Wallop Launches Its Beta Product and Excites Industry With New Approach
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- DEMOfall -- Wallop, a company spun
out of Microsoft and backed by veteran venture capital firms, today at
DEMOfall launched its beta product, a breakthrough innovation in the social
networking space with a unique business model. Wallop, an invitation-only
network, for the first time combines a social computing site with a
marketplace, enabling an entirely new way to self-express and enhance a
person's increasingly important online image. Wallop also announced today
that it has secured a $10 million series B round of funding led by Norwest
Venture Partners (NVP). Previous investors, Bay Partners and Consor
Capital, also participated in this round.
"Now that social networking has become all the rage, we need to step
back and examine whether current sites present the best images and
practices for social networking," said Mark Levitt, IDC's VP for
Collaborative Computing and the Enterprise Workplace. "Wallop offers an
innovative business model and user interface that is designed to attract
select groups of users who will prefer to use their creative skills to
express themselves on their sites without having to learn any programming
and without advertising."
More than four years of research at Microsoft combined with Wallop
founders Karl Jacob and Sean Uberoi Kelly's vision for leapfrogging
existing social networks, led Wallop to focus on the larger trend of
self-expression online with the simplicity people experience in the real
world. Wallop created an invitation-only, social experience that taps into
the $3 trillion-a-year offline industry of self-expression as it moves
online. A revolutionary new user interface evolved by the legendary Frog
Design brings point-and-click simplicity to social networking and makes it
dramatically easier to express a user's individuality.
"I am addicted to social networking, but like my friends, am sick of
how hard everything is. I spend all my time browsing and searching and
dealing with pop-ups on every page," said Katie Starkey, a 23-year-old
private beta tester from Jacksonville, Illinois. "The best thing about
Wallop is that it really is easy, and I love that I'm not interrupted by
annoying ads. I'm totally going to switch to Wallop!"
Wallop unlocks the true potential for self-expression online with free,
one-click customization versus the hassle of HTML coding necessary to
personalize other social networking platforms. In addition, Wallop's
marketplace model empowers people to further enhance their online image by
purchasing ready-made, interactive graphics and features, called "Mods,"
from millions of the best Adobe(R) Flash developers and designers. The
community of Flash gurus allows members to tap into the creativity of the
people who have been responsible for many of the coolest concepts seen on
the Web, and easily incorporate designs into their profile to make it
uniquely their own.
"The level of customization in current social networks is like wanting
a dress but having to buy materials and use a sewing machine to make it
yourself," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of the DEMOfall
conference, where Wallop launched its product. "Wallop enables people to
act online just as they do in the real world, so wanting a dress is as
simple as going to the store and buying it off the rack."
Wallop has solved the problems plaguing current social networks, giving
its members a secure platform to express themselves with whom they want and
how they want in an environment they control. Members maintain individual
control over who can see what on their profile, having the distinct ability
to reveal different content to different audiences. Wallop's
invitation-only approach also helps provide a safe place for image-aware
trendsetters and VIPs among its hip consumer base. Additionally, people can
effortlessly share music, pictures and commentary across their networks.
The "What's new" feature and real-time conversations also allow easy access
and streamlined communication in a natural, conversational way.
"After taking a long, hard look at social computing, it became clear
that it is not simply about the technology, which has been limited and
plagued with problems to date," said Karl Jacob, CEO and founder of Wallop.
"It's about the trend of self-expression moving online, creating enormous
demand for easy and limitless customization and an enlightened social
experience where the user is in control."
DEMO Information
Karl Jacob, CEO and founder of Wallop, Inc., will present the next-
generation Wallop experience with Sean Kelly, CTO and fellow founder. Don't
miss the opportunity to get a first peek at Wallop's cutting-edge approach
to online self-expression at the DEMOfall stage on Wednesday, September 27,
at 2:42 p.m.
To experience a live demonstration, visit station #37 at the DEMOfall
'06 Conference. DEMO.com visitors will also be able to view Wallop's live
stage presentation within 24 hours by clicking on the "Watch DEMO Videos"
link. For more information on Wallop, visit http://www.wallop.com .
Funding information
Wallop has recently secured a $10 million series B round of funding led
by Norwest Venture Partners (NVP). Previous series A investors, Bay
Partners and Consor Capital, also participated in this round. Microsoft
also holds an equity stake in Wallop, as the company is a spin-out from
Microsoft's IP Ventures Program and research department. As a part of the
funding event, Wallop welcomes Jeff Crowe, general partner at NVP, to its
board of directors. Jeff joins existing board members, Eric Chin of Bay
Partners and Karl Jacob.
About Wallop
Wallop, a spinout company from Microsoft, redefines the popular social
networking space by introducing a new social experience that integrates
self- expression with exclusivity, a revolutionary new business model and
solutions to the problems nagging today's social networks. Wallop started
as a Microsoft research project more than four years ago. Veteran
entrepreneur, Karl Jacob, had been looking for a technology that would
fulfill the vision he had around leapfrogging the current state of social
computing with a marketplace business model. Karl found the research
project at Microsoft and recruited Sean Kelly, the inventor of Wallop, as a
founder. They immediately had a huge advantage in bringing Wallop to market
a little over a year later.
Wallop is founded by Karl and Sean. It is a privately-held company
venture backed by Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), Bay Partners, Consor
Capital and an equity stake from Microsoft.
Wallop is by invitation only. To learn more about Wallop, visit
http://www.wallop.com .
Wallop and the Wallop logo are registered trademarks of Wallop
Technologies Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
Media Contact:
Lisa Peterson
512-241-2233
512-632-6053 (cell)
lisa.peterson@porternovelli.com
SOURCE Wallop
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Related links:
http://www.wallop.com
http://www.demo.com/conf/index.html
CONTACT:
Lisa Peterson, +1-512-241-2233, or cell,
+1-512-632-6053, or lisa.peterson@porternovelli.com , for Wallop
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