Big money for simple websites: SynthaSite raises $20M
SynthaSite, an easy-to-use website builder, has raised $20 million in a second round of funding.
We’re talking about a jaw-dropping amount of cash, particularly when you add that to the $5 million that SynthaSite raised in 2007. That’s a big vote of confidence from Reinet Fund S.C.A.; before restructuring as Reinet, the fund’s prior incarnation as Columbus Venture Capital backed the San Francisco company’s first round. The round also cements SynthaSite’s tremendous lead in funding over… Continue Reading
Website builder SynthaSite reaches 1M users
Website building startup SynthaSite crossed the 1 million user mark in mid-December, it announced today. That’s a lot of websites, and the growth is particularly impressive given the San Francisco company only left beta testing a year ago, in November 2007.
I imagine that growth will have to continue if SynthaSite wants to hit profitability. When I spoke to chief executive Vinny Lingham in October, he said SynthaSite is still experimenting to find the right business… Continue Reading
Roundup: Rumors of layoffs at Microsoft, Tweeting a plane crash, music video fighting and more
Here’s the latest action:
The layoff bug about to hit Microsoft? – The software giant has thus far avoided the layoffs that some of its competitors have had to succumb to in the rough economic climate, but that’s about to change, according to the blog Mini-Microsoft. They’re hearing January 15 could be the day it goes down, and we have a seperate source hearing the same thing. On that day the bottom “10 percent-ers” (presumably, those… Continue Reading
Site-builder SynthaSite gets new way to make money
Easy-to-use website builder SynthaSite unveiled a bunch of new features today that make it easier for users to blog and make money from their websites. Equally important, they also present new revenue opportunities for the San Francisco company.
From a business perspective, the most interesting addition may be the domain registration feature. SynthaSite, after all, offers its website building tools for free, as well as free sites under the synthasite.com domain. But what if users want… Continue Reading
Wix lands $3.5M to give amateurs the power of flash
Flash website builder Wix has brought in $3.5 million in second-round funding from Mangrove Venture Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners. The Israeli company has raised about $8.5 total since its founding in 2006 and hopes to continue developing its drag-and-drop tool that allows even novice web users to build flash sites.
Right now, Wix provides this service for free, but it announced today that it will launch a premium membership package including web hosting and related… Continue Reading
SynthaSite makes it even easier for your grandmother to build a Web site
Updated
A company called SynthaSite has just unveiled its new, improved and easier-to-use interface for building Web sites.
SynthaSite’s goal is to provide a graphical drag-and-drop interface that enables un-Web-saavy business owners and even your proverbial grandmother to build their own sites. (No, seriously — one of the samples offered in the press release is a guestbook site created for the user’s 88-year-old mother. It’s called Grammy’s Corner.) To make that happen, usability is crucial, and SynthaSite… Continue Reading
Website creation company, Synthasite, lands $5M amid competition
Synthasite, one of a handful of companies that lets you build your own Web site easily, has raised $5 million in its first round of funding.
We’ve mentioned the company several times, referring to its tools that let you drag and drop features onto a template.
While both Weebly and Jimdo — Synthasite’s most significant competitors — have more advanced products, Synthasite now has more money than the two other companies combined. Synthasite’s co-founder, Vinny Lingham, said… Continue Reading
Roundup: IAC to split, new Time Warner CEO, and more
Here’s the latest action:
1) IAC splitting into five companies
2) Sea change ahead for Time Warner
3) Google’s merger plans may be foiled by the EU
4) Synthasite launches website creation
5) Whrrl opens local opinion site
6) Internet users like their free stuff
7) Andersen exacts revenge on PR flacks
IAC to split properties into five companies — IAC, the large parent company of Ask.com, is splitting into five separate publicly traded companies: Home Shopping Network, IAC, Interval International, Lending Tree… Continue Reading
Roundup: Facebook search; Business 2.0 folds; Silverlight launches; and more
Here’s the latest action:
Facebook to launch people search in one month — Facebook will let search engines find and display very basic information from your Facebook profile, including only your name and the option to message you or friend you, it announced early this morning.
This way, if somebody searches for you on Google, this “public” page will show up — making it even easier for prospective employers to know where to find you on Facebook, and… Continue Reading
Weebly offers free, easy Web site creation
Weebly, a start-up that lets you easily create Web sites with the latest Web 2.0 tools, has raised seed cash from YCombinator, and moved to San Francisco.
The company is just three people from State College, PA. Co-founder David Rusenko originally told VentureBeat he would move to Mountain View. He changed his mind, he said, because he found a vibrant Internet start-up ecosystem in hipper San Francisco — the latest sign that San Francisco has become… Continue Reading