Cool.com, a Bellevue-based internet startup offering infomediary services, announced that several recent developments will allow it to become fully operational as early as this Summer. In an exclusive over-the-weekend interview with seattle.internet.com, cool.com CEO Timothy Lee announced that in addition to recently securing $1.3 million in venture capital from Dwaine Walker’s Beyond Ventures – the company has also brought Ron Souza , formerly of Microsoft’s bCentral, on board as a board member and part-time advisor.
Up until now, Lee says that the site has been kind of a hobby. However, now with money in the bank, a key advisor on board and some key strategic partnerships just around the corner – according to Lee things are beginning to become very serious. ” We have already been approached by several major sports and electronic manufacturers.”
The basic concept behind the cool.com is to allow companies to exclusively market a product on the cool.com site for a period of 2-4 weeks to a target audience. Cool.com users then provide feedback on why they think the product is cool or not. Currently, the company is concentrating on the teen audience. “The teen market is one of the fastest growing,” says Lee. However, cool.com is planning to offer the opinions of other markets as well.