Facebook and LinkedIn have found success by gathering broad swaths of users. But several prominent investors are betting that a narrower focus can help a social network prosper.
Doximity, a professional network for doctors, said on Monday that it had raised a $54 million financing round led by the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson and the mutual fund company T. Rowe Price. Morgan Stanley Investment Management also invested. The company’s valuation in the round was not disclosed.
The money, which brings Doximity’s total financing to $81 million, highlights investors’ appetite for relatively specialized social networks. Avvo, a directory of lawyers; Wattpad, an online community for writers; GitHub, a collaboration network for coders; and Nextdoor, a social network for neighbors, have each raised millions in venture capital.
At the same time, the financing shows the increased clout in Silicon Valley of staid mutual fund companies like T. Rowe Price, which has done a number of deals recently, including an investment in the home sharing site Airbnb.
Big investors are “seeing that the public park gets a little crowded,†Jeff Tangney, the chief executive of Doximity, said in an interview. “It may not be as useful to some of the participants if they have more niche needs.â€
Doximity, which opened its doors in 2011, has grown to include about 295,000 members, or 40 percent of physicians in the United States, according to the company. It offers a way for doctors to refer a patient to colleagues and to send information over a secure network.
The company also helps doctors on the network arrange consulting work, at average rates of $375 an hour, and collects payments for the service.
Konstantin Guericke, a co-founder of LinkedIn, sits on the Doximity board.
“This doesn’t mean I believe LinkedIn is going away any time soon. I think a lot of doctors will have a LinkedIn profile and Doximity profile,†Mr. Guericke said. “But the key is which part is really going to get ingrained in their lives.â€
