As the
buzz grows for Facebook Inc.'s Connect initiative to reach further outside its walled garden, a new venture-backed startup is endeavoring to reach inside social networks and gather information into one place. That'd be Rio de Janeiro-based
Power.com, whose system permits users to gain visibility into their friends' pages on various social networks, allowing cross-platform messaging and other utilities that span across Facebook, Hi5, LinkedIn, Microsoft Corp.'s [
MSFT] MSN, News Corp.'s [
NWS] MySpace Inc. and Google Inc.'s [
GOOG] Orkut.
Draper Fisher Jurvetson has invested $6 million in the new venture, while individuals including tech pundit Esther Dyson have contributed $2 million more. Power says DFJ's investment is the firm's first in Latin America.
Power has already signed up 5 million users, mostly in Brazil and India, without spending significant funds on marketing. The startup has more than 70 employees, and says its engineers are building a platform for third-party developers to create applications that work across multiple social networks.
-- Paul BonanosSee press release from Power.com
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