Widget Syndicator Backed By AOL Founders And Former Fox Exec

by Laurie Petersen, Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 6:00 AM ET
WIDGET SYNDICATOR CLEARSPRING TECHNOLOGIES HAS picked up $5.5-million in second-round investment funding from a bevy of media executives including AOL founders Steve Case and Ted Leonsis and Mark Jung, the former chief operating officer of Fox Interactive Media.
Jung becomes chairman of the Arlington, Va.-based Clearspring and will help set strategic direction and open doors through his strong media industry relationships, including Fox, which owns MySpace.
Among the clients that have been testing Clearspring's widget syndication services since November are the NBA, Universal Pictures and Indianapolis Colts.
Clearspring's business was created to capitalize on the growth of distributed content, making it easier for Web 2.0 sites to put together mashups from multiple sources. The widget industry makes it possible for companies to embed code on their pages that automatically bring in content such as sports scores and movie listings, without the site owner needing to update the page manually.
The implications for the ad industry are huge, says Jung. For instance--a movie studio, he says, whose video trailer is picked up on personal blog pages, is not paying the kinds of ad rates commanded by the sites of major portals and brands. Clearspring's technology makes it possible to organize, manage, syndicate, track and monetize content.
Clearspring's CEO, Chris Marentis, said the company is already serving 30 million widgets a day.
"We've got widgets all over the world, with the exception of the polar icecaps," Marentis said. "We are completely focused on creating the most accessible and valuable product for widget developers, sites hosting widgets and end users, and it is heartening to have investors of such stature that share our vision."
Marentis, a long-time AOL executive, came onboard in May after an official round of $2 million in April 2006 from Novak Biddle Venture Partners and ZG Ventures. Leading the latest round are Phil Bronner of Novak Biddle and Miles Gilburne of ZG Ventures.
The company will use the company to add staff and offices.
"The [widget] market seems to have come from nowhere in six to 12 months," said Bronner. "Interest has far exceeded our expectations. They have a strategic advantage with their open, vendor-neutral tracking and media capabilities."
When it comes out of preview on March 15, Clearspring will be up to about 15 users, Marentis says. The company is talking to Case's startup, Revolution Health.
"We're talking to anyone who needs to monetize content," he says. "We're saying, 'Let us help you let people steal you.'"
Among the competitors are widget syndicators such as Widgetbox and MuseStorm.