Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Listia.com Raises $400k in Funding to Help People Give and Get Free Stuff



Sunnyvale, CA - October 13, 2009 - Listia.com, a new online auction
site for free stuff, announced today that it has secured $400k in
financing. The deal was led by Implistic Capital.

The company previously raised a seed round from Y Combinator, which
specializes in funding early stage startups.

This round of funding will enable the company to build the largest
online marketplace for free stuff and give users an easy way to give
away items they no longer need in return for something they want.

Listia uses an online auction system that makes use of virtual credits
instead of cash. Every user gets free credits when they sign up. Users
then bid credits for things they want, so each item goes to the person
who wants it most.

In addition to providing a community and marketplace for free stuff,
Listia hopes to help charitable causes through its charity auction
program and promote environmental awareness by helping people give
stuff away instead of throwing it in landfills.

Listia Inc. was founded in June 2009 by James Fong and Gee-Hwan
Chuang. The Listia.com web site was launched in August 2009 and has
since become a popular marketplace for giving away and getting free
stuff through its free online auction system.


Gee Chuang is an entrepreneur that has worked on a number of web and networking related products. Prior to Listia, he cofounded solecial.com and chirpio.com, among others. He also founded a company called GEE! Technologies that operates several smaller scale web apps, e-commerce sites, and iphone applications.

Chuang has Bachelor and Masters degree in E.E. from Cornell University ‘01.


After doing chip design and verification for six years, James Fong jumped into the web space. He’s the cofounder of Listia and has also cofounded solecial and chirpio.

Fong has a BSEE from Cornell University 2001 and a MSEE from San Jose State University 2004




7 comments:

JJ said...

Very interesting concept. That tech crunch shirt on the site looks like it would fit me well.

Anonymous said...

that site is pretty good, i just signed up and hosted an auction

easssyyyy

Anonymous said...

I just signed up. Seems like an easy way to score some free products before the site explodes.

Anonymous said...

Hope they will use the money for something useful. An German localization for example.

Anonymous said...

There are good translators out in europe

Anonymous said...

Just received my free shirt. thank you!!

Leandra Karamas said...

Why am I getting Bad Gateway and can not get on to Listia? I have tried refreshing and retrying etc... same thing 502 Bad Gateway can you help me?