Fabulis, a gay social network has raised $250,000 this week thanks to David Bohnett, the man responsible for founding GeoCities when he was only 16 years old. With the new infusion of cash Fabulis raises their total funding to $825,000. Considering the site was launched just this year, financing numbers are looking good.
Bohnett injected the money under his venture capital firm Baroda ventures which works with early-stage social media companies, e-commerce sites and e-ticket websites among other ventures. To be considered sites must have very clear revenue models which Fabulis has painstakingly thought out for their visitors.
The sites main goal is simple, help gay men find the hottest spots to hang out, the best places to meet other gay men and other gay related activites. Users can sign up if they are openly gay or if they are “friends of gay guys.”
Users can sign up using their Facebook information or by creating an entirely new account after which point they’ll realize that the site looks much nicer than Facebook and other alternative social networks.
As Mashable points out:
The interface is gorgeous too, with Vimeo-reminiscent features that scream “accessible” and “intuitive.” In addition to self-tagging, which lets you easily find others who identify themselves in the same way, the site also features an anonymous Q&A function… sound familiar? You can add photos and share travel/outing plans on the site, too.
Here’s a screenshot of the Q&A page on the site:
Much like Facebook Credits the site also offers a currency system of their own known as “Fabulis Bits” which can be earned through site participation or bought outright. Fabulis Bits are used in the Q&A section of the site and can unlock special site features, upvoting of members and other future options.
To attract as many gay men as possible the site is also offering special offers and sweepstakes that are timed for certain events, creating a nice advertising model for the site to complement their credits system.
If you can ignore the “Beta bugs” and maybe even report them using the sites Gets Satisfaction setup, you may find exactly what you were looking for in a gay online community.
Check out Fabulis and let us know what you think. You honestly won’t find a nicer looking social network design on the current market.
