Online forums and communities present a largely untapped opportunity for making money — at least according to Dan Gill, cofounder and chief executive of Huddler.
The San Francisco startup is officially launching today. It’s one of those weird launches where the company has actually been working with customers for more than a year, and is only now getting around to telling the media that it exists. Gill said he wanted to make sure the technology was solid before doing too much to publicize it and attract competition.
Community-building software is a broad category, but Huddler approaches the market with a specific audience and mission. It’s looking for popular, product-focused forums that are built on either vBulletin or phpBB technology. Huddler contacts the owner of the site, offering to modernize the forum and bring in more money too.
Gill gave me a long list of benefits that Huddler can offer over older platforms. It gives the sites a makeover, so they look a bit less old-fashioned, not to mention more advertising-friendly. It optimizes the pages for search engines, and also makes them easier to share through Facebook Connect. And all the software is hosted online, rather than installed on someone’s computer, which means there’s less hassle for whoever’s managing the site.
Financially, there’s not much risk to the forum owner, since the software is free. Huddler is only paid by through a percentage of the increased revenue that it brings to a site. That revenue boost comes in a number of ways, Gill said — since the sites are product-focused, Huddler creates a product page with a link where visitors can buy the item in question. It also allows companies selling related products to create their own pages on the forum and engage with the community. And of course the sites can run advertising.
The transition to Huddler can be a challenging one because of the technology issues, as well as the likelihood that change will upset some forum members. Gill didn’t offer any details, but he hinted that he has seen his share of angry comments from users who didn’t like a new forum. But Huddler has become more proficient at both moving content to a new site and preparing users for the change, he said.
There are now 24 sites using Huddler, adding up to a total of 9 million unique monthly visitors. The success stories include EpicSki, which saw a 70 percent increase in natural search traffic after switching to Huddler, and DenimBlog, which doubled pageviews in two months and is now bringing in three times the amount of revenue.
Huddler raised $5.5 million in funding from New Enterprise Associates last year. For now, the company is focusing on existing forums because they’ve already got the audience, but Gill said, “There’s no reason you won’t be able to start your own Huddles in the future.”
[image via Flickr/Daniel Borman]
Next Story: Salesforce: Yes, Chatter really does improve productivity Previous Story: Otoy scores important deals for its server gaming technology
deals, startups, funding
August Startup Financings in MA Rose Slightly to $143M, With Plenty of Smaller Deals
Erin Kutz 9/21/10
Startup deal-making in Massachusetts rebounded slightly last month. Thirty companies brought in $143.6 million in equity-based financing deals, which was almost a 10 percent increase from July’s total of $131.4 million, according to data provided by private company intelligence platform CB Insights.
It’s not anything like the surge we saw in June, when Bay State tech and life sciences companies raked in $307 million in funding, but it’s still an improvement. Could it be the area is slowly readying itself for a busy new innovation season?
Watertown, MA-based gene-silencing drug developer Dicerna Pharmaceuticals took the top spot last month with a $25 million Series B round. That deal, plus another 11 financings, made healthcare the leading sector for August, with a total of $77.1 million raised.
The energy industry showed up with the third-biggest deal in August, a $10 million Series A round for Cambridge’s 24M Technologies, a new spinoff from Watertown, MA-based lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE). The startup, which is working on energy storage systems that use a mix of lithium-ion and flow battery technologies, hasn’t given too many details yet about its products or business plan, but the first institutional round seems to be part of a strong push to establish 24M as its own entity in the public’s eye.
The Internet sector stayed strong in second place, with $33.4 million raised. And mobile and software companies regained some footing as far as fundraising goes. Companies in both spaces have been struggling to bring in much money this year; last month, the software industry pulled in a grand total of $100,000, and mobile companies got no money at all. Both rebounded in August to raise just over $11 million.
It’s also worth noting that while the total dollar amount brought in by startups was still relatively low in August, the number of deals wasn’t. So, in reality, it’s the individual deal sizes that shrank during the later part of summer, not the number of companies getting funding. For example, Bay State equity deal-making boomed to $307 million in June, the total came from 31 transactions. Last month, however, nearly the same number of deals (30) amounted to less than half the total amount of cash ($143.6 million). And July’s dwarfed total also came from a relatively high number of transactions, 26. Also, last August startups raised more money ($179.2 million) from fewer deals (21).
Massachusetts also saw a higher number of startup financings last month than it did earlier in the spring, when monthly startup investing totals hovered in the neighborhood of $200 million. So it seems startups made do with less financing in the past two months than they had earlier in the year. We’ll have to wait to see how this trend plays out in the fall. Meanwhile, check below for the full list of deals.
Bay State startups brought in another $13.6 million through debt- and rights-based financings. Read below for the breakdown.
Erin Kutz is an Assistant Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700.
robert shumake
BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: Bears release Mark Anderson; sign Charles Grant <b>...</b>
BREAKING NEWS: Bears release Mark Anderson. ... Fantasy Football Breaking News Click Here � H&S Torain � NFL Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Week 5: Ryan Torain In Line For Carries � Photo � Fantasy Football Projections Week 5: Top Five ...
Exclusive: I have some big <b>news</b>... | Ausiello | EW.com
You may need a hug after you read this. Or I may need one. Sources confirm to me exclusively that… I just made pretty much the most difficult decision of my ...
