Flipboard raises $50M at $200M valuation for social media viewing app

A cool iPad app can go a long way these days. Flipboard, maker of a beautiful app for viewing social media, announced today that it has raised $50 million in venture funding at a $200 million valuation, according to BoomTown.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Flipboard’s app uses a book’s page-turning metaphor. The app makes it much easier to browse through a variety of social and online media by pulling together diverse streams and reassembling them as a single stream that is easy to navigate with a touchscreen.

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“We’re obviously thrilled, because we think [the funding] confirms our focus that people want a beautifully designed way to interact with content and to share it,” Flipboard chief executive Mike McCue told BoomTown.  “And there is a lot more to come–on a scale of one to 10, we’re just at a two or three.”

Much of the funding came from New York-based Insight Venture Partners, with other investors including Comcast Interactive Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures and a number of angels including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Ron Conway, Dustin Moskovitz, actor Ashton Kutcher and the investment company of former News Corp. executive Peter Chernin.

McCue co-founded Flipboard in January 2010 with former Apple iPhone engineer Evan Doll. They debuted Flipboard in July. The company has 32 employees and plans to expand to around 50. Flipboard will also use the money for international expansion, small acquisitions and more product development. The next product will be for the iPhone and then the company will do a Google Android mobile app. Rivals include Pulse and Zite.

McCue said the company has struck content licensing deals with 17 major publishers so far, including Oprah Winfrey’s network. The company plans to make money through ads and subscriptions. Flipboard previously raised $10.5 million.

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