SpongeFish, a website featuring user-generated how-to content, has raised $2 million in a first round of funding, according to VentureWire.
I have to admit that I’m a bit baffled by the plethora of how-to websites, but there does seem to be real interest here. In our coverage of how-to video site MindBites, chief executive Jason Reneau said the market’s big enough for multiple sites to survive.
SpongeFish claims to stand out by offering the best content in the widest range of formats — not just videos, but documents, photos and other rich media too. Users can rate the usefulness of each lesson.
SpongeFish has some fun with the concept too — right now, it’s hosting a “So good it could be Mom’s” life advice contest. Despite its lack of real-world practicality, my favorite entry is probably “How to enjoy a grizzly bear attack.”
It seems like the San Francisco-based company’s success will come down to the the breadth and intelligence of its user community. The site only officially launched this week, but it’s been up for several months, and had 250,000 unique visitors in February.
4 Comments
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alphanaliste said:
The fact that this site was funded, albeit by a mysterious source, proves that *anything* is fundable right now.
We’re near the peak, people.
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kamo said:
Funding is not that easy to get. You need an amazing team and a nice looking traffic graph and then you might get money…if the investors are smart enough to recognize talent and potential, which many are not. So no anything is not “fundable”
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kamo said:
You need an amazing team and a nice traffic graph and then you might get money, if the investors are smart enough to recognize talent and potential that is. Which many are not. So no “anything” is not fundable…
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Maven said:
The company also received an investment from one of the largest knowledge sharing corporations in the industry (a strategic investor). Typically, strategics don’t just fund “anything”….
3 Trackbacks
12:12 pm
unitedBIT’s RoundUp » Blog Archive » SpongeFish, a user-generated how-to site, raised $2M said:
[...] VentureBeat comments that the San Francisco-based company’s success may come down to the the breadth and intelligence of its user community. [...]
1:32 pm
SpongeFish Gets $2M to Compete in Crowded How-To Market said:
[...] has received Series A funding, to th tun of $2 million, from an undisclosed source, according to VentureBeat. It seems that, in this increasingly saturated market, every network is pushing its own [...]
3:42 pm
How-To Get VC Money « MyMediaMusings said:
[...] an SF-based how-to video site, has raised a $2 million first round according to VentureWire (via VentureBeat). In addition to video, the site is offering other forms of how-to content, like [...]