Spring Street Networks, the firm that provides the technology powering
hundreds of online matchmaking sites, on Monday announced a $6 million round
of funding led by Mass.-based Battery Ventures.
It is the first institutional financing round for Spring Street, which
was spun off from Nerve.com in 2001. The latest funding brings the total
raised to $7.5 million.
Spring Street, which employs 25 at its New York headquarters, said the
money would be used to support product development, business development and
marketing initiatives. General partner at Battery Ventures, Dave Tabors,
will take a seat on the company’s board of directors.
The latest cash injection comes at a crucial time for Spring Street,
which markets plug-and-play technology for high-traffic sites with online
personals sections. With the Web-based matchmaking business hitting its
peak, Spring Street Networks is well-poised to capitalize on the wild
growth in the sector.
Spring Street CEO Louis Kanganis told internetnews.com the company
will zero in on the international market for expansion. “The market seems
to be consolidating but there are opportunities on the international market.
That’s where we’re headed,” Kanganis said.
The company has already set up the technology that powers online
personals for big-name sites like Boston.com, Primedia/New York
Magazine and Village Voice Media. Spring Street technology can be found on
more than 200 sites, serving more than two million registered members,
Kanganis said.
The company sets up the technology for free and takes a cut of the
revenues from paid subscriptions. In the online personal sector, end users
pay a subscription fee to access and respond to ‘profiles’ in a
database.
Spring Street has aggregated millions of users into a database for
networking effect and the technology can allow browsing and contacting
between member sites, Kanganis explained.
The company’s platform allows partner site to create the look-and-feel
for their site, while on the back-end it offers a network effect between
partners by leveraging a single database. It lets end-users view other
member’s profiles, search on specific criteria, and communicate with other
interested parties via blind e-mail or video IM chat.
Spring Street’s technology uses a credit-based system where users buy a
pack of credits and apply them to various services available.
