What you need to know - 02/01/11

Ronny Kerr · February 1, 2011 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/1689

33need launches to enable microinvestments for a good cause; China censors word "Egypt" in searches

Launching today is 33needs, a new platform for companies to showcase how they’re going to change the world and raise money through microinvestments.

 

Former eHarmony CEO Greg Waldorf has jumped ship and joined Accel Partners as the company’s CEO in residence.

 

Subscription billing solution Aria Systems closed a $20 million Series C round led by InterWest Partners, with help from previous investors Hummer-Winblad and Venrock, as well as an unnamed “large, global technology firm."

 

Atzip raised $614K in equity funding to help people meet each other based on nearby zip codes, according to a filing with the SEC

 

4Chan creator Christopher Poole has launched a new website (still in private beta) called Canvas, a place for creating and sharing images with friends.

Several Chinese websites, including online portals Sina.com and Netease.com, as well as China’s Twitter equivalent Weibo, have blocked the word “Egypt” in keyword searches.

 

 

Online film service Film Fresh Inc. obtained $2 million in equity investment from a private investment group.

Nimbuzz 1.9 for Java-powered feature phones is available for download. The update lets users log in to Facebook right from the app.

 

Quepasa.com, a social network for Latinos, acquired XtFt Games S/S Ltda (XtFt), owner of a social game studio based in Curitiba, Brazil.

RentJuice, a platform that connects prospective renters with brokers and property managers, raised $6.2 million in a funding round led by Highland Capital Partners, with continued investment by Tim Draper, who led the company's seed financing.

 

Seesmic, developer of applications that monitor social networks across mobile devices, secured a $4 million investment from salesforce.com, inc. and a Softbank Group company managed by Softbank Holdings Inc.

A new service launched earlier this week on the Facebook platform that has grand ambitions to change the way people shop on the Web. SoapBox lets any Facebook user add items they're interested in purchasing to their "closet," which can also double as a gift wish list.

Truveris, developer of an automated pharmacy benefits review service, raised $3.8 million in a first round of financing led by GSA Venture Partners, with participation from New Atlantic Ventures and First Round Capital.

Voddler, a Scandinavia-based TV series and movie on-demand service, raised an $8 million investment led by Nokia Growth Partners, the venture capital arm of Nokia

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Nimbuzz

Startup/Business

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Nimbuzz is the free call and messaging app for the connected generation.

Nimbuzz combines the powers of the Internet and mobile communications into one, and lets you meet, share and connect with family and friends on any mobile device.

At the heart of Nimbuzz is the live Contact list – an always-on, hyper-connected, dynamic address book, enhanced with “real-time-presence” showing at a glance who’s online, offline, busy or away, their status messages, avatar pictures and social community activity.  From here, users launch free and cheap calls between each other, IM chat sessions, picture sending, chat-room sessions, location based services and various other communication & interactive features.

 

Nimbuzz users enjoy the freedom of communicating with friends between any internet enabled device, from mobile to mobile, mobile to PC/Mac and vice versa, harnessing the power of the Internet (Wi-Fi, 3G, 2G, GPRS)

 

With its mobile, Web, Wap and desktop clients, Nimbuzz is available on thousands of the worlds’ most popular devices across all major platforms – Symbian, iPhone, iPod touch, Windows Mobile, Android, BlackBerry, J2ME, as well as Windows and Mac desktop computers.

 

Social networks & communities supported by Nimbuzz include Skype®, Facebook®, Windows Live Messenger (MSN®), GoogleTalkTM, Twitter, Yahoo!TM, AIM®, MySpace, ICQ®, GaduGadu, Hyves, StudiVZ, Giovani and others.

 

SoapBox

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Soapbox takes shopping both online and at stores to a new level of social interactivity. Soapbox taps into existing social networks such as facebook and twitter to bring a new social dimension to shopping. Soapbox uses the latest bar code scanning, and geo targeting technology with its iPhone app to bring interactivity to shopping at brick and mortar vendors. Soapbox will change the way you shop for yourself, for your friends and for special events such as weddings, birthdays and family events. Soapbox is on the cutting edge of social shopping, the hottest new trend since social networking. 

Seesmic

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

People share their opinion on any topic in video. There is a social software layer, much like Twitter, to follow the conversation. Loic calls it the "CNN of my friends."

There are 2,000 videos posted per day with only 1,500 people subscribed to the stealth site. 

33needs

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

33needs enables everyone to invest in social enterprises (AKA, companies solving the world's biggest needs). The internet shifts power from institutions to you. We're pioneering the idea of "people-powered investing" and flipping the standard funding model on its head.