• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, September 20, 2007 11:03 AM

It seems the credit crunch affecting hedge funds and financial services companies has yet to put a damper on Silicon Valley optimism, as venture capitalists continue to pour money into promising tech companies. A few days after Facebook investors signed off on a $10 million giveaway fund for application developers, real estate site Zillow.com has raised three times as much from its investors.

The investment round comes on top of the $57 million Zillow raised since its launch 18 months ago. As recently as last year, investors valued the company at $250 million, but the new round of funding, the company's third, brings its value to $350 million. Zillow CEO Rich Barton, who founded the online travel site Expedia.com, wouldn't comment on the valuation, but said the cash would be used to improve the company's Web site, "augment its advertising sales force" and launch a new localized advertising program.

The Seattle-based company currently has 155 employees and 20 national sales reps. Among other things, Zillow offers estimated home values, called "Zestimates," home seller postings and regional real estate search, and services connecting home buyers to brokers.

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