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
- SectorsMedia & Entertainment
- Website gist.com
- Social LinkedIn X
- Acquired by Blackberry (Feb 2011)
- Total Equity Funding$17.5M (USD)
in 3 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$10.75M (USD), Series A
Aug 2010
- InvestorsBlackberry
& 2 more
- Employee Count51
- Investments & Acquisitions
- Acquired byBlackberry
(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.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2010 | $10.75M | Series A | β | Foundry, Vulcan Capital | β |
| May 2009 | $6.75M | Series A | β | Foundry | |
| Jun 2008 | Seed | β | β |
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.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital is invested in early-stage tech startups. | foundry.vc | Boulder, United States | ||
Private equity investments are backed by a single-family office firm. | capital.vulcan.com | Seattle, United States | ||
Endpoint security and enterprise software solutions are provided. | 1984 | blackberry.com | Waterloo, Canada |
Investor details for Gist
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
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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.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Developer of a gaming application | learnthatname.com | Seattle, United States | 2009 | Mar 2010 | β’β’β’β’ |
Complete acquisition details for Gist
Acquired stakes, deal sources and the complete acquisition history require an active premium plan.
- Acquired stakes
- Deal sources
- Complete history
- 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.
- Founded Gist is founded.
- Funding First funding round.
- Acquisition Acquires Learn That Name.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series A, of $10.7M.
- Exit Acquired by Blackberry.
Competitors of Gist
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| linkedin.com | 2003 | Sunnyvale, United States | $144.41M | 12,239 | Professional networking, job recruitment, and career tools are provided. | |
| shapr.co | 2014 | New York, United States | $16.5M | Professionals are matched online via shared interests and location. |
Detailed competitors of Gist
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 Gist
Websites that share an audience with Gist (gist.com).
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Gist. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| linkedin.com | 100% | 1.9B | #18 | View details | |
| microsoft.com | 87% | 1.2B | #33 | View details | |
download.com | download.com | 87% | #2,804,316 | β | |
| posterous.com | 77% | 1.2K | #14,508,579 | View details | |
| twitter.com | 75% | View details | |||
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
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.
| 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 Gist
Complete news archive for Gist
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- 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 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.

