Gojee Raises $1.2M Seed Round Led by Kapor Capital, Reaches Cooks in 199 Countries

Kira M. Newman September 14, 2011 Tweet

Gojee, a curated recipe site that we covered previously, has raised $1.2 million in seeding funding led by Kapor Capital. This announcement comes less than 3 months after Gojee’s gorgeous site launched to a collective sigh of happiness among foodies.

Gojee has also brought on Brad Hunstable, cofounder and president of Ustream, as an advisor. None of the Gojee team members has successfully built a company before, so they are hoping to learn from the firsthand knowledge of Mitch Kapor and Hunstable.

“We’re really looking for [Hunstable] to provide some big picture vision combined with boots on the ground execution experience,” says Gojee cofounder Mike LaValle. He is also happy to see West Coast support for a New York City startup.

Gojee plans to do many as-yet-undisclosed things with this support; asked for hints, LaValle replied, “We’re working on some cool and exciting stuff.” But this much is clear: Gojee will be hiring more engineers, and they have doubled their food writers from 80 to 160. The recipe site has also attracted users in 199 countries and is betting on its international appeal.

Whatever is brewing, the goal will be to get users into the kitchen. “One of the things we’ve accomplished and hope to continue to do is get people excited about cooking again,” LaValle says.