The next MySpace? — VCs bet on Xuqa, Tagworld

March 13, 2006 | Matt Marshall

So, you thought the social networking space was pretty crowded? Well, you’re right. It is incredibly crowded.

Doesn’t matter. Every VC must make a bet on a start-up that might — just might — be the next MySpace.

So we find out that San Francisco’s BV Capital has invested in the Xuqa.com, a raunchy (just scroll down the home page) college social networking company, where people set up their own profile page. Funding is reportedly $300,000, if you believe the Wag. But according to this table of the biggest social networking sites, it is doing pretty well (at No. 14). Company is pronounced “Zoo-kah.”

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, invests $7.5 million into Santa Monica’s Tagworld, another company pretty high on the list of social networking sites (No. 11 biggest) where young people can build their own profile pages.

Next Story: Monday morn SV quarterback: Khosla, VC urinals, Ridgelift, Carlyle, GoogleMars, Kontiki & more
Previous Story: MySpace latest in the IM crowd

Twitter

Facebook

Google Buzz

Digg

StumbleUpon

Delicious

Google

More...

About the Author, Matt Marshall

Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.