VentureBeat

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Since its launch in 2006, software from a Seattle startup called Wetpaint has been used to build nearly a million wikis where a company’s customers and fans create the content. That’s pretty impressive, but Wetpaint chief executive Ben Elowitz says some companies weren’t satisfied — it would be even better if they didn’t have to create the wiki on a separate site.

Wetpaint addresses that need with its new release, dubbed Wetpaint Injected, which does exactly what the name says — it injects wiki functionality into any webpage. So rather than creating a separate page for, say, a VentureBeat fan community (hey, it could happen), we could allow our readers to update our stories by adding wiki-style entries to the main page. And that, Elowitz says, improves traffic and search engine optimization to our main site, rather than pulling users to another page. (See screenshot of Wetpaint Injected at the game site IGN, below.)

When we wrote about Wetpaint more than a year ago, we were most impressed with its convenience — it was just really easy to set up a new wiki. The company has carried that approach over to its new product; Elowitz says the new functions can be added by just pasting a short snippet of code to a webpage. At the same time, the user-generated content’s look and format is customizable and should blend in with the rest of the page.

This is a smart move, and should further help Wetpaint stand out from competitors like PBWiki. As more and more sites add features — wikis, comments, polls — that allow them to interact with their readers, it makes sense to integrate those features as directly into the main browsing experience as possible. And the ability to add wiki capabilities to any page with just a few lines of code is totally unique, Elowitz says.

Companies should also be attracted by the fact that the feature is free for up to 100,000 impressions per month, and then charges based on a revenue-sharing model.

Elowitz says Wetpaint’s approach has already started paying off, with 925,000 websites built on the company’s platform and 20 percent growth in recent months. But he also says it’s time for the company to start growing more aggressively, which is why he’s raised a $25 million third round of funding, bringing Wetpaint’s total financing to $40 million. That’s a hefty sum, particularly when you recall that we were already startled by the size of Wetpaint’s $9.5 million second round. But Elowitz says the funding matches the company’s ambitious plans to “wikify” every page on the web.

The round was led by DAG Ventures and an undisclosed investor, with participation from existing backers Accel Partners, Trinity Ventures and Frazier Technology Ventures.

Update: Kara Swisher reports on yet another investor, Fidelity Investments (perhaps that “undisclosed” lead investor that Wetpaint mentioned?). Fidelity is the same major institutional backer that invested big bucks into Slide. And in the comments below, PBWiki’s Chris Yeh notes that his startup offers a similar feature, but hasn’t emphasized it.

Blist, a simple database for non-experts, has raised $6.5 million in a first round of funding from Frazier Technology Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures.

The company started generating buzz last month after unveiling its product at DEMO (our coverage). The product’s big selling point is ease-of-use: it has the versatility and power of a relational database, but it doesn’t require knowledge of programming languages like SQL, and it can be used like a normal spreadsheet.

Gary Morgenthaler (left), a partner with Menlo Park, Calif.-based Morgenthaler Ventures, has plenty of experience with databases — in what he calls his “former life”, he founded database companies Ingres Corporation and Illustra Information Technologies before joining Morgenthaler full-time in 1996.

Since then, he says plenty of database companies have approached the firm for funds, but Morgenthaler has turned them all down. Those companies all wanted to squeeze into the existing database market, which is a big challenge. Blist, on the other hand, wants to expand the market to normal consumers, small business owners and others who find existing databases too difficult.

For example, Frazier partner Scott Darling (left) says his aunt — in her 80s — manually compiles and sends out a family mailing list several times a year. She’ll be able to create and manage the list much more easily on Blist, Darling says, so he’s hoping to get her hooked.

Darling — whose firm, like Blist, is based in Seattle — also notes that the existing database market is worth $15 billion. He estimates that Blist can snag “the bottom 20 percent,” namely people who are struggling with current products and would gladly embrace something more user-friendly.

And there will be plenty of opportunities to make money, Darling and Morgenthaler are quick to add. For one thing, Morgenthaler says the specialization of each database, called a “blist”, will make it easy to place highly targeted ads — it’s a no-brainer for wineries to advertise on a blist of different wines. Meanwhile, the fact that anyone can create or view a blist for free means that their usage can spread virally, and communities can grow around popular blists.

