Short Cuts
SideStep Scores Funding Round
Online travel search engine SideStep has raised $15 million in third-round funding from Norwest Venture partners and others. The Santa Clara CA-based company says it will use the capital to scale key areas of its business and to extend media and user-generated offerings. In October 2006 SideStep bought TravelPost.com, which offers consumer reviews of hotels that can be sorted by age, gender, budget and trip purpose.
Eddie Bauer CEO Resigns
President, CEO and board member Fabian Mansson has left Eddie Bauer Holdings after four and a half years. Board member Howard Gross will take over as interim CEO while a search is conducted for a permanent executive. A Feb. 8 stockholder meeting failed to approve the company’s sale to a holding company owned by affiliates of Sun Capital partners. A statement said the board is “evaluating appropriate next steps” in a possible Eddie Bauer turnaround.
Click Audit Firm Gets Investment
Click Forensics, an auditor of pay-for-performance clicks and the operator of the Click Fraud Network reporting service, secured $5 million in initial funding in a round led by Austin Ventures. The company said it will use the capital infusion to expand marketing and development of its quality monitoring solutions for PPC advertisers. Click Forensics also announced its relocation from San Antonio TX to Austin.
