Punchbowl.com

For other uses, see Punch bowl (disambiguation).
Punchbowl.com
Private
Industry Online Invitations, Software
Founded 2006 (2006)
Founder Matt Douglas (CEO)
Sean Conta (CXO)
Headquarters Framingham, MA, USA
Website punchbowl.com

Punchbowl.com is a free web-based online invitations service and digital greeting cards site based in Framingham, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 2006, received venture funding from a variety of sources, and the website was then launched in 2007.[1] The service allows users to plan and organize parties and events, with features such as customizable online invitations and local vendor search. The site has received media attention from multiple outlets including the Wall Street Journal,[2] New York Times,[3] and TechCrunch.[4] In 2007 it was listed on PC World’s "25 Web Sites to Watch", and in 2008, it received the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) Award for Usability, and was an Honoree for a 2008 Webby Award. In 2010, Entrepreneur Magazine listed it as one of the "100 Most Brilliant Companies", and the site was also lauded in The Oprah Magazine and Women's Health. In 2014, Punchbowl was named the exclusive provider of online invitations for Disney Interactive. In 2015, the company was awarded another MITX Award for ‘Best UX’ and unveiled the 2015 “Characters Kids Love” Collection, confirming collaborations with Nickelodeon, WWE, and Activision.

Company history

Punchbowl was founded by software and user interface experts Matt Douglas and Sean Conta, who previously worked together at Bose Corporation. Incorporated on April 11, 2006, the company officially launched on January 15, 2007 under the name MyPunchbowl.com as a free site for party planning.[5]

The company was funded by Contour Venture Partners, Intel Capital, and eCoast Angels,[6] receiving its seed round of funding on October 2, 2007 from lead investor Intel Capital.[7] On September 16, 2008, Punchbowl announced its Series A round of funding in the amount of $2.1M[8] led by Contour Venture Partners.[9]

Punchbowl has acquired two companies. "I’m In!" on November 17, 2009,[10] and Socializr on November 12, 2010,[11] a Silicon Valley event management platform created by Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams.

In September 2010, the company announced that it had surpassed one million registered users and had acquired the Punchbowl.com domain.[12] In September 2011, the company introduced a new product called Digital Greeting Cards which is a free eCards service.[13]

In February 2014, Punchbowl was named the exclusive provider of online invitations for Disney Interactive.[14] The collection features beloved Disney favorites such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Frozen, Disney Princess characters, Disney Fairies characters, Toy Story, Cars, The Muppets, and many more.

In October 2014, Punchbowl unveiled a new user interface and launched the “Characters Kids Love” invitation collection. The collection includes hundreds of branded invitations that feature iconic, beloved characters. The 2014 “Characters Kids Love” collection featured invitations from Disney, Sesame Street, Hello Kitty, My Little Pony, Transformers, and more.[15]

Punchbowl released the 2015 “Characters Kids Love” collection in June. It includes collaborations with Nickelodeon, WWE and Activision.[16]

The company has licensed its technology to leading retail and media sites, including Oriental Trading Company,[17] 1-800-FLOWERS, Lifetime, Cozi, and Premier Designs.

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Gonzalez, Nick (January 14, 2007). "MyPunchbowl Joins the eVite Gunners". TechCrunch.
  2. ↑ Boehret, Katherine (June 13, 2007). "Invite Sites Help Start a Party". Wall Street Journal.
  3. ↑ Turbow, Jason (December 16, 2009). "Inviting Web Sites for Party Planners". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Rao, Leena (October 4, 2010). "Punchbowl Debuts Digital Invitation Studio (Invites)". TechCrunch.
  5. ↑ Marshall, Matt (January 15, 2007). "Mypunchbowl joins growing list of Evite rivals". VentureBeat.
  6. ↑ Siegler, MG (September 16, 2008). "MyPunchbowl serves up a $2.1 million second round". VentureBeat.
  7. ↑ Morrison, Chris (October 2, 2007). "MyPunchbowl lands seed funding for online invitations". VentureBeat.
  8. ↑ "http://www.crunchbase.com/company/mypunchbowl". CrunchBase. Retrieved 2010-12-21. External link in |title= (help)
  9. ↑ McCarthy, Caroline (September 16, 2008). "$2.1 million for invite start-up MyPunchbowl". CNET.
  10. ↑ Kirsner, Scott (November 16, 2009). "Why is It So Hard to Kill a Web 1.0 Dinosaur?". Boston.com.
  11. ↑ Tartakoff, Joseph (November 12, 2010). "Punchbowl Gets Socializr to Join Its Party". PaidContent.
  12. ↑ Rao, Leena (September 14, 2010). "Online Party Planning Site MyPunchbowl Rebrands As Punchbowl; Passes 1M Users". TechCrunch.
  13. ↑ Rao, Leena (September 12, 2011). "Party Planning Platform Punchbowl Expands Beyond Invitations To Digital Greeting Cards". TechCrunch.
  14. ↑ Perez, Sarah (February 5, 2014). "Punchbowl Rolls Out New, Touch-Friendly Digital Invitations, Snags Exclusive Disney Partnership". TechCrunch.
  15. ↑ Perez, Sarah (October 20, 2014). "Punchbowl Takes On Evite With A Redesigned Site, New Kids' Brand Partnerships". TechCrunch.
  16. ↑ Loveday, Samantha (June 10, 2015). "VEGAS 2015: Punchbowl unveils new additions to Characters Kids Love invitation line". Licensing.biz.
  17. ↑ Rao, Leena (April 27, 2010). "MyPunchbowl Signs Multi-Million Dollar Licensing Deal with Oriental Trading Company". TechCrunch.
  18. ↑ "http://mitxawards.org/Winners-Circle.aspx". Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange. 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-08. External link in |title= (help)
  19. ↑ "http://www.mitxawards.org/innovation/Agencies/p-r/Punchbowl-Software.aspx". Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange. 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-07. External link in |title= (help)
  20. ↑ Ohngren, Kara and Jennifer Wang (June 2010). "100 Most Brilliant Companies". Entrepreneur Magazine.
  21. ↑ "100 Things That Are Getting Better". O, The Oprah Magazine. January 2010.
  22. ↑ "100 Most Useful Sites on the Web". Women's Health. June 2008.
  23. ↑ "http://www.mitxawards.org/Agencies/p-r/Punchbowl-Software.aspx". Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange. June 4, 2008. External link in |title= (help)
  24. ↑ "http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=12". The Webby Awards. May 28, 2008. Retrieved 2011-01-17. External link in |title= (help)
  25. ↑ Gralla, Preston (June 18, 2007). "25 Web Sites to Watch". PCWorld.
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