Not the Nightly <b>News</b> : CJR
All that is fun, gossipy, insidery stuff, but what intrigues most in the article is the degree to which the more successful cable players avoid calling themselves journalists, or their craft “journalism,” or even “news. ...
robert shumake
BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: Bears release Mark Anderson; sign Charles Grant <b>...</b>
BREAKING NEWS: Bears release Mark Anderson. ... Fantasy Football Breaking News Click Here � H&S Torain � NFL Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Week 5: Ryan Torain In Line For Carries � Photo � Fantasy Football Projections Week 5: Top Five ...
Exclusive: I have some big <b>news</b>... | Ausiello | EW.com
You may need a hug after you read this. Or I may need one. Sources confirm to me exclusively that… I just made pretty much the most difficult decision of my ...
Not the Nightly <b>News</b> : CJR
All that is fun, gossipy, insidery stuff, but what intrigues most in the article is the degree to which the more successful cable players avoid calling themselves journalists, or their craft “journalism,” or even “news. ...
robert shumake
Online forums and communities present a largely untapped opportunity for making money — at least according to Dan Gill, cofounder and chief executive of Huddler.
The San Francisco startup is officially launching today. It’s one of those weird launches where the company has actually been working with customers for more than a year, and is only now getting around to telling the media that it exists. Gill said he wanted to make sure the technology was solid before doing too much to publicize it and attract competition.
Community-building software is a broad category, but Huddler approaches the market with a specific audience and mission. It’s looking for popular, product-focused forums that are built on either vBulletin or phpBB technology. Huddler contacts the owner of the site, offering to modernize the forum and bring in more money too.
Gill gave me a long list of benefits that Huddler can offer over older platforms. It gives the sites a makeover, so they look a bit less old-fashioned, not to mention more advertising-friendly. It optimizes the pages for search engines, and also makes them easier to share through Facebook Connect. And all the software is hosted online, rather than installed on someone’s computer, which means there’s less hassle for whoever’s managing the site.
Financially, there’s not much risk to the forum owner, since the software is free. Huddler is only paid by through a percentage of the increased revenue that it brings to a site. That revenue boost comes in a number of ways, Gill said — since the sites are product-focused, Huddler creates a product page with a link where visitors can buy the item in question. It also allows companies selling related products to create their own pages on the forum and engage with the community. And of course the sites can run advertising.
The transition to Huddler can be a challenging one because of the technology issues, as well as the likelihood that change will upset some forum members. Gill didn’t offer any details, but he hinted that he has seen his share of angry comments from users who didn’t like a new forum. But Huddler has become more proficient at both moving content to a new site and preparing users for the change, he said.
There are now 24 sites using Huddler, adding up to a total of 9 million unique monthly visitors. The success stories include EpicSki, which saw a 70 percent increase in natural search traffic after switching to Huddler, and DenimBlog, which doubled pageviews in two months and is now bringing in three times the amount of revenue.
Huddler raised $5.5 million in funding from New Enterprise Associates last year. For now, the company is focusing on existing forums because they’ve already got the audience, but Gill said, “There’s no reason you won’t be able to start your own Huddles in the future.”
[image via Flickr/Daniel Borman]
Next Story: Salesforce: Yes, Chatter really does improve productivity Previous Story: Otoy scores important deals for its server gaming technology
deals, startups, funding
August Startup Financings in MA Rose Slightly to $143M, With Plenty of Smaller Deals
Erin Kutz 9/21/10
Startup deal-making in Massachusetts rebounded slightly last month. Thirty companies brought in $143.6 million in equity-based financing deals, which was almost a 10 percent increase from July’s total of $131.4 million, according to data provided by private company intelligence platform CB Insights.
It’s not anything like the surge we saw in June, when Bay State tech and life sciences companies raked in $307 million in funding, but it’s still an improvement. Could it be the area is slowly readying itself for a busy new innovation season?
Watertown, MA-based gene-silencing drug developer Dicerna Pharmaceuticals took the top spot last month with a $25 million Series B round. That deal, plus another 11 financings, made healthcare the leading sector for August, with a total of $77.1 million raised.
The energy industry showed up with the third-biggest deal in August, a $10 million Series A round for Cambridge’s 24M Technologies, a new spinoff from Watertown, MA-based lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE). The startup, which is working on energy storage systems that use a mix of lithium-ion and flow battery technologies, hasn’t given too many details yet about its products or business plan, but the first institutional round seems to be part of a strong push to establish 24M as its own entity in the public’s eye.
The Internet sector stayed strong in second place, with $33.4 million raised. And mobile and software companies regained some footing as far as fundraising goes. Companies in both spaces have been struggling to bring in much money this year; last month, the software industry pulled in a grand total of $100,000, and mobile companies got no money at all. Both rebounded in August to raise just over $11 million.
It’s also worth noting that while the total dollar amount brought in by startups was still relatively low in August, the number of deals wasn’t. So, in reality, it’s the individual deal sizes that shrank during the later part of summer, not the number of companies getting funding. For example, Bay State equity deal-making boomed to $307 million in June, the total came from 31 transactions. Last month, however, nearly the same number of deals (30) amounted to less than half the total amount of cash ($143.6 million). And July’s dwarfed total also came from a relatively high number of transactions, 26. Also, last August startups raised more money ($179.2 million) from fewer deals (21).
Massachusetts also saw a higher number of startup financings last month than it did earlier in the spring, when monthly startup investing totals hovered in the neighborhood of $200 million. So it seems startups made do with less financing in the past two months than they had earlier in the year. We’ll have to wait to see how this trend plays out in the fall. Meanwhile, check below for the full list of deals.
Bay State startups brought in another $13.6 million through debt- and rights-based financings. Read below for the breakdown.
Erin Kutz is an Assistant Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700.
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