This isn't the first time DailyCandy has held its fundraising details close to the vest. In June, 2001, the New York-based urban information service raised $440,000 in first round funding from from undisclosed individual investors.
Since then former AOL exec Robert Pittman has taken majority control of DailyCandy and said he would sell it for $100 million. No buyer materialized so DailyCandy told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that it has decided to raise more money at a valuation of $130 million.
Presumably, the raise totaled far more than $440,000 but the willingness to disclose the valuation, but not the the amount raised is suspicious. It's normally the other way around in venture capital financings. And failing to say who invested is downright alarming. It simply doesn't make sense. A vanity investor seeking to get an inside look at the media world would advertise their involvement in DailyCandy. A financial or corporate investor would also be happy to disclose their involvement in the company since the attention would bolster dealflow.
I've got questions into the company and will write more if I hear back.
For more on DailyCandy, see:
Gawker
PaidContent
Tags: daily+candy, dailycandy, vc, venture capital.
Continue reading below
