Last posts on Web 2.0

Web 2.0 payout solutions provider Payoneer secured $4 million

2007-03-26T17:50:00+02:00

Web 2.0 payout solutions provider Payoneer has secured $4 million in Series A venture funding led by Greylock Partners. All earlier investors participated in the current round including Crossbar Capital and several angel investors. The new funding will Lets Payoneer tap explosive demand for faster and easier global payments for businesses In the Web 2.0 economy.Payoneer offers outsourced Web payout solutions using prepaid debit MasterCard, wire transfers and e-checks. Payoneer’s prepaid debit cards are accepted at any store or ATM worldwide that accepts MasterCard. Payoneer has gained dozens of customers – including affiliate networks, bloggers, video and music sites, Internet payment service processors (IPSPs) in the 9 months since its service was introduced. "The Internet payout space may well become a killer application in the next few years as Internet companies transition to smarter ways to pay out their partners around the globe,” said Moshe Mor, partner at Greylock Partners. "Payoneer’s team has deep payments experience, and an already impressive track rate of customer adoption and solutions.”Payoneer was founded in 2005 by Yuval Tal, Payoneer CEO. Previously Tal served as the CEO of E4X, a provider of services that facilitate global business by reducing complexities relating to cross border sales and payments, from September 1999 until February 2005. Payoneer is based in New York, and maintains its R&D center in Tel Aviv.Israel Digital Blog Ad – Mobile Multimedia Adaptation | Information System Audit | PC Synchronization

Web 2.0 project management software provider Clarizen Secures $7 Million

2006-12-05T08:55:00+01:00

Web 2.0 project management software provider Clarizen has closed a $7 million round of financing from Benchmark Capital and Carmel Ventures. Clarizen is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that empowers users to manage projects and programs across teams, organizations, and companies. SaaS enables companies to dramatically improve the overall user experience. It delivers tangible value to customers at a fraction of the cost of full-blown enterprise software, while offering full user flexibility. The company intends to launch its public Beta service in Q1 2007“Clarizen's innovative solution creates a unique project management environment enabling true team collaboration and the sharing of live knowledge through the use of Web 2.0 communication tools,” explained Avinoam Nowogrodski, CEO of Clarizen.Clarizen was founded by CEO, Avinoam Nowogrodski, and by EVP R&D, Tanya Epstein, in 2005. Prior to founding Clarizen, both held similar positions at SmarTeam, a provider of collaborative product life cycle management solutions, which Nowogrodski co-founded in 1995.Israel Digital Blog Ad – Firewall Security Compliance | Go to My PC from Anywhere | Mobile Content Distribution

Web 2.0

2006-11-10T14:31:17+01:00

NuConomy launches incentives platform to moneterise from user generated content

2006-11-07T14:55:00+01:00

Web 2.0 startup NuConomy announced the beta release of NuConomy Studio, a new incentives management platform that gives web based businesses the opportunity to moneterise from user generated content (UGC).With NuConomy Studio platform, digital content providers can seamlessly build customized revenue sharing, reward point or club card programs based on user performance and contribution. The full-scale OLAP based BI solution can analyze users from each and every possible perspective: by content quality, membership lifetime, overall contribution and more.NuConomy was founded in 2006 by ex Microsoft Technology Center executive. Shahar Nechmad, NuConomy CEO, was the business development manager of Microsoft MTC in Israel, and Haggai Shachar, NuConomy CTO, was held the position of Integration Division Manager at the Microsoft Technology Center in Israel.Israel Digital Blog Ad – PC Synchronization | Mobile Content Delivery | Mobile Entertainment Services

Internet entertainment applications developer bp InTech received an investment from LGiLab

2006-11-01T14:05:00+01:00

Online entertainment applications developer, bp Interactive Technologies (bp InTech), has received an investment from the Lightspeed-Gemini Internet Lab (LGiLab). bp InTech is the first investment of the LGiLab, a Web 2.0 Lab that intend to support emerging Internet startups with an initial investment of up to $1 million.Founded by Tal Ben-Simon and Tomer Pascal, bp InTech is developing a new fantasy sports arena called playSPEX- The Sports Exchange. Fantasy sports is the term used for a popular pastime where pretend “owners” of a sports team compete against others on the basis of statistics generated by individual players of a real professional sport. The playSPEX project is using the latest web technologies and creating a strong community of sports fans and fantasy sports players from around the world, with the ultimate goal of becoming a major global online sports center. The patent-pending system is expected to launch in 2007. Fantasy Sports is a big part of American culture, and growing rapidly in Europe. Today, 15 to 18 million adults in the US play fantasy sports, according to the research estimates of Fantasy Sports Trade Association. ESPN, Fox and Yahoo are currently the leading players in this industry.Israel Digital Blog Ad – Tjat Mobile IM | Mobile Advertising Campaigns | Free Game Widgets

Sportingo launches consumer-generated content sport website

2006-09-27T14:10:00+02:00

Sportingo has launched a new consumer-generated content sport website. The Web 2.0 new media platform enables sports fans around the world to share their opinions online about all sports. “Sportingo is a new platform for sport fans to share their opinion about the sports they care about,” explains CEO Ze’ev Rozov. “Any sport fan that currently writes a blog, participates in an online forum or a fun site can take their writing to the next level and be part of an exciting and dynamic sport desk."Sportingo launched its coverage with football (soccer) and tennis and will be adding more sports over the next few months. Located in Herzeliya, Israel, Sportingo is planning to begin broadcasting live sporting events through partnerships with leading sport organizations around the world.Israel Digital Blog Ad – Power Quality Solutions| File Sharing Application | USB Flash Drive Security

Riding the crest of the wave

2006-08-24T19:05:00+02:00

I think I make a reasonable effort to keep pace with technology trends. Certainly, I like to know what geek-toys are out there, whether I own them. Mostly, I try to keep the big picture in mind of what's happening and what might be coming along.

