Written on 27th August 2008
5 COMMENTS 
Robin Wauters, Next web enthusiast & Plugg organizer
The European Founders Fund, the investment vehicle of the infamous Samwer brothers, puts money in social networking sites other than Facebook. According to a regulatory filing picked up by peHUB, the EFF has invested $1 million in Series A-1 funding for Dizzywood, a San Francisco-based creator of entertainment websites for kids.
“Dizzywood is a fun virtual world for kids where you can play free games, explore unique and imaginative areas, and meet new friends in a safe environment. Whether it’s a visit to a Mayan-themed jungle or a super power challenge to defeat Emperor Withering, Dizzywood offers children ages 8-12 the opportunity to create their own adventure, cooperate with other players in exciting games and challenges, and have fun while learning.”
Virtual worlds for kids is certainly a hot space: both RocketOn and Knowledge Adventure recently raised $5 million second rounds, Gaia Online took $11 million in a third round and Disney recently acquired Club Penguin for $350 million (with $350 million in earn out).
Dizzywood won the Best in Show Award at the 2008 Under the Radar Conference. Last February, TechCrunch reported that the company had raised $1 million Series A in a round led by Shelby Bonnie with Charles River Ventures with other individual investors also participating.
Dizzywood has notable founders, including Scott Arpajian, who headed CNet’s Download.com for over a decade in the past, ex-Microsoftie and former Wallop CTO Sean Uberoi Kelly and Ken Marden.
(Hat tip to Paidcontent)
Written on 30th May 2008
3 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Every once in a while, our Web Tipr’s mail us a round-up with interesting start-ups from their country. Yesterday Victor Cruzate sent me a quick update from Spain. Here are three new start-ups that take a shot for eternal Internet glory.
Planetaki
Planetaki is a RSS reader and web bookmark service that allows you to create your own version of the web. Which, of course, you can share with others. Well, planet is actually is a big word, as it’s more a fancy-looking list of your desired sources. That’s exactly though what the team has in mind: “We are a small group of people who believe there is beauty in simplicity and that there is indeed a great need of simplicity on the web.”
Wolpy
On Wolpy you can share your opinion of your visited places, keep track of all the trips you’ve made, explore new hotspots and see where your pals have been. To sum it up: it’s the kind of site where you go for the anticipatory pleasure and the nostalgic feelings afterwards. The service – developed by two geek friends who met in a LAN party – is currently in Alpha.
BuBok
Every Spanish speaking user that has the ambition to become a writer can make his or hers dream come true on BuBok. They can upload their book, give it a nice and professional look and then make it available for sale. If you don’t feel the need to pick up a pen, you can always check out books of aspiring writers on this well-designed site.
The Copycat approach
The three services all look very nice, and the ideas are well executed. Yet the last start-up, BuBok, is basically a Lulu rip-off. This is actually pretty smart, as a Spanish site probably appears more trustworthy and accessible to people from Spain. I’m sure Dutch people from my parents’ generation would prefer a Dutch service as well.
The other two start-ups copy part of an idea from respectively Netvibes and Dopplr…, in English. Netvibes talks about an Universe, Planetaki calls it a Planet. Dopplr, Tripit, and a dozen of other travel services track your trips, so does Wolpy. I’m not sure whether these two Spanish start-ups will get some traction as there already are some excellent alternatives for them.
BuBok’s approach is safer: try to copy the copy cat style of some German entrepreneurs like the Samwer brothers. Just clone an English service and conquer your home market. For Spanish start-ups, the potential is even bigger as millions and millions people all over the world speak Spanish.
However, from a creative and adventurous kind of view, trying to conquer the world is more exciting. But with tons of new start-ups launching every day, the chance of becoming the next Twitter or Friendfeed is small. Good luck to these brave Spanish entrepreneurs who are willing to take it.
[WebTipr: Victor Cruzate]
More Spanish Web 2.0 news (in Spanish) on Loogic
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