42244 1 3 econsultancy_xml <p>According to its <a href="http://blog.mystrands.com/2007/12/04/mystrands-raises-24-million-to-lead-the-social-recommendation-industry/">blog</a>, the funding will be used to expand its recommendation engine beyond music:</p> <blockquote> <p> <em>“The future of the web is personalisation and we are committed to leading it. </em> </p> <p> <em>"These new funds will allow us to go one step further, enabling us to grow to the next level of product development, always respecting our core proposition: help people discover new things.”</em> </p> </blockquote> <p>In addition, MyStrands clearly intends to invest some of the cash in <a href="http://www.mystrands.com/corp/jobs.vm">expanding its staff</a>. It already has 90 personnel, so expect three figures soon... that's quite a (growing) cost base.</p> <p>So what do these people do? Well, the company’s main product so far is a music recommendation engine, which can be used online or via mobile. Like one of our favourite apps, <a href="http://www.last.fm">Last.fm</a>, it can synchronise with iTunes to learn more about its users’ tastes. </