Blogging is a unique business idea in that it’s possible to start and make money from your blog without investing any money in it to begin with. However, there are some problems which could arise as a result of your not investing any money in your blog. For example, without any funding, you will need to use a free domain name and unless you’re a professional web designer yourself, will have to make do with free, widely available templates and little SEO. Because of this, those hoping to make some serious money from their blog will definitely benefit from getting business funding. We’ve listed some of the best reasons to get a business loan for your blog. [Read more…]
Fabulis: Gay Social Network Gets Big Money Backing
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.” [Read more…]
Music Blog Network MOG Raises More Money
California-based music blog network MOG has raised another $5 million says VentureBeat. MOG is one of those blog networks that focuses on selling ads on blogs in a certain niche, much like Glam and SB Nation.
“We’ve seen super-rapid growth,” said founder David Hyman in an interview. “We sell ads across the top 700 music blogs and signed up all of them over the last 11 months.”
More on VentureBeat, nothing on MOG yet.
Sports Blog Network Secures Another $7 Million in Funding
Former AOL executive Jim Bankoff has raised another $7 million in funding for sports blog network SB Nation, according to Kara Swisher’s blog. The valuation after this cash flow is reported to be around some $30 million. SB Nation is the kind of blog network who recruits bloggers, and they are aiming to give fan coverage for just about any sport out there. With more than 200 blogs under the SB Nation banner, I’d say they’re giving it a serious shot at least.
TweetDeck Raises $2 Million in Funding
TechCrunch reports that Twitter client TweetDeck has raised $2 million in funding. The news comes from a a panel where angel investor John Borthwick let it slip. Apparently the Twitter app and its branded versions are appealing to investors. I can see why, especially now that there is an iPhone app covering the mobility factor as well.
StockTwits Gets $800,000 Funding
StockTwits, one of those sites that are built around sucking in content from Twitter and present it in a slightly more interesting way, has nabbed $800,000 in Series A funding, courtesy of True Ventures.
There’s also a premium version on its way, which will, as the name implies, cost money. The current StockTwits site will remain free says Howard Lindzon.
Hat tip: VentureBeat and MediaMemo
Buzznet becomes Buzz Media; Raises $12.5 million new funding
Buzznet, which operates the web’s largest community of pop culture web sites with an audience of 40 million unique monthly users, has changed its name to Buzz Media. The newly-named company will focus on the continued growth of its socially programmed web sites, including Celebuzz, Buzznet, the Superficial, SocialiteLife, What Would Tyler Durden Do, Stereogum, Idolator, Just Jared and Absolute Punk.
Buzz Media announced that it has secured a new round of financing totaling $12.5 million. Focus Ventures joined the latest round. Existing investors, including Anthem Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Redpoint Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures, also participated in the round.
Buzz Media will use the funds for the continued growth of its portfolio of leading pop culture properties. More than 40 million people worldwide visit Buzz Media properties every month. The company’s pop culture focused portfolio includes leading online music and celebrity destinations.
Giga Omni Media Raises Another $4.5 Million
Giga Omni Media has secured another $4.5 million in funding, bringing the total to $5.3 million according to Michael Arrington, who disagrees with the decision to raise money at all. Om Malik writes:
We are going to use this new investment prudently, to enhance our technology platform and content offerings, add to our current portfolio of publications and expand our Events and Briefings businesses. We are in investing for the long-term — in ourselves.
This move shows that Giga Omni Media will continue to expand aggressively, and further acquisitions, following the ones of jkOnTheRun and The Apple Blog, is likely.
Digg Raises Money, Plans International Expansion
Digg has raised $28.7 million in Series C funding, which means bigger offices, a bunch of new job openings, and a more aggressive expansion. The latter will include international support, since almost half of Digg’s user hail from outside the US. This means localized versions, starting to appear in early 2009. My guess is that German, Spanish, and French versions are prioritized, for obvious reasons.
Om Malik reports a rumor that founder Kevin Rose got a chance to cash in, and took it:
The rumor I heard is that Digg founder Kevin Rose got to a sell a nice chunk of his shares in the company, a trend that has become quite fashionable among the Web 2.0 set. Several founders have taken money off the table as their companies wait for a bigger payday.
Good for Rose, of course, an probably not something to be upset about. I’d be more worried about the fact that 1% of the users generates 32% of the visits (stats from GigaOM). What happens if/when they get bored with Digg? That Facebook partnership might be crucial, but it might also prove just how hard it is to move from the tech savvy crowd, to the mainstream. And the former usually abandon ship when the latter gets in on the action. Digg is in for a bumpy ride.
iFundVC blog launches: behind the scenes with iPhone-friendly venture capitalists
Six months ago, a group of venture capitalist companies set up the iFund to promote and fund application development for Apple’s iPhone.
Now, they’ve set up the iFundVC blog, which will be used to keep the public updated on where the $100m is being invested.
There’s only one blog entry at present, and it will be interesting to see how much the site is developed. Particularly as some elements of the funding process are sure to be confidential, I wonder how much is left to talk about.
The design of the blog is certainly basic, but if pushes out interesting information then I don’t really care.
(Via TUAW)