On the other hand, while I've been aware of social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, I've not paid much attention. Neither have I really gotten into open-source applications like OpenOffice and Wiki. My job doesn't "require" it so I've been satisfied to know it's there and that it's a phenomenon. I've also taken a look at vlogs like hotair. Don't want to miss something important, mind you.

But yesterday I surfed by fastcompany.com and watched this video on Web 2.0. I was somewhat blown away by the number of new technologies (Ajax, for example. Okay, it's not really a new technology.) and the ways they are being used. Or maybe it's the proliferation of new websites. I don't know. There's a lot going on that I don't need, haven't really pursued, and can live without. But I'm thinking there is a trend building that will affect my life - and my kids' lives - and my grand-kids lives (way, way down the road) in ways I haven't really thought about.

These technologies are morally neutral as far as I can tell. It is what people do with them that makes them good or bad. For example, our IS Manager brought the subject of a work-Wiki up in a meeting the other day. He's mentioned it before, but I am starting to see how we can use it at work. There are some exciting possibilities there.

In other news, I just finished reading Glenn Reynolds' "An Army of Davids". Glenn is a libertarian and it comes through in his writing, in the book, on instapundit.com, on glennreynolds.com, etc. I thought he strayed from his thesis a few times, and for some of his predictions (like the Singularity), well, let's just say I'm in a wait-and-see mode.

That's all for now.

Video sharing community site MetaCafe raised $15 million from Benchmark and Excel Partners

2006-07-03T21:20:00+02:00

Free video sharing portal, MetaCafe, has completed a second financing round, raising $15 million from Benchmark Capital and Excel Partners. The Israeli Web 2.0 video entertainment firm raised $4 million from Benchmark Capital and private investors in its first financial round. Metacafe, that competes with two largest video sharing websites, YouTube and Google Video, serves over 280 million videos or Media Snacks a month. Established in 2003, Metacafe currently employs more than 50 people with plans to add an additional 20 workers.In April 2006, YouTube has received $8M in Series B funding from Sequoia Capital. Founded in February 2005, The Company completed an initial $3.5 million in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital in November 2005. YouTube currently delivers more than 40 million video views every day with 35,000 new videos uploaded daily.In May 2006, Vpod.tv, a Paris and Madrid based online video sharing site, has received $5.1 million in funding fron the French VC firm Innovacom and Jazztel founder Martin Varsavsky. Besides features simialr to what other video sharing sites have, Vpod includes the ability to integrate advertising in videos, a wide variety of output/device formats, and editing tools. Also, the service seems to have a more editorial focus in terms of videos on the site.The venture capital rush to invest in online video sharing sites is based on the growing advertising spending on internet video. According to the Online Video Advertising report from eMarketer, advertisers will be spending at least $1.5 billion for online video ads by the end of the decade. eMarketer predicts that internet video has the potential to blend several hot marketing elements: paid search, branded entertainment, viral marketing, consumer generated media, behavioral targeting, website site brand marketing and online gaming.Last month NBC and YouTube announced a strategic partnership that will combine NBC's quality programming with YouTube's vast audience to enhance the entertainment experience on YouTube while engaging viewers in innovative new ways to promote NBC's Fall program lineup and other preferred shows over the next year.Israel Digital Blog Ad – EPOS Tablet PC Pen | File Sharing Application | Portable Storage Devices

Lightspeed and Gemini initiate Web 2.0 Lab to invest in Israeli internet startups

2006-02-28T07:15:00+01:00

Lightspeed Venture Partners and Gemini Israel Funds initiate Web 2.0 Lab that intend to support 7-10 emerging Internet startups with an initial investment of up to $1 million each. The new Lightspeed -- Gemini Internet Lab will focus on investments in technologies related to the Internet and Web 2.0, which develops by seed stage companies with operations in Israel.

Gemini Partner Danny Cohen and General Partner Tali Aben together with Lightspeed General Partners Ravi Mhatre and Jake Seid will lead the initiative. The two venture funds plan to quickly seed good ideas and than expose them to the Internet community in Silicon Valley.

Web 2.0 start up eSnips raised $0.75 million seed money from Gemini Israel

2006-02-17T13:30:00+01:00

Israeli Web 2.0 start up, eSnips, completed a $0.75 million seed investment round from Gemini Israel Funds. eSnips, located in Netanya, has recently released an initial beta version of eSnips.com, a free internet service designed to provide 1GB of free storage dedicated for storing and sharing digital files, photos and video clips.

Yael Elish, former VP of Strategic Development at Commtouch, is the founder and chief executive officer of eSnips. The company was initially funded by Nahum Sharfman, formerly the founder of shopping.com, later acquired by eBay. Sharfman, eSnips chairman, was also the founder and CEO of Commtouch. He holds a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in High Energy Nuclear Physics.

eSnips was made available as a quiet pre-beta on September 2005. A full social version is due to go live in March 2006. eSnips currently has 60,000 registered users. The community based service provides a centralized storage space and user friendly tools to gather almost any type of information from the web or desktop and annotate, tag and share it online in various ways.

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