NatureShare Raises $1.5M Round For Its New Outdoors-Focused Social Platform

You may not have heard about Vermont-based mobile apps company Green Mountain Digital yet, but the company has developed a number of very popular nature and outdoor lifestyle apps. The company, which was founded in 2009, just announced that it has closed a $1.5 million convertible note funding round and is changing its name to NatureShare. This funding round includes new and previous angel investors and includes a follow-on investment from the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies’ Vermont Seed Capital Fund. The company also raised about $1.5 million in a previous seed round in 2010.

Green Mountain Digital/NatureShare’s most well-known app is probably the Audubon Guides mobile field guide series. Indeed, NatureShare tells us that it owns the exclusive rights to the digital Audubon Guides. The company’s other app partners include The Orvis Company, Gardener’s Supply Company and Sailing World Magazine. While these may not sound like the hippest companies, NatureShare’s apps have been downloaded over 750,000 times. While the company won’t say how many active users it has, today’s announcement notes that it doubled the number of registered users since the beginning of 2012. The company regularly has 4 or 5 of the top 20 apps in the reference category in Apple’s App Store.

“Since our founding, we’ve been dedicated to providing people who love the outdoors with innovative applications that enhance their appreciation of nature and wildlife,” said Brendan Cahill, CEO of NatureShare in a canned statement today. “Now, as NatureShare, we’ll be connecting people
to the outdoors as never before, through a web and mobile community that will enable members to explore and share their experiences wherever they are.”

The company plans to use this new round of funding to launch its social platform later this fall and build out its technology team, as well as to continue to improve and expand its current app catalog.