NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MAZ Digital Inc., a digital publishing platform for tablet and mobile devices, announced today that it has secured a $1 million seed round of funding. The funding was led by Expansion Venture Capital, a firm that specializes in mobile infrastructure with investments in other app-based companies including Apptopia and Appstack.  

MAZ (mazdigital.com) is a cloud-based digital publishing platform that allows publishers to create rich digital experiences for their readers and distribute to and manage their own tablet apps easily, affordably and without having to hire a developer. There are over 100 publications currently using the MAZ platform from publishers including Inc. Magazine, General Electric, and European giant Hubert Burda Media.

Funds from this round will be used to scale up the company by expanding the team, building new products and ramping up sales and marketing efforts.  MAZ recently launched a new social media tool called "Clippings," a new feature that allows readers to clip any piece of content on the screen - using the touch of two fingers - and share via email, Twitter, Facebook, and for the first time ever in an app, Pinterest. MAZ will continue to innovate and bring new consumer and publisher focused features to the platform.

"We have been an almost entirely bootstrapped startup since our launch over two years ago," said Paul Canetti, CEO of MAZ, who founded the company after leaving Apple Inc. with CIO, Simon Baumer, and CTO, Shikha Arora, who left Adobe for MAZ. "I'm proud of our accomplishments up to this point in terms of our product, team, sales, and infrastructure, both here in the US and in India - all of which we've done without any institutional funding. Now that we have secured this seed capital, we have the resources to expand the company and take MAZ to the next level."

Expansion Venture Capital not only led the round, but also helped bring in other VCs and angel investors. In total, there were 14 funds and angels that participated in the round including MI Ventures, T5 Capital, and Amer Rehman of YFT Ventures, all of whom focus on early stage innovative technology companies.

"Leading the round for MAZ was a no-brainer for us," said Joseph Melohn, founder and CEO of Expansion Venture Capital. "Apps are the future. Five years ago, no one knew what an app was; now everyone with a smartphone has apps that they use every day. We believe that MAZ represents the future for the way we consume content. They have great technology that continues to improve and a phenomenal team, led by their motivated and innovative CEO, Paul Canetti. We expect to see big things from MAZ in the coming years."

About MAZ Digital Inc.
MAZ Digital Inc. (mazdigital.com) is a cloud-based digital publishing platform that allows publishers to create rich digital experiences for their readers and distribute to and manage their own tablet apps easily, affordably and without having to hire a developer.  Founded by former Apple and Adobe employees, MAZ gives publishers easy-to-use tools to make their existing content come to life by adding interactive features such as web content, videos, audio, social media sharing tools, etc., all on one dynamic platform.  Best of all, they can do all this without having to learn a single line of code or dedicate enormous amounts of time and resources.

CONTACTS: Anne Donohoe / Brittany Fraser
KCSA Strategic Communications
212.896.1261 / 212.896.1251
adonohoe@kcsa.com / bfraser@kcsa.com 

SOURCE MAZ