CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 9, 2003–Affinnova, a leading provider of product design, development, and testing solutions, announced today that it has completed a $6 million Series B roundof financing led by Flagship Ventures. This latest financing round is expected to accelerate the market penetration of Affinnova’s solutions coming on the heels of a six-month period when the Companyrecorded revenue growth of more than 120% over prior year. Fueled by growing customer relationships in the consumer packaged goods, apparel, retail and financial services markets, Affinnova isbecoming a recognized solution to consumer brand companies as they look to improve new product success rates by bringing the consumer more effectively into the product development process.
“Affinnova is going after a big prize–to change the way consumer-focused companies develop and promote new products,” said David Flaschen, a Managing Director at Flagship Ventures. He continued, “They have everything we are looking for in a high potential venture; they address a huge market opportunity validated by blue chip customers, they have unique intellectual property, and they have a management team with multiple entrepreneurial successes to their credit.”
“We are delighted with Flagship’s significant and ongoing commitment to our Company’s future. Their guidance and intensive support will continue to be an integral part of our success,” said Affinnova’s CEO Rob Frasca. “The additional Flagship investment, the recently announced appointment of David Andonian as Executive Chairman, and our deepening relationships with clients such as Procter & Gamble, General Mills, and ConAgra further reinforce the confidence we have in our solution and its broad applicability throughout the product and brand development process.”
About Affinnova:
Affinnova provides solutions designed to significantly improve product success rates by applying evolutionary principles to the process – coupling its patent-pending IDEA(TM) technology with its expertise in genetics, marketing, technology, and design. Affinnova’s solutions have broad applicability, and enable consumer brand companies to bring the voice of the customer into the key stages of the product development life cycle, delivering superior insight and decision-making support. For more information, visit www.affinnova.com.
About Flagship Ventures:
Founded in 1999, Flagship Ventures (www.flagshipventures.com) is an entrepreneurship and venture capital firm comprising a family of funds: OneLiberty Funds, AGTC Funds and NewcoGen Group. Flagship currently invests from $400 million in funds raised in 2000, and manages a total pool of committed capital approaching $600 million. The Flagship Ventures team consists of 20 professionals focused on creating, financing, and building companies in the life science, information technology and communications sectors.
