Gist

Seattle, United States Founded: 2008 • Age: 18 yrs Acquired By Blackberry
Professionals are connected through an app-based platform with detailed profiles.

About Gist

Gist is a Media & Entertainment company based in Seattle (United States) founded in 2008, and was acquired by Blackberry in February 2011. Professionals are connected through an app-based platform with detailed profiles. Gist has raised $17.5 million across 3 funding rounds from investors including Blackberry, Foundry and Vulcan Capital. The company has 51 employees. Gist has completed 1 acquisition, including Learn That Name. The company was acqui-hired. Its focus areas include Consumer, Social Platforms, Professionals and Horizontal. Its competitors include LinkedIn and Shapr; 2 of its 2 listed competitors have raised funding.

Company details

Gist was established in 2008 in Seattle, United States, as an app-based platform in the professional networking sector. Rich business profiles are generated for contacts, integrating recent news, status updates, and work information. Prioritization is given to updates about connections to keep users informed. The domain gist.com is utilized, and acquisition by BlackBerry occurred on February 14, 2011.

  • Headquarters Seattle, United States
  • Employees 51
  • Stage Acquired
  • Sectors
    Media & Entertainment
  • Website gist.com
  • Social LinkedIn X
  • Acquired by Blackberry (Feb 2011)
Key Metrics
  • Total Equity Funding
    $17.5M (USD)

    in 3 rounds

  • Latest Funding Round
    $10.75M (USD), Series A

    Aug 2010

  • Investors
    Blackberry

    & 2 more

  • Employee Count
    51
  • Investments & Acquisitions
  • Acquired by
    Blackberry

    (Feb 2011)

Funding Insights of Gist

Gist has successfully raised a total of $17.5M across 3 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $10.75 million completed in August 2010. 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 $17.5M
  • Total Rounds 3
  • Last Round Series A β€” $10.75M
  • Investors Count 2

All 3 funding rounds of Gist with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.

DateAmountTransaction NameValuationLead InvestorsInvestors
Aug 2010$10.75MSeries A–Foundry, Vulcan Capital
–
May 2009$6.75MSeries A–Foundry
Jun 2008Seed––
Valuation history

3 investors in total: 3 institutional.

Investors in Gist

Gist has secured backing from 3 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Blackberry, Foundry and Vulcan Capital.

All
Venture Fund
Institutional
InvestorDescriptionFounded YearDomainLocation
Venture capital is invested in early-stage tech startups.
foundry.vcBoulder, United States
Private equity investments are backed by a single-family office firm.
capital.vulcan.comSeattle, United States
Endpoint security and enterprise software solutions are provided.
1984blackberry.comWaterloo, Canada
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Investor details for Gist

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  • Round participation
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Investments & Acquisitions by Gist

Gist has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 1 company. Notable acquisitions include Learn That Name.

Acquisitions
Company NameDescriptionDomainLocationFoundedAcquiredAmount
Developer of a gaming application
learnthatname.comSeattle, United States2009Mar 2010β€’β€’β€’β€’
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Complete acquisition details for Gist

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  • Acquired stakes
  • Deal sources
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  • Exports

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Timeline of Gist

5 dated milestones of Gist across 3 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.

  1. Founded Gist is founded.
  2. Funding First funding round.
  3. Acquisition Acquires Learn That Name.
  4. Funding Latest funding round, Series A, of $10.7M.
  5. Exit Acquired by Blackberry.

Competitors of Gist

Gist has 2 listed competitors in our database, 2 of them funded. They include LinkedIn and Shapr.

Company NameDomainFoundedHQ LocationTotal fundingEmployeesDescription
linkedin.com2003Sunnyvale, United States$144.41M12,239
Professional networking, job recruitment, and career tools are provided.
shapr.co2014New York, United States$16.5M
Professionals are matched online via shared interests and location.
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Detailed competitors of Gist

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  • Full competitor set
  • Operating metrics
  • Benchmarks
  • Competitive positioning

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Web traffic of Gist

Websites that share an audience with Gist (gist.com).

Similar websites

Websites whose visitors overlap most with Gist. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.

WebsiteDomainAudience affinityMonthly visitsGlobal rankProfile
linkedin.com
100%
1.9B#18View details
microsoft.com
87%
1.2B#33View details
download.com
download.com
87%
#2,804,316–
posterous.com
77%
1.2K#14,508,579View details
twitter.com
75%
View details
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
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All 18 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Gist

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  • 18 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 Gist (Social Platforms) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.

CompanyDescriptionFoundedLocationTotal fundingRevenueEmployees
Online social networking and communication services are provided globally.
2004Menlo Park, California, United StatesUSD 1.77 B23,339
ESports social video streaming platform
2006San Francisco, California, United StatesUSD 35.12 M
Subscription-based platform for publishers' content management is provided.
2017San Francisco, California, United StatesUSD 189.5 MUSD 1.45 M4,285
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Related news about Gist

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Complete news archive for Gist

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  • Full article archive
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  • Brand-specific news history

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Frequently Asked Questions about Gist

Gist was founded in 2008.

Gist is headquartered in Seattle, United States. It is registered at Seattle, Washington, United States.

Gist is a funded company, having raised a total of $17.5M across 3 funding rounds to date.

Gist has 51 employees.

Gist was established in 2008 in Seattle, United States, as an app-based platform in the professional networking sector. Rich business profiles are generated for contacts, integrating recent news, status updates, and work information. Prioritization is given to updates about connections to keep users informed. The domain gist.com is utilized, and acquisition by BlackBerry occurred on February 14, 2011.

Gist's top competitors include LinkedIn and Shapr.

Gist has made 1 acquisition, including Learn That Name.

Gist has 3 investors. Key investors include Blackberry, Foundry, and Vulcan Capital.

Yes. Gist was acquired by Blackberry in February 2011.

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