COLLINSVILLE, CT, March 05, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Fanzter, Inc., creators of the celebrity style and entertainment platform Coolspotters (www.coolspotters.com), today announced the company has raised $2 million in a Series B financing round led by Steamboat Ventures. Second Avenue Partners, the lead investor in the company's Series A financing, also invested in this round.
Coolspotters is a highly trafficked style and celebrity-focused community that makes it easy for users to discover, share, and buy the products, brands, and fashions being used by their favorite celebrities and public figures.
In only 10 months, Coolspotters has become a leading source for the latest trends and celebrity-related products, fashions, and brands - creating a new category of online destination that combines a passionate community with a powerful discovery and "visual commerce" engine. Coolspotters already reaches hundreds of thousands of global consumers per month, generating over a million page views. Since November, traffic to Coolspotters has more than doubled.
"Since launching, Coolspotters has carved out a very unique position online - at the intersection of celebrity, style, and entertainment, integrating products and brands with our users' shared passion for everything pop-culture," said Aaron LaBerge, Fanzter, Inc. CEO and co-founder. "In Steamboat, we have added a partner that shares a passion for our community and its enormous potential. We look forward to leveraging their deep expertise and experience to accelerate our growth."
Added Dan Beldy, Managing Director, Steamboat Ventures, "We're excited to be a part of a company that has the potential to not only entertain, but also create a new dynamic in online commerce by combining users' passions for pop-culture and entertainment with brands and product discovery. The Fanzter "association engine" presents a powerful new platform for user defined interests. We are encouraged by the early growth of Coolspotters and the company's product roadmap." Mr. Beldy will join the company's Board of Directors.
Visit Coolspotters online at www.coolspotters.com
About Steamboat Ventures - With offices in Los Angeles, Shanghai and Hong Kong, Steamboat Ventures is a global venture capital fund that invests in digital media and consumer technology companies in the U.S. and Asia. Steamboat Ventures pursues a distinctive investment strategy, cultivating investment opportunities that are simultaneously financially promising and also possess the potential to have significant strategic interest to The Walt Disney Company. Founded in 2000, Steamboat Ventures has invested in a range of leading digital media and consumer technology companies, including: Fastclick (acquired by VCLK), Iridigm Display Corporation (acquired by QCOM), Pure Digital Technologies, RazorGator, Quigo Technologies, Move Networks, and Baynote. For more information, please visit www.steamboatvc.com.
About Second Avenue Partners - Second Avenue Partners is a Seattle-based provider of management, strategy, and capital for early stage companies. The partners typically direct their investments toward emerging Internet businesses in the high-tech field. Second Avenue Partners' investment approach is to make early-stage investments in promising ventures and build long-term relationships, actively assisting its portfolio companies in becoming market leaders. For more information, please visit www.secondave.com.
About Fanzter, Inc. - Founded in June 2007, Fanzter, Inc. is a privately held new media development company that creates leading-edge consumer Internet products. The company's simple mission is to build products that consumers will love to use. Fanzter's first product, Coolspotters, launched in May 2008. For more information, please visit www.fanzter.com.
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