into a larger office space in Milford, expand its work force and extend marketing programs to continue to attract new users.
“We’ve hired six new software engineers. We’re continuing to hire software engineers. And we’ve got marketing out of here and sales out of (a second office in) Denver, Colorado,” Wilkins said.
The FreePriceAlerts service automatically alerts Web surfers to potential savings while they are shopping the sites they normally visit. Once the price engine is added to your browser, it searches for the best price every time the user shops online retail sites.
Tens of Thousands of leading retailers work with FreePriceAlerts, including Amazon, Macy’s, Home Depot, BestBuy, Sears and Walmart.
Shop wherever you want, set a price, order and make a global wish list, Wilkins said. “We think a global engine that does pricing for you is a big thing.”
Wilkins said the key to FreePriceAlerts’ effectiveness is it doesn’t attempt to change the user’s behavior online.
“Wherever you shop, Home Depot or wherever you want to, you know you are getting a good deal,” Wilkins said, because of the FreePriceAlerts pop-up. “With our service you know you have a great price, and you don’t have to spend time shopping around.”
The user base is fairly small at the moment, but the company is hoping the expansion will create more growth.
“We’re really happy with the growth right now. We also have an iPad app we hope to have out before Christmas too,” Wilkins said.
FreePriceAlerts makes revenue through different streams including affiliate fees and advertising, but never in a way that would impact the product price the consumer is paying, Wilkins said. “With our service we always side with the consumer.”
To sign up Wilkins said go to freepricealerts.com.
“All you have to do is go to our website one time and register. There’s no tracking. We don’t know who you are, and it doesn’t bother you unless you’re on a product page,” Wilkins said.
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Dave Solomon may be reached at dsolomon@unionleader.com.