June 20, 2008
Ebay founder turns video blogger, invests in Seesmic
It’s almost too Web 2.0 to be true.
Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, has invested in the video comment service Seesmic, announcing the news in what else but a video comment on Seesmic.
Mr Omidyar also made his original offer to the company over the Twitter messaging service.
“He sent a tweet where he said ‘Can I invest in Seesmic?’”, says Loic Le Meur, Seesmic’s founder.
His new investor has become something of a Seesmic addict judging by his page on the site. He made his first of around two dozen comments from Bangladesh more than three months ago and now gives his location as Honolulu.
He has also been contributing ideas for Seesmic’s development. Mr Le Meur says it was his suggestion that a threaded video player, introduced today, should be developed for blogs.
Omidyar Networks, the philanthropic venture capital firm, has co-led a $6m second-round financing for Seesmic with Wellington Partners, bringing the total raised to $12m to date.
Mr Omidyar will take a seat on the Seesmic board.
“Through video conversation, Seesmic enables people to connect and engage with one another across the boundaries of geography and time, opening up entirely new possibilities for social connection,” is his quote in the press release.
But when you watch his 4am video from Bangladesh and today’s Honolulu effort, you know he means what he says.
Mr Le Meur said the new funds would help with internationalisation efforts and extending the platform on social networks and mobile devices.
Since Pierre Omidyar created eBay, he has invested in companies that build community. EBay has a very strong community ethic. The Omidyar Networks, the philanthropic venture capital firm, also invests in building capabilities in communities to solve social problems. I assume that Pierre believes that this conversational video application will allow much more connection and conversation.
Ralph
Posted by: Ralph Poole | June 21st, 2008 at 6:05 pm | Report this comment