“(A blist) can become a meeting point, a gathering point for people with common interests,” Morgenthaler says.

Blist will also be charging for certain premium services, such as keeping your blist private.

DocuSign, a company that eases the process of electronically signing documents, has received a $12.4 million cash infusion.

Last year, the Seattle company laid off some of its workers and earlier this year recruited a new CEO, according to the Seattle PI. It has been making a recovery since, and claims that it tripled its business in the first nine months of 2007.

To electronically sign documents, users generally have to check off a box to signify agreement. However, more serious contracts like mortgage agreements require a legally binding signature, which takes more steps, as well as a special authentication code.

Simplifying and speeding up the process of electronically signing important documents for end users is big business for DocuSign; The company estimates that it has processed over four million signatures since its launch in 2003, charging $3 to $5 per “envelope”.

DocuSign counts some highly recognizable names like Expedia, RE/MAX and Sony among its 1,500 customers. Its competitors include EchoSign and Verisign.

The funding was led by WestRiver Capital, although previous investors Frazier Technology Ventures, Ignition Partners and Sigma Partners participated. Together with two previous investments, the total amount of investment in DocuSign to date is about $30 million. The company has 45 employees.

Wetpaint, the Seattle start-up that lets people build Wikis — or sites where multiple people can edit the same pages — has raised $9.5 million to grab more market share.

The move comes after Google bought popular Wiki site, Jotspot, last year and closed that company to new users. VentureBeat tried out various Wikis last year, and found Jotspot the most intuitive. Wetpaint is easy to use, but we didn’t like the loud advertising present on the site — so passed on using it. But with Jotspot gone for now (presumably, Google will relaunch it in some fashion), and players like Socialtext increasingly focused on selling its wiki software to company users, Wetpaint is among the more convenient Wiki softwares for individual projects.

The question is whether $9.5 million is really necessary for a software that is so cheap to make and distribute. It had already raised $5.25 million (past coverage here).

Wetpaint told VentureBeat its users have generated more than 150,000 Wikis in six months, and that the company has struck partnerships with big media companies. AOL, ABC, CBS, American Express Publishing, T-Mobile and HTC have created community sites for their active users, though it’s uncertain how lucrative these deals will be.

Accel Partners, backers of Facebook and Glam, two other sites that rely on advertising for their business model, led the new investment. Existing investors Trinity Ventures and Frazier Technology Ventures joined the investment.

Medio, a Seattle start-up that gives you search results tailored for your mobile phone, has raised $30 million in a second round of funding to keep up with the mobile search Jones’.

Founder Brian Lent worked side-by-side with the Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. So like the guys at Kosmix, who were close with the Google guys, Lent may feel he has some self-redemption to do. Lent reportedly also turned down the No. 1 employee position at Yahoo, as reported by the SeattlePI’s John Cook last year.

Medio finds itself in the middle of competitive but growing market: More people are using mobile phones to search for information. Google, Yahoo and Ask have all released upgrades to their mobile search offerings, but they are stuck trying to offer the same results they offer to your desktop. Medio, along with Jumptap and 4Info are tailoring search especially for your phone.

John Cook summed up what these guys are trying to do in his story about Medio:

Medio’s predictive analytics technology allows people to receive relevant search results on their mobile phones. That’s critical because consumers usually want very specific information in a mobile environment — the closest Starbucks, the Usher ring tone or the departure time for United Flight 386.

4Info is different, because it relies on texting — a user texts 4Info with search queries, and 4info sends back results. Jumptap and Medio offer you a search bar on your phone (visual below). And since Jumptap raised $22 million last month, of course Medio had to follow suit with even more.

The funding comes from Accel Partners, and returning investors Mohr Davidow Ventures, Frazier Technology Ventures and Trilogy Equity Partners.

Medio is in a race with Jumptap to sign deals with carriers — to earn the coveted spot as default search engine their phones. Both companies are developing advertising platforms to go with their search.

Medio recently poached Omar Tawakol from Revenue Science — interestingly, another Mohr Davidow portfolio company — to be its chief advertising officer, SeattlePI’s Cook reported recently.

Verizon and Vodafone are using Medio (WSJ sub required) for their search offerings.