By Ben Popper 8/09/11 1:50pm

DIY

Bits byte, let's make something.

Quirky Has More Users and Ideas to Go With All That Money

Quirky, a crowdsourced creation platform,  just raised $16 million. What numbers were those venture heads looking at when they opened their wallets? Well Quirky recently partnered with Bed, Bath & Beyond, and company says this has spurred big growth.

Since the start of 2011 it has expanded its user base by more than 40 percent to over 78,000.

The average number of ideas submitted in each weekly round has doubled from 114 to 227. A show about the company is about to air on the Sundance channel, so expect that growth to increase.  Read More

By Ben Popper 8/08/11 5:19pm

Makers Get Made

Ben-Kaufman-Quirky

Like We Said, Raise That Paper Now. Quirky Closes $16 M. B Round

Quirky founder Ben Kaufman prefers not to give out quotes when raising new funds, focusing instead on the details of what Quirky has been up to.

But he sure does like to raise fresh capital. It raised $6 million A round last April led by RRE and, according to Venture Wire, just closed a $16 million B round led by Norwest Venture Partners with RRE participating again.

As Betabeat has written recently, start-ups are rushing to close their financing, fearful that a tanking stock market will scare off potential investors or, at the very least, drive the valuations they can negotiate way down. Read More