Ello CEO and C-Founder Paul Budnitz

Ello has received $5.5 million in new venture capital, which ironically coincides with them legally ensuring that they will never take money from the sale of user data or ads and that goes for any acquirer. Paul Budnitz, co-founder and chief executive of Ello, confirmed to the New York Times,

“It basically means no investor can force us to take a really good financial deal if it forces us to take advertising. It points us in the right direction, and it protects us”.

Foundry Group, who is based in Boulder, Colorado, co-led the venture capital funding of $5.5 million. On the Foundry Group blog, Seth Levine wrote, “Foundry Group is completely supportive of the Ello mission. We’ll either build a business that doesn’t rely on third party advertising or the selling of user data or we won’t build a business.”

The co-founders are so adamant about keeping Ello ad free, that they converted the company into a public benefit corporation in Delaware. This means that Ello cannot be forced by investors to sell data, or place ads. It also stops the company from being sold to any buyer you would go against these conditions. Budnitz told Re/code “This company will never have ads and will never sell user data. We’ve basically enshrined, in the most powerful legal way possible, our mission into the company.”

Ello launched in March and already has one million users, with an additional three million on a waiting list.