Evernote, a California-headquatered company founded by a Russian-American team in 2007, has just completed a $85 million round, CEO Phil Libin announced on his blog yesterday. The round was led by London-based AGC Equity Partners/m8 Capital with participation from Valiant Capital Partners and existing investors.
Seventy five percent of this money comes in the form of a secondary investment, which means that the stock is being sold by existing investors and shareholders, while the rest is going to Evernote in a primary round, Libin explained.
“There is no exit strategy at Evernote,” the CEO stated. “Our goal is to build a permanently meaningful and enduring company; a hundred year startup. In order to accomplish this, we have to separate liquidity from exit. By giving early shareholders the opportunity to sell some of their holdings, we reduce the pressure to exit while at the same time forging relationships with important new long-term investors who can help shepherd the company to, through, and beyond an eventual IPO,” he added.
The proceeds from this round will make sure that Evernote can continue to focus its energy on building the best possible products, without being distracted by external market conditions. “It’s nice to have this extra peace of mind, even if we don’t strictly need it,” Libin wrote.
In April of this year, Evernote had raised no less than $100 million in a round led by Meritech Capital Partners.
Evernote offers a range of computer, phone, and web-based tools “to remember things big and small from your notable life.”
Evernote has grown to over 11 million users in just three years. The company also claims a worldwide developer community of over five thousand developers who are creating Evernote-integrated applications, services, and devices.
