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PR-inside are reporting that Gaia Online, the online community for teens, has secured $11m Series C funding from Institutional Venture Partners (IVP). At a time when eMarketer is predicting the number of teen internet users visiting virtual worlds will jump from the reported 8.2 million users in 2007 to 20 million in 2011.

In January, Time Warner made a strategic investment in the Gaia economy which sees 100,000 transactions each day and Gaia’s forums have already exceeded a billion postings. Other investors in Gaia include: Benchmark Capital, RedPoint Ventures, DAG Ventures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner.

www.gaiaonline.com

Tags: Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Gaia Online, Institutional Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner

The folks at PEHub are reporting that ManiaTV Network Inc., a Denver-based Internet television network, has raised $5.5 million in Series C funding, according to a regulatory filing. DAG Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers Benchmark Capital, Centennial Ventures and Intel Capital. ManiaTV has now raised around $23 million in total VC funding since late 2004.

The ManiaTV Network delivers pop culture entertainment to more than 10 million youth and young adult viewers every month. Having launched in September 2004, ManiaTV offers a variety of leading edge programming focused primarily on the categories of Music, Comedy, and Hollywood. All shows on our network are hosted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with hosts ranging from Hollywood celebrities like Tom Green, Dave Navarro, and Jamie Kennedy, to our very own in-house celebrities like Christy, Megan, and Jonny Schoolbus.

ManiaTV’s business model is built on a foundation of show sponsorships, offering blue chip advertisers and leading consumer brands a variety of unique, high value advertising opportunities for reaching and connecting with the youth and young adult markets.

www.maniatv.com

Tags: Benchmark Capital, Centennial Ventures, DAG Ventures, Intel Capital, ManiaTV

Metacafe, a video entertainment site, said that it is working with two companies to provide anytime, anywhere access to short-form video entertainment.

Metacafe has integrated Send to Mobile functionality, from Nareos and Zed, which enables entertainment enthusiasts to stream or download selected videos to their mobile devices. Both Nareos and Zed offer a downloadable mobile application that enables instant access to videos with just one click from the Metacafe site making it quick, easy and convenient to enjoy entertainment on the go.

Nareos is currently enabling this capability for Metacafe viewers in Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, England, India and Sweden, and Zed is currently enabling this capability for Metacafe viewers in Spain and the U.S. Metacafe expects to extend Send to Mobile functionality to viewers in other markets in the coming months.

People around the world are increasingly interested in accessing entertainment content on-the-go, said Alexander Zaidelson, vice president of business development for Nareos. Short-form videos like those on Metacafe are in especially high demand, as they offer a complete entertainment experience in a matter of minutes.

Metacafe investors include Benchmark Capital, Accel Partners, DAG Ventures and Highland Capital Partners.
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Tags: Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Metacafe, Nareos, Zed

Gaia Online, the leading online hangout for teens, announced today that Time Warner Inc. has made a strategic investment in the company in a Series B funding round. Gaia Online is a social environment where teens come to hangout, have fun and express their individuality through customizable avatars, homes and cars; casual games; arenas for creative writing and artwork; discussion forums on thousands of topics; and virtual spaces such as movie theaters, drag races and towns.

“This investment is further validation for the original vision of the Gaia Online founders, who simply setout to create a fun and engaging place for teens to express themselves online,” said Craig Sherman, CEO, Gaia Online. [Read more]

Tags: Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Gaia Online, Redpoint Ventures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner