IGLOO to Deliver Web 2.0 Collaborative Platforms

by Elizabeth Hanson

Waterloo-based social networking company IGLOO Inc. will develop new Web 2.0 corporate platforms, thanks to a $4 million USD equity financing round from RBC Venture Partners.

The financing enables IGLOO to extend and commercialize its suite of collaborative social networking tools to corporations and other organizations in the rapidly accelerating enterprise social networking space.

Founded in 2003, IGLOO's social networking platform helps hundreds of organizations globally reduce email burden, remove distances across branch offices and inspire teams with new productivity and collaboration tools. The platform was initially developed to support an online international network of researchers, practitioners and educators working on global issues.

"Today's round of financing enables IGLOO to extend our Web 2.0 social networking platform to corporations for improved social connections and productivity," says Dan Latendre, CEO IGLOO. "Attracting RBC Venture Partners as a valued investor clearly shows that social networking software has matured into an important new competitive tool for corporations."

Dan Latendre, an industry veteran in content management software, says IGLOO's suite was developed as a highly secure platform for academic institutions, top researchers and international development organizations to collaborate and share best practices. Now supporting more than 550 online global communities, IGLOO is ideal for companies looking to harness the power of web-based collaboration platforms.

"Corporations are embracing Internet based services such as blogs, wikis and other easy-to-use tools that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users, while reducing the email burden that is choking effective communication," says Kevin Talbot, Managing Director, RBC Venture Partners. "IGLOO's suite is a strong offering that blends a fully integrated platform of Web 2.0 tools with the security and administration controls required by corporate IT departments."

As part of the RBC Venture Partners investment, Kevin Talbot has joined Jim Balsillie on the IGLOO board.

Established in 1997 and headquartered in Toronto, RBC Venture Partners is the venture capital investment arm of RBC (RY on the TSX and NYSE) with over $300 million under management. RBC Venture Partners invests directly in early and growth stage software technology and services companies targeting the financial services vertical.

IGLOO provides a secure, easy-to-use corporate social networking suite to businesses of any size. Our software improves business performance by reducing email burden and enhancing collaboration between distributed teams and the growing mobile work force. Delivered over the web using a software as a service (SaaS) delivery model, companies can now cost-effectively connect people, processes and information across organizational and geographical boundaries in just minutes not months. IGLOO is funded by RBC Venture Partners. Jim Balsillie is Chair of the IGLOO board.

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