This is hot off the presses - iWidgets, a free publishing tool that helps you convert things like RSS feeds and activity streams into social applications on Facebook and MySpace - has just announced $4.1M in funding from Opus Capital and University Venture Fund.
This is especially interesting in that competitors Sprout and SplashCast are now charging for their publishing tools.
Can a free model deliver venture level returns? Who knows. But in the shorter term, "paid" will have a tough time beating "free."
See here and here for previous Sexy Widget coverage of iWidgets.
Here's some other coverage of the news: PEHub, NewTeeVee
Here's the press release:
iWidgets Lands $4 Million to Reach Millions of Online Consumers Through Social Syndication
iWidgets introduces next-generation technology platform for taking big brands’ content to the places where people are spending time online
SAN FRANCISCO, February 4, 2009 — iWidgets,
the Social Syndication Company™, has raised $4.1 million in Series A
funding led by Opus Capital, a leading early-stage venture capital firm
in Menlo Park, Calif. and University Venture Fund, a collaborative
venture between universities, students and private equity funds based
in Salt Lake City, Utah.
iWidgets
today is also announcing the addition of Geoff Katz to the executive
team as vice president of business development and marketing. Katz, an
interactive television industry pioneer and digital media veteran, also
currently serves on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board
of Governors. He joins iWidgets after stints with TiVo, DirectTV and brand experience design agency Method. The timing of iWidgets’
Series A funding and the addition of Katz to the team is a direct
result of market demand for new and creative ways to reach consumers
online.
“Now is the time to exploit the iWidgets technology and start to capitalize on the intense interest we’ve had from media companies of all stripes,” said Peter Yared, iWidgets
CEO. “With these new investors, we are positioned to radically change
the way brands interact with their fans online by helping them join the
social media revolution at a massively reduced cost.”
iWidgets’
proven Social Syndication technology is a powerful new tool for
publishing content on social sites and portals including Facebook,
MySpace, Hi5, and iGoogle. The iWidgets
platform creates fully native applications, including different formats
for walls and canvas pages, and full access to viral avenues such as
newsfeeds and friend lists, opening up a new channel for monetizing
content — including online video — on social networks. By embedding
native applications on the networks where the most people are spending
their time, building brand awareness online becomes achievable even
while the effectiveness of banner ads continues to slump.
“Major
media companies, music companies, retailers, technology companies and
enterprises understand the power and reach they can achieve through a
truly social application,” said Ken Elefant, a general partner of Opus
Capital and member of the iWidgets board of directors. “Peter Yared is an experienced entrepreneur we have enjoyed knowing for years. Our investment will help iWidgets deliver on its promise to bring content to people where they live online and to drive social interaction in an effective way.”
“We’ve
seen consumer traffic to destination websites flat-lining, but time
spent on social networking platforms like Facebook and MySpace has
continued to skyrocket,” Katz said. “The iWidgets
platform creates a new model for television shows and other kinds of
media to reach an audience online and to go viral with messages and
promotions by tapping into the social graph.”
The iWidgets
Social Syndication Platform is the only solution that offers full
customization of widgets as well as native deployment into social
networks. Other solutions do not help in the construction of widgets
and rely on Flash rather than deep integration into the native dialects
of each destination. iWidgets creates an untapped value proposition for viral content sharing.
iWidgets'
patent-pending WidgetWORA™ (Write Once Run Anywhere) technology
publishes each application as a real, native widget on each destination
at a dramatically lower cost than with custom programming. These native
applications fit the look of each website, integrate data such as
social graphs and profile information, and leverage viral channels such
as newsfeeds and invitations.
About iWidgets
iWidgets
drives traffic and interest from your fans and their friends by
socially syndicating your website's interesting content and user
activity to popular destination sites such as Facebook, MySpace and
iGoogle. The iWidgets Social Syndication
Platform allows simple creation of social applications that blend
seamlessly with popular social networking sites. iWidgets works with CBS Interactive, other media companies and any company that seeks effective online distribution of their content. iWidgets is a private company based in San Francisco.
About Opus Capital
Opus
Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm with more than $1
billion of committed capital under management, investing in committed,
high integrity entrepreneurs building market-leading technology
companies. The team has participated in the successful outcomes of more
than 80 companies (including 50 IPOs) in the U.S. and in Israel
including Adaptec, AirGate PCS, BlueNile, Brocade, Ciena, DoubleClick,
Electronics for Imaging, FedEx, Genesys, Harmonic, Informatica, Kidaro
and Vantive. Opus Capital is headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Menlo
Park, California. For more information, visit www.opuscapital.com.
