About Answers
Answers is a Media & Entertainment company based in Saint Louis (United States) founded in 1999, and was acquired by Apax in August 2014. Questions are asked and answered on a social QA platform. It operates in the Media & Entertainment and Education sectors. Answers has raised $35.5 million across 7 funding rounds from investors including Goldman Sachs, SVB and AOL. Answers has completed 2 acquisitions, including ForeSee and ResellerRatings. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Pete Daffern. Its website answers.com draws about 1.8 million monthly visits. Its focus areas include EdTech, K-12 EdTech, Online Learning Communities and Q & A. Its competitors include Quora, ClassDojo and ELSA Speak; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Answers was founded in 1999 in Saint Louis, United States, as a social QA community in the online media sector. General questions on various topics are posed by users and addressed by community members. Discussion forums are created, and expert responses are provided through a dedicated WikiAnswers section. Articles are submitted by users, with revenue generated via advertising on the domain answers.com.
- Total Equity Funding$35.5M (USD)
in 7 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$39.01M (USD), Post-IPO
Oct 2014
- InvestorsGoldman Sachs
& 11 more
- Investments & AcquisitionsForeSee
& 1 more
- Acquired by
Apps and channels of Answers
its YouTube channel AnswersVideo has 71.4K subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Answers
The most watched videos on Answers's YouTube channel, AnswersVideo (71.4K subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on AnswersVideo.
Funding Insights of Answers
Answers has successfully raised a total of $35.5M across 7 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Post-IPO round of $39.01 million completed in October 2014. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $35.5M
- Total Rounds 7
- Last Round Post-IPO — $39.01M
- First Round $2M
(Jun 1999)
- Investors Count 11
All 7 funding rounds of Answers with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2014 | $39.01M | Post-IPO | – | – | – |
| Dec 2013 | $300M | Post-IPO | – | – | |
| Apr 2012 | Post-IPO | – | – | ||
| Jun 2009 | $13M | Post-IPO | – | – | |
| Feb 2004 | $5M | Series B | – | – | – |
| Jun 2000 | $28.5M | Series B | – | – | |
| Jun 1999 | $2M | Series A | – | – | – |
12 investors in total: 12 institutional.
Investors in Answers
Answers has secured backing from 12 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Goldman Sachs, SVB and AOL.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Summit Partners is recognized as a growth equity investment firm. | summitpartners.com | Boston, United States | ||
Multiple sectors are invested in by private equity firm TA. | ta.com | Boston, United States | ||
Redpoint Ventures is engaged in venture capital investments. | redpoint.com | Woodside, United States | ||
Venture capital investment and entrepreneur support services. | hcp.com | |||
Investment banking services are delivered across multiple financial sectors. | 1869 | goldmansachs.com | New York, United States | |
Equity investments are focused on tech, services, and consumer sectors. | 1981 | apax.com | Hong Kong, China | |
| afcv.com | ||||
Truist is recognized as a provider of commercial and investment banking services. | suntrustrh.com | Charlotte, United States | ||
Banking services are provided to innovative companies, investors, and individuals. | 1983 | svb.com | Santa Clara, United States | |
Online news, entertainment, and financial content is delivered. | 1983 | aol.com | New York, United States |
Investor details for Answers
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
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People of Answers
1 people are tracked at Answers (1 in leadership).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Pete Daffern | CEO | Leadership |
Complete people profiles for Answers
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
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- Professional contacts
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Investments & Acquisitions by Answers
Answers has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 2 companies. Notable acquisitions include ForeSee and ResellerRatings.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Customer experience analytics are conducted across digital and physical channels. | foresee.com | Ann Arbor, United States | 2001 | Dec 2013 | $200M | |
Customer reviews for e-commerce businesses are managed online. | resellerratings.com | Cleveland, United States | 1996 | Aug 2012 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Answers
Acquired stakes, deal sources and the complete acquisition history require an active premium plan.
- Acquired stakes
- Deal sources
- Complete history
- Exports
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Answers
8 dated milestones of Answers across 15 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Answers is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $2.0M.
- IPO Lists on the stock exchange (IPO).
- Exit Acquired by AFCV Holdings.
- Acquisition Acquires ResellerRatings.
- Acquisition Acquires ForeSee.
- Exit Acquired by Apax.
- Funding Latest funding round, Post-IPO, of $39.0M.
Competitors of Answers
Answers has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Quora, ClassDojo and ELSA Speak.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quora.com | 2009 | Mountain View, United States | $301M | 211 | Questions are asked and answered on a social community platform. | |
| classdojo.com | 2011 | San Francisco, United States | $221.22M | Real-time classroom behavior feedback is delivered to students by teachers. | ||
| elsaspeak.com | 2016 | San Francisco, United States | $48.23M | 11 | Developer of an application providing English language pronunciation and fluency training |
Detailed competitors of Answers
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
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- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Answers
The website of Answers (answers.com) receives about 1.8M visits a month and ranks #44,170 among all websites worldwide, #2,684 in Science and Education.
- Monthly visits1.8M
▲ 10.4% vs previous month
- Unique visitors1.2M
per month
- Global rank#44,170
among all websites
- Category rank#2,684
Science and Education
- Bounce rate64%
- Pages per visit1.5
- Average visit24 sec
- DevicesDesktop 36% · Mobile 64%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Answers. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
about.com | about.com | 100% | #151,033 | – | |
chacha.com | chacha.com | 94% | #4,224,488 | – | |
| allacronyms.com | 83% | #133,323 | View details | ||
examples.com | examples.com | 83% | #120,610 | – | |
| brainly.com | 67% | 5.5M | #11,317 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Answers
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 40 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Social Platforms
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Answers (Social Platforms) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Online social networking and communication services are provided globally. | 2004 | Menlo Park, California, United States | USD 1.77 B | 23,339 | ||
ESports social video streaming platform | 2006 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 35.12 M | |||
Subscription-based platform for publishers' content management is provided. | 2017 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 189.5 M | USD 1.45 M | 4,285 |
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Related news about Answers
Complete news archive for Answers
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
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Frequently Asked Questions about Answers
Answers was founded in 1999.
Answers is headquartered in Saint Louis, United States. It is registered at Saint Louis, Missouri, United States.
Pete Daffern is the CEO of Answers, as recorded in our data.
Answers is a funded company, having raised a total of $35.5M across 7 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $2M, raised on Jun 1999.
Answers was founded in 1999 in Saint Louis, United States, as a social QA community in the online media sector. General questions on various topics are posed by users and addressed by community members. Discussion forums are created, and expert responses are provided through a dedicated WikiAnswers section. Articles are submitted by users, with revenue generated via advertising on the domain answers.com.
Answers's top competitors include ClassDojo, Quora and ELSA Speak.
Answers has made 2 acquisitions, including ForeSee, and ResellerRatings.
Answers has 12 investors. Key investors include Goldman Sachs, SVB, AOL, Apax Partners, and Robertson Stephens Partners.
Yes. Answers was acquired by Apax in August 2014.
The website of Answers receives about 1.8 million visits a month and ranks #44,170 among all websites worldwide.