NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 11, 2010) – GOBA, LLC (www.goba.mobi), a social media start-up created to connect people in person through shared interests, announced it has secured seed financing led by TriStar Technology Fund. The investor group also includes local private investors representing healthcare, retail and internet expertise.
A portion of the seed funding came from the state initiated, Tennessee Small Business Company Investment Credit Act (TNInvestco), created last year to fund innovative Tennessee companies. TriStar is one of the venture funds selected to participate in the program. “GOBA’s focus of helping its members have a more active and balanced lifestyle has tremendous implications for the healthcare industry, an industry struggling to figure out how to help high risk people embrace change,” said Brian Laden, a partner at TriStar and a member of GOBA’s board of directors.
GOBA, which stands for “Get Out Be Active”, will use the financing to support initial development of its mobile-based applications on popular platforms such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android operating system and further develop strategic partnerships. GOBA is a unique social media offering that is interest-centric and helps friends efficiently connect in real life, enabling a more meaningful and rewarding experience.
“This is an exciting time for Tennessee and for our company,” said John Dayani, Jr., GOBA co-founder and company CEO. “We are fortunate to have attracted a great team of executives, investors, advisors and partners to help launch a missing element in the social media space.”
Stuart Young, GOBA co-founder and Head of Technology cites the shortfalls in today’s leading Social Networks: “We are seeing rapid growth in Twitter and Facebook while location based service leaders, Foursquare and Gowalla are making a huge splash in the social gaming arena; however, none of these services truly help its members more easily connect in person. We believe the world is starving for social interaction that goes beyond a keyboard or mouse. GOBA allows people to do more of what we love with those we enjoy being with; it’s that simple.” GOBA allows people to identify their interests, grow their network of “real friends” and helps them more easily connect by taking on the burden required to coordinate their activities.
Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., GOBA, LLC hopes to take advantage of the area’s breadth of creative and technological talent to launch the leading interest-based social media platform. A private launch with select partners and value-add sponsors is scheduled for mid summer with a global release soon thereafter. If you are interested in learning more please visit www.goba.mobi or email us at info@goba.mobi. You can also find Dayani on Twitter (@johndayani), LinkedIn and Facebook to follow the story as it happens.
Media Contact:
press@goba.mobi
TriStar Contact:
Brian Laden
(615) 515-9889
ladenbp@tstventures.com
SOURCE Goba.mobi