Menlo Park, CA-based Homestead Technologies, a provider of
ad-backed self-service Web-based publishing for consumers, completed a $17.5
million round of financing from a group led by Silicon Valley based venture
firm IVP.
In addition to IVP, Global Retail Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson also
participated in the round.
Homestead is a Web-based publishing platform that enables individuals
and groups to create Web sites without the need to buy expensive desktop
software. With this round of funding, Homestead said, it will continue to
develop its publishing platform and expand its sales and marketing operations.
“One of the most important uses of the Internet today is personal or group
Web publishing and the community this creates,” said Geoff Yang, partner at
IVP, which invested $12 million in this round. “Homestead has the platform
which will help define these communities.”
“Since our launch last year, Homestead has changed the face of Web publishing
by giving consumers everything they need to easily publish on the Web,” said
Justin Kitch, CEO and founder of Homestead. “Additionally, we give
advertisers the opportunity to go beyond the banner to reach their target
audiences, and our co-branding partners an
easy way to provide the Homestead platform to their communities.”
This round of funding follows Homestead’s recent introduction of a new
Internet advertising model based on branded “Elements” from partners such as
Rolling Stone Network, HotBot, Deja News, AccuWeather and VantageNet.
Elements are the basic building blocks for creating Web sites using the
company’s Web publishing platform. Branded Elements drive traffic and promote
an advertiser’s brand, and can be any type of Web content such as search
boxes or news tickers.
Draper Fisher Jurvetson provided the initial venture capital for the company
in June 1998. Subsequently, Intel Corp. backed Homestead with additional
funding in September 1998.