About Friend.ly
Friend.ly is a company based in Mountain View (United States) founded in 2009 was acquired by Facebook in October 2011. Friend.ly has raised $5 million across 1 funding round from investors including Facebook, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Balderton Capital. Friend.ly operates in a competitive market with competitors including Quora, Zhihu, Stack Overflow, Answers and Piazza, among others.
Funding Insights of Friend.ly
Friend.ly has successfully raised a total of $5M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $5 million completed in January 2011. 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 $5M
- Total Rounds 1
- Last Round Series A — $5M
- First Round $5M
(Jan 2011)
- Investors Count 3
All 1 funding rounds of Friend.ly 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2011 | $5M | Series A | – | – |
4 investors in total: 4 institutional.
Investors in Friend.ly
Friend.ly has secured backing from 4 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Facebook, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Balderton Capital.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital investing in innovative companies across global sectors is undertaken by Lightspeed Venture Partners. | 1997 | lsvp.com | Menlo Park, United States | |
Multistage venture capital investments are focused on technology sectors. | 2000 | balderton.com | London, United Kingdom | |
Venture capital is invested in multiple sectors by Uncork Capital. | – | uncorkcapital.com | Palo Alto, United States | |
Online social networking and communication services are provided globally. | 2004 | facebook.com | Menlo Park, United States |
Investor details for Friend.ly
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Friend.ly
3 dated milestones of Friend.ly across 2 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Friend.ly is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $5.0M.
- Exit Acquired by Facebook.
Competitors of Friend.ly
Friend.ly operates in a dynamic and competitive business environment, facing competition from various established players and emerging companies in the market. The competitive landscape includes prominent companies such as Quora, Zhihu, Stack Overflow, Answers and Piazza, among others.
| 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. | |
| zhihu.com | 2010 | Haidian, China | $919M | – | Questions and answers are facilitated on an app-based social platform. | |
| stackoverflow.com | 2008 | New York, United States | $153.32M | 273 | Social platform for IT professionals & programmers | |
| answers.com | 1999 | Saint Louis, United States | $35.5M | 20 | Questions are asked and answered on a social Q&A platform. | |
| piazza.com | 2009 | Palo Alto, United States | $15.5M | 14 | Online Q&A platform for student-teacher collaboration is facilitated. | |
| justanswer.com | 2003 | San Francisco, United States | $75.7M | – | Visitors are connected with independent experts for online Q&A services. | |
| oneday.com | 2012 | Dallas, United States | $24.2M | 78 | Online storytelling program connecting residents across video platform | |
| campuswire.com | 2016 | San Francisco, United States | $32.6M | – | Q&A-based learning solutions are offered for higher education. | |
| gutefrage.net | 2006 | Munich, Germany | – | 54 | Advice and experiences are shared in a German online community. | |
| mypulse.com.bd | 2018 | Dhaka, Bangladesh | – | – | Pulse is recognized as a virtual telemedicine platform in Bangladesh. |
Detailed competitors of Friend.ly
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Friend.ly
Websites that share an audience with Friend.ly (friend.ly).
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Friend.ly. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
witflow.com | witflow.com | 100% | – | – | – |
| uxmag.com | 100% | 131.1K | #354,030 | View details | |
| blo.gs | 97% | – | – | View details | |
| balsamiq.com | 66% | 292.3K | #205,014 | View details | |
 1.bp.blogspot.com | 1.bp.blogspot.com | 66% | – | – | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 7 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Friend.ly
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 7 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Similar companies to Friend.ly
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Friend.ly (Digital Media & Publishing Platforms), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Content is shared and discussed across user-driven communities. | 2005 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 1.62 B | – | – | |
Online platform for creating graphic images | 2012 | Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia | USD 589.22 M | – | – | |
Reward-based crowdfunding is facilitated for content creators and musicians. | 2013 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 412.1 M | – | – | |
Subscription-based platform for publishers' content management is provided. | 2017 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 189.5 M | – | – | |
An audio streaming platform for series and stories is operated. | 2018 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 196.66 M | USD 30.62 M | 1,044 | |
Platform connecting readers and writers, offering digital literature in multiple languages | 2014 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 92.65 M | USD 6.84 M | 162 | |
Native advertising solutions are delivered via a cloud-based content platform. | 2006 | New York, New York, United States | USD 403.72 M | USD 1.3 B | 1,800 | |
Online storytelling platform | 2006 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | USD 117.82 M | – | – | |
Online platform allows users to read and write blogs | 2012 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 162.97 M | – | – | |
Ad network platform is utilized for content recommendations and monetization. | 2007 | New York, New York, United States | USD 160 M | USD 1.91 B | 2,000 |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Friend.ly
Friend.ly was founded in 2009 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.
Friend.ly is headquartered in Mountain View, United States. It is registered at Mountain View, California, United States.
Friend.ly is a funded company, having raised a total of $5M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $5M, raised on Jan 2011.
Friend.ly was established in 2009 in Mountain View, United States, as a social QA platform. Users are enabled to log in and join communities where questions on various subjects are posted and answered. Site-generated questions relevant to personal interests are provided for users to respond to, facilitating interactions among participants in the online network. Operations focus on community-driven knowledge sharing within the social media sector.
Friend.ly's top competitors include Quora, Stack Overflow and Zhihu.
Friend.ly has 4 investors. Key investors include Facebook, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Balderton Capital, and Uncork Capital.
Yes. Friend.ly was acquired by Facebook in October 2011.