US-based personalisation technology developer Gracious Eloise has raised over $3m in a series A funding round backed by investors including BBG Ventures, a corporate venturing fund owned by internet and media group AOL.
The round’s investors also included Female Founders Fund and Broadway Angels, two funds that like BBG focus on early investments in female-founded companies. Great Oaks Venture Capital, Montage Ventures and undisclosed existing investors also participated in the round.
Gracious Eloise is a personalisation technology company focused on digital handwriting. It previously raised approximately $1.2m in seed capital in 2012 from a total of more than 30 investors.
The funds will be used to expand its technology team, and to support the launch of Handwriting.io, an API that converts type-written text into digital handwriting.
Eloise Bune, founder and CEO of Gracious Eloise, said: “Digital communication has made human interaction far less personal and more static, as people have become accustomed to sending emails and text messages instead of personal handwritten notes to friends, family members and business partners.
“Handwriting has always been the purest form of self-expression, and now, with Handwriting.io, we are bringing the lost art of handwriting back to life by reimagining personalisation in today’s digital world.”