Less than a month after winning the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield 2011 Cup, the Israeli-made application, Shaker, has raised $15 million from a series A round of investment.
The round included Menlo Ventures, Michael Arrington’s CrunchFund, Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter and Pitango Venture Capital.
“Shaker is a mixture of Second Life, The Sims, and Turntable.fm all mixed together using your Facebook data and connections. Your Facebook profile becomes a walking avatar, your pictures are placed on a virtual wall, you can choose what music is playing in the room for everyone to hear and you can even buy people drinks,” writes TechCrunch.
The company previously raised $3 million earlier this year, in addition to the $50,000 Disrupt Cup prize.
“I was blown away by talent of the Shaker team. I’ve been searching for many years for what only Shaker has accomplished. Shaker is going to touch and transform human connection and entertainment worldwide. Within a minute, I knew what I saw was the future. I had been looking for this for years,” said Menlo Ventures’ Shervin Pishevar on the Uncrunched blog.
The company was founded in Israel but has moved its headquarters to a new San Francisco office.