StatusNet raises $875,000 seed round

Provider of Identi.ca microblogging service gets new seed funding for expansion

StatusNet, a startup focusing on online networks powered by open-source software to create open-source content, is closing an $875,000 seed round of funding today. Contributors to the round include iNovia Capital, Fotolia co-founder Oleg Tscheltzoff,  Xavier Nieland, and Montreal Startup, which previously raised $150,000 in seed funding for StatusNet in January 2009.

Right now, StatusNet is somewhat well-known for its microblogging service, Identi.ca. Reading the About page on Identi.ca's site, one might think that the microblogging service just wants to be Twitter. Registered users can post updates of 140 character or less, subscribe to friend updates or updates from interesting people, and follow the updates of others via the Web or RSS.

StatusNet provides a different service than both Identi.ca and Twitter, however, in that it is an easily distributable, open-source microblogging platform. Anybody (once it opens up to the general public) can download and install the microblogging service to a server, in the same way that WordPress works as an open-source traditional blogging platform.

While millions of people could adopt the platform for themselves, StatusNet sees real profit coming when companies and corporations adopt the microblogging platform for business needs. Said companies could even allow users to cross-update their Twitter feeds automatically, eliminating the notion that StatusNet is trying to compete with Twitter in any form.

StatusNet has not just been expanding monetarily. Late last week, former community and business development manager for Creative Commons Jon Phillips joined the StatusNet team, more evidence that the company has a strong pull towards open-source software and content. Additionally, Brion Vibber, the former CTO of Wikipedia, recently became senior software architect at StatusNet.