Fuego Nation social networking company debuts, raises $1.5 million

Has Web 2.0 led to social networking 2.0 already? So says Fuego Nation, a “social networking 2.0″ company that is announcing today it has raised $1.5 million in its first round of funding.

“Existing sites work well for young people wanting to casually connect online but don’t meet the needs of adults who would benefit from having their professional lives and personal passions in one place,” said Brogan Keane, CEO and founder of Fuego Nation, in a statement.  “We’re leaving [behind] juvenile applications like poking and giving adults a much better way to manage their online reputations.”

How’s that for a stab at Facebook? The San Francisco company says it will do a better job of connecting people and their passions, which in turn will help advertisers target consumers in a more relevant way. It also says it will have a rich, 3-D and game-like interface.

To elaborate, other networks focus on identifying the “interests” of members. But Fuego Nation will organize members by “passion spheres.” Members can increase their standing through active participation.

By focusing on passions, where members of a group can decide whether to admit someone based on how committed they are to an area of interest, they can weed out the people who join lots of groups but don’t participate in them. The company says users will be able to create stronger connections with each other and ads will be more effective.

The company was founded in March 2007 by Keane, who has worked at gaming and entertainment companies, including Electronic Arts, Domark/Eidos and Air Media.  Matthew Cordasco, vice president of product development, joined Fuego Nation’s management team from technical consulting firm Noveris, where he served as president.

“We believe there is a big market opportunity for a next-generation social networking product designed specifically for the lifestyle needs of a Gen-X audience,” said investor Robert Goodman in a statement. “Fuego Nation will not only draw a high caliber of users, it will also appeal to lifestyle brands that are looking to create more meaningful and direct relationships with their consumers in a way that’s never been done before online.”

The site is due to launch later this year. The round was funded by private investors and syndicated by Robert Goodman who has joined Fuego Nation’s board.

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