SocialVibe raises $8M to turn online profiles into charity money makers
SocialVibe is a Los Angeles-based company that lets social network users raise money for their favorite causes by posting badges that advertise certain brands to their online profiles. It just brought in $8 million in second-round funding to forge more partnerships with advertisers and nonprofits and to continue developing its product.
The concept is pretty simple. Users who register on the site first choose from a list of charitable organizations ranging from PETA to Stand Up to Cancer. The next step is to select a brand to promote, like Adobe, Colgate or PowerBar. They can then design their own badge (with multiple options) to place on their profiles, the company says. After that, the brand in question gives to the charity based on the number of page views the profile receives. This sounds like a pretty novel idea, but so far the young company has only rallied a collection of 40 brand “sponsors” and charities. It works across the major social networks and can be integrated into WordPress productions and some IM clients.
So far, the company has raised $250,000, all of which has been distributed to causes. But it says this will start to change with the recent investment. Most of the money will still go to charity, but a portion will be split between SocialVibe and the social network hosting the badge.
SocialVibe previously raised $4 million from Redpoint Ventures, which also participated in the latest round, joined by JAFCO Ventures.
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About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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