Backplane, a US-based platform for web-based social communities, completed its series A round on Thursday, garnering $4.5m. New investors include Advance/Newhouse Investment Partnership, an affiliate of publishing company Conde Nast, which are both owned by Advance Publications.
New investors also included Sequoia Capital, Greylock Discovery Fund, Battery Ventures and Formation 8, while returning investors from Backplane’s $1.8m seed round were Google Ventures, Founders Fund Angel, Menlo Ventures, SV Angel, i/o Ventures and assorted angels.
The angel backers include co-founder Troy Carter, manager of pop star Lady Gaga, which can be linked to the first of Backplane’s communities – one based around Gaga’s fanbase, Little Monsters. The Little Monsters site is currently running in beta, with a public release due in spring and further communities set to be launched by Backplane through the year.
Alongside the funding, Backplane has also acquired Cortex, a web-based sharing platform that received its seed…
