Company:Wetpaint
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| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet technology (2006–2018) |
| Founded | October 2005 |
| Headquarters | New York City, U.S. |
| Products | Technology platforms for the media industry; formerly wiki hosting |
| Revenue | Venture capital funded |
| Owner | Function(X) |
Number of employees | 65 |
| Website | http://www.wetpaint.com (defunct as of mid-2020) |
Wetpaint was an Internet company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Function(X). Founded in 2005, Wetpaint both published the website Wetpaint Entertainment, focused on entertainment news, and developed a proprietary technology platform, the Social Distribution System, that was used to provide analytics for its own website as well as other online publishers. Wetpaint began as a wiki farm, hosting wikis using its own proprietary software, before moving into hosting of professional content in 2010. Wetpaint's wiki-hosting component was spun off completely in 2013 after being purchased by Wikifoundry.[1] Wikifoundry ceased operations in June 2021, decommissioning the original Wetpaint wiki-farm after 15 years[2]
History
Wetpaint was originally called Wikisphere, and begun as a wiki farm, hosting wikis using proprietary software. It was co-founded in October 2005 by Ben Elowitz, who had previously co-founded the online jewelry retailer Blue Nile Inc. In December 2005, the company and site were renamed to Wetpaint.[3] In October 2005, the company received its initial A round of venture capital funding of US$5.25 million from Trinity Ventures and Frazier Technology Ventures.[4] Wetpaint closed a US$9.5 million 'B' round of funding in January 2007, adding Accel Partners to the list of investors.[5] Wetpaint closed a Series C round of venture capital funding of US$25 million in May 2008. Investors included Accel Partners, Trinity Ventures, and Frazier Technology Ventures.
Wetpaint was named by Time Magazine as one of the 50 Best Websites of 2007.[6]
In March 2008, Wetpaint added social networking features.[7]
In July 2009, Wetpaint laid off 15 of their 56 employees.[8] An additional 9 employees, including co-founders Kevin Flaherty and Alex Berg, were laid off in December.[9] The company also decided to refocus the website on professionally created content. Both steps were taken as a result of declining online ad revenue.[9]
During late 2009, Wetpaint re-launched its main homepage, at wetpaint.com, as the Wetpaint Entertainment platform, a set of new online TV fan destination sites, geared toward the female 18-34 demographic.[10] The wiki farm was renamed "Wikis by Wetpaint", and was moved to the domain wetpaintcentral.com.
In December 2010, the company announced the Wetpaint Social Distribution System.[11]
In December 2012, Wetpaint was acquired by Viggle,[12] an entertainment rewards platform, which was shortly renamed to its former name, Function(X).
Updates to wetpaint.com stopped in 2018, leaving the site stagnant until it finally went defunct in mid-2020.
References
- ↑ Wet Paint Wiki - WikiFoundry Central, 2013-09-01, http://www.wikifoundrycentral.com/thread/5139827/Wet+Paint+Wiki, retrieved 2017-10-25
- ↑ "WikiFoundry". https://www.wikifoundry.com/.
- ↑ "Startup Wikisphere changes its name to Wetpaint". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2005-12-01. http://blog.seattlepi.com/venture/archives/100675.asp.
- ↑ Cook, John (2005-11-02). "Startup Wikisphere raises $5.25 million in 1st round". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://www.seattlepi.com/business/246734_wiki02.html.
- ↑ "Wiki Providers Score Funding". Red Herring. 2007-02-22. http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=21412&hed=Wiki+Providers+Score+Funding§or=Industries&subsector=InternetAndServices.
- ↑ "Wetpaint.com - 50 Best Websites 2007". Time Magazine. 2007-07-09. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1633488_1633608_1633634,00.html.
- ↑ "Wetpaint Goes Social". press release (Wetpaint). 2008-03-10. http://press.wetpaint.com/page/Wetpaint+Goes+Social.
- ↑ "Seattle Layoff Update:Targeted Genetics, Wetpaint, Google, and Others Cut Staff". xconomy. 2009-08-26. http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/07/27/seattle-layoff-update-targeted-genetics-wetpaint-google-and-others-cut-staff/.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Exclusive: Wetpaint cuts staff, changes focus to publishing". John Cook, TechFlash. 2009-12-04. http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/12/exclusive_wetpaint_cuts_staff_changes_focus_to_online_publishing.html.
- ↑ Wetpaint Launches Online TV Fan Destination With Coverage Of This Fall's Most Anticipated TV Programs
- ↑ "Wetpaint Entertainment Rapidly Becomes a Leading Online Entertainment News Source Due to Wetpaint's Proprietary Social Distribution System". http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/12/prweb9044567.htm.
- ↑ "Viggle Acquires Wetpaint". Press Release. 2013-12-16. https://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20131216-907355.html.
External links
- (Archived)
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