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eCommerce - Friday, March 14, 2008

Lift Line Operator With A Web Site Liftopia Raises 1st Round

We recently returned from a ski trip that was great but we were very frustrated at the ski resorts getting into some courses for our kids. The trouble is that the nice folks who work at the resorts are typically seasonal workers and aren't looking to maximize revenues and please patrons. So we agree that there is room for some hard-nosed and greedy people to give those who are mountain bound what they want.

Founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, discount ski lift ticket marketplace Liftopia.com has completed an undisclosed amount of Series A led by Sand Hill Angels. Erik Blachford, former CEO of Expedia, joined the round along with North Bay Angels. The startup's co-founders Ron Schneidermann and Evan Reece were with Hotwire.

The business makes sense to us. Skiers and boards pay the same price at resorts no matter the snow conditions. Coverage is not great yet. Liftopia currently sells tickets in Alaska, British Columbia, Southern California, Lake Tahoe, Colorado, New York, New England, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Utah.
However, in Tahoe for example, Liftopia sells discount lift tickets to Kirkwood and Diamond Peak.

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