Jaxtr, Backed By DFJ, Founders Fund, Mayfield, Launches

By John Letzing

December 15, 2006 – Jaxtr, a company developing VoIP software for speaking in real time through social networking sites and blogs, publicly unveiled its technology yesterday, after apparently gaining financial help from a handful of high-profile Silicon Valley firms.

Earlier this week, VentureWire reported that The Founders Fund invested in the roughly one-year-old start-up. Founders Fund Managing Partner Ken Howery said in a recent interview that his firm, which generally makes seed-stage investments between $500,000 and $1 million, invested in Jaxtr some time over the past few months, declining to offer more details. The Founders Fund is managed by Howery and other PayPal Inc. alums Peter Thiel and Luke Nosek, as well as vaunted consumer Internet entrepreneur Sean Parker.

Mayfield Fund spokeswoman Kamini Ramani said that Mayfield contributed to a seed funding round for Jaxtr, which is operated by Middletone Communications Inc. Ramani declined to say what the round was worth or who else was involved. "Jaxtr is especially interesting because it is a seed deal for us, something we have done historically but are likely to do more going forward," Ramini wrote in an email.

In addition, Jaxtr is featured as a portfolio company on the Web sites of venture capital firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Richmond Management. Representatives from those firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Jaxtr Chief Executive Konstantin Guericke also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to a regulatory filing from October, Jaxtr has raised a convertible note worth between $1.25 million and $1.35 million, though no investment firms are named in the filing.

In a prepared release sent out Thursday, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Jaxtr announced a private beta release of its VoIP software, and the addition of Guericke as its chief executive. Guericke was previously a co-founder of business networking site LinkedIn Inc.

The Jaxtr software is designed to enable users to chat via Web sites in real time while not necessarily publicly posting their number for anyone and everyone to see. Users insert a Jaxtr widget into their online profile, which other users can use in order to try and connect.

"Jaxtr expects to earn revenue from power users, advertising and enhanced calling features," the company said in the release.

Jaxtr was co-founded by Chief Technology Officer Phillip Mobin and Chief Operating Officer Touraj Parang, a former investor with venture capital firms Amidzad Ventures and Earlybird Venture Capital.