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Ello

Ello gains momentum with £3.4m funding round - investors show interest in the ad-free, data-responsible social network

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

October 23, 2014 | 2 min read

Mysterious social network Ello, a beta site which vows to never sell user data, has raised £3.4m in its latest round of funding.

Ello was founded in August

The start-up, which came to prominence in the media as an ethical alternative to Facebook’ in September, has mustered substantial financial support to the tune of £3.4m.

The site will offer a freemium service to users in a bid to recoup some of the investment with investor, Lee Bouyea, of Fresh Track Capital telling the BBC: “There are 'freemium' successes like Linked In and in gaming. Ello is taking a unique spin on this.

"We are long-term investors. We have a company on our portfolio we invested in for nine years before they were successful. We look long term for a company to grow something of scale and value."

After Ello gained mass exposure in the media, invites to the site were actually sold on eBay, as the social network crashed with over 31,000 requests in a short period.

It remains unclear just what paid-for content the site will offer though it has emphasised that it will focus on customisation providing users the capability to have a vastly different network from others.

The cash will help bring to prominence the only social network on the market promising not to buy or sell users data.

Although Ello will not be the ‘Facebook-killer’ it was dubbed by some in the media, there may be a selling point in the future for sights promoting the ethical use of consumer data.

Ello

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