Startups

Firefly’s cobrowsing software is live with chat tool Olark’s 5k customers

The partnership, cofounder Dan Shipper said, is just the beginning for Firefly, which looks to partner with platforms that want screen sharing functionality but don't want to build in-house software.

Firefly cofounders Justin Meltzer (left) and Dan Shipper.

Firefly, the cobrowsing startup from Penn students, has partnered with live chat tool Olark, Firefly announced today.

Based in San Francisco, Olark has more than 5,000 customers, including Disqus, Hipmunk and SquareSpace. As of last month, Firefly’s cobrowsing software has been rolled out to all its customers, said Firefly cofounder and rising Penn senior Dan Shipper.

The partnership, Shipper said, is just the beginning for Firefly, which looks to partner with platforms that want screen sharing functionality but don’t want to build in-house software. The Firefly team thinks of its product as a “natural extension” of the service that startups like Olark provide, said cofounder Justin Meltzer.

Launched in fall 2012, Firefly is now “well into six-figures in revenue,” Shipper said. The startup is almost completely bootstrapped, aside from taking a $20,000 investment from First Round Capital’s student-run investment firm, the Dorm Room Fund. A team of three, Firefly is based out of First Round Capital’s University City headquarters.

 

Full Disclosure: Technical.ly Philly works out of the same office space as Firefly.
Companies: Dorm Room Fund / Firefly / First Round Capital / University of Pennsylvania

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