What were the big social media deals over the last two years? In min and paidContent's just-published The State of Digital Media, Volume 2, paidContent compiled a month-by-month review of noteworthy social media deals made between January 2008 and October 2009. In the book excerpt below, we look at social networking deals made in October 2009. Each entry was written in a blog-like format on the day the deal was announced. (Look for updates on these companies and deals at www.paidcontent.org and www.minonline.com.)
Social Networking Deals, October 2009
Professional Network Viadeo Buys Contact Manager Unyk
French LinkedIn clone Viadeo is buying Canadian online address book manager Unyk in a move apparently designed to enhance its own contact management, in a cash and share swap. Unyk’s 16 million members will become Viadeo members, giving the latter over 25 million users.
Unyk looks very much like Plaxo. It lets users sync up address books from local machines and Web services, then, if contacts are also Unyk users, will update your address book with any changes they make. Unyk claims 600,000 new members a month. Like Germany’s Xing, Viadeo has been on the acquisition trail in a bid to rival both LinkedIn and Xing itself. After raising €5 million from AGF and Ventech in 2007, it struck a partnership with China’s Tianji, bought Spanish rival ICTnet last year and acquired India’s Apna-Circle earlier this year.
Weinstein Co. Sells Controlling Stake in Social Network ASmallWorld.net
The struggling Weinstein Co. sold most of its stake in exclusive social network ASmallWorld to Swiss heir and entrepreneur Patrick Liotard-Vogt. The Weinstein Co. initially invested in ASmallWorld three-and-a-half years ago as part of a “multi-million dollar” round. A planned European IPO was delayed in May 2008 due to market turbulence. At the time, ASmallWorld said that it had been approached by large media companies including Conde Nast and Time Warner but did not want to sell. The site has been hard hit since then by the recession, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine says the startup laid off 40 percent of its staff last Fall.
Liotard-Vogt will become chairman of the company. He wants to introduce premium services to the site and reportedly hopes to boost its revenue by a “double-digit” percentage this year. He’s also the CEO of The World’s Finest Clubs, a company which provides members access to exclusive clubs, hotels and restaurants around the world—in exchange for annual fees of as much as 2500 euros. There could be some obvious synergies between ASmallWorld and that operation. As for the Weinstein Co., which is led by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, they say in a statement that they received “a number of offers” for their stake, including some which were higher than Liotard-Vogt’s, but favored his bid because of his plans for the social network. Financial details were not released.
Social Media Monitoring Service Scout Labs Raises $4 Million
Scout Labs, which provides a Web-based platform that companies use to monitor online chatter about their products, raised $4 million in a round of funding, according to an SEC filing. The startup disclosed earlier this month that it had raised a round but did not say how much money it involved. Cash comes from new investors El Dorado Ventures and Javelin Venture Partners; existing investor Minor Ventures also participated. Scout Labs says it will use the new funds to pay for marketing and sales efforts and to increase the amount of data the company indexes for its clients. The service made its public debut in February.
The crowded social media monitoring space has seen lots of activity in recent months: Microsoft announced in September that it was readying an entry into the market; in July, Alterian bought up Techrigy, which sells social media monitoring and analytics tools; and, also in July, social media monitoring firm Collective Internet added $3 million in funding.
Social Media Measurement Firm Sometrics Raises $4 Million Second Round
Sometrics, a company that provides social media analytics and measurement for advertisers, raised $4 million in a second round led by Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, Techcrunch reports, citing unidentified sources. The Los Angeles-based company also received the backing from previous investors, the Mail Room Fund and Greycroft Partners. With this latest round, the company has raised a total of $5.55 million.
The other Sometrics backers who contributed to its seed round in May 2008 included Accel, Venrock and the William Morris Agency. In addition to measuring traffic, conversions and other data for apps across social nets, the company also has a virtual currency platform for use in online gaming. Sometrics plans to use this funding for additional hires and for expanding its marketing efforts.
Home Improvement Social Net BeJane Sold to Unnamed Buyer
BeJane, the home improvement social network based in Burbank, CA, was sold to Builder Homesite, according to the company, in an announcement to its members. The company, founded in 2003 with the site launched in 2005, saw a management change last year brought on by its (mainly angel) investors to turn around the then-ailing company.
DailyBooth Raises $1 Million for Photo Social Network
DailyBooth, a nine-month-old social network that lets users share photos in real-time, raised $1 million in a round of funding from a group of big name investors and VC firms, according to the WSJ. Investors include VC firm Sequoia Capital, tech investor and incubator Betaworks, Digg co-founder Kevin Rose, angel investor Ron Conway, and Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake.
The site lets users share photos and track those that others upload in real-time. (A typical entry: A snapshot of someone looking at a webcam, with the accompanying statement, ‘can you tell i feel like crap?’) Co-founder Jon Wheatley tells the WSJ that the startup is currently focused on scaling its business—although it also has plans for premium offerings and other features, including photo-printing. The company claims six million unique visitors a month.
Social Network for Forex Traders Currensee Raises $6 Million
Currensee, a social network aimed at foreign exchange traders, raised $6 million in a first round of funding from North Bridge Venture Partners. Currensee members link their brokerage accounts to their profiles, so that they can share trades and foreign exchange positions; trade data is also aggregated and shared throughout the social network. Currensee CEO Dave Lemont says in a release that the goal is to give individual forex traders “access to the type of collaboration and information” typically only available to institutional investors.
The site—which has been in invitation-only beta for the last eight months—opened in October 2009. Xconomy reported that Currensee plans to make money by taking a commission when its members open new brokerage accounts—and potentially by charging for “premium information services.
Visible Technologies Gets Funding to Help the CIA Monitor Social Media
As if posting a stream of status updates to hundreds of strangers on Twitter doesn’t have enough “big brother” potential ... Visible Technologies, the WPP-backed social media monitoring firm, picked up an undisclosed amount of funding from In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the U.S. government.
In-Q-Tel serves the C.I.A. and other government intelligence agencies, by taking stakes in firms specializing in biotechnology, software development and communications, among others. Related investments include In-Q-Tel’s funding of business analytics firm Spotfire (now a division of Tibco), and virtual world tech firm Forterra Systems.
The new money comes just a few months after Visible Technologies raised $6 million in funding from its existing investors; the company says it has raised a total of $23.5 million from all parties—including In-Q-Tel—to date.
Given that social networks, particularly Twitter, have quickly evolved into conduits for breaking news about civil unrest, terrorist attacks and other major events, it’s a no-brainer to think that the C.I.A. would want to invest in an existing listening platform, or perhaps license the technology to create one of its own. So In-Q-Tel’s choice to invest in Visible Technologies, over competitors like BuzzLogic or Overtone, could be a nod to the company’s superior technology. (That, or the government made Visible Technologies an offer it couldn’t refuse.)
‘Real-Time’ Startup Hot Potato Raises $1 Million
Hot Potato, an online startup that hopes to connect people watching live events in real-time, raised $1 million in a funding round led by First Round Capital and RRE Ventures. Tech incubator and investor Betaworks, along with serial angel investor Ron Conway, also participated. The company describes itself on its website as “connecting friends and fans around live events in real time.” Kafka has some additional details, including that the Hot Potato’s product would allow users to sift through all the online conversations that might revolve around a big event, like a baseball game. Founder Justin Shaffer was previously the SVP of new media at Major League Baseball’s internet unit, MLB Advanced Media. Shaffer told us that he would not comment on the funding report but said the product is “quite close to launching.”
Learn more about min & paidContent's The State of Digital Media, Volume 2.
|
Please enter the following information to have a link to The Skinny emailed to your iPhone:
min's Best of the Web Awards
Event April 3, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt, NYC
Register Today!
min Webinar:
Tablets 2.0: Generating a Revenue Plan for the Tablets Platform
December 8, 2011 1:30-3:00 p.m.
Available on Demand
All Events
|
.jpg)
Internet Sales Guidebook