BranchOut
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Type of site
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social networking |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Rick Marini |
| Slogan(s) | Join the largest professional network on Facebook |
| Website | www |
| Alexa rank | 17,095 |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2010 |
| Current status | Sold |
BranchOut was a Facebook application designed for finding jobs, networking professionally, and recruiting employees. It was founded by Rick Marini in July 2010, and was, as of March 2012[update], the largest professional networking service on Facebook. The company sold its assets to HR Software Company 1-Page in November 2014 and the staff was picked up by Hearst.
BranchOut launched in June 2010 as a Facebook app. Rick Marini, the founder and CEO of SuperFan, received a call from a friend asking if he knew anyone at a particular company. Marini knew he had a mutual connection, but couldn't remember the person specifically. He was unable to find the connection by searching on Facebook and asked if SuperFan's Director of Engineering could build a widget to accomplish the task. Marini saw potential in the application and pivoted SuperFan's team to begin development on the product.
In July 2010, Marini launched BranchOut. In September 2010, BranchOut announced a $6 million Series A round of funding led by Accel Partners, Floodgate, and Norwest Venture Partners, with additional investments from founders and executives at Napster, Facebook, WordPress, and Google. In January 2011, BranchOut's userbase grew by a factor of 25, increasing from 10,000 to 250,000.
In May 2011, BranchOut raised $18 million in a Series B round of funding from Redpoint Ventures, Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and Floodgate. Soon after, BranchOut experienced a period of explosive growth, which Marini attributes to superconnectors joining BranchOut, noting that people began to sign up to the service en masse after people like TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington installed the app.
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