Mzinga

Mzinga is a privately-held producer of social software and analytics solutions based in Waltham, Massachusetts. Customers that use the software and services include ABC News and Rate My Professors. The name "Mzinga" is the Swahili word for "Beehive".

History

In 2007, two companies merged: Pennsylvania-based KnowledgePlanet and Woburn, MA-based Shared Insights. KnowledgePlanet had been founded in 1986, and developed portals for internal training of client employees. Shared Insights was founded in 2001, and hosted internal and online communities for employees and customers.

In March 2009, a Forrester Research analyst reported on Twitter that Mzinga was having financial difficulties after it had completed a second round of layoffs. Since Mzinga sold software to monitor social networks, rumors about the company's precarious financial condition spread through Twitter very quickly, causing the Boston Globe to remark, "But what was unusual about Mzinga's situation was how widely it echoed throughout the universe of bloggers and Twitter users, since so many of the company's employees and customers - and the analysts who track its ups and downs - are part of the online community that shares morsels of information and "status updates" on a moment-by-moment basis. This was a layoff for our Twittery new times." ^[1].

In September 2009, the company raised an additional $10 million in venture financing.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Social Downsizing, the Boston Globe, March 29, 2009"
2. ^ "Mzinga Completes $10 million Financing to Fuel Growth, Company Press Release, September 23, 2009".

External links

• Mzinga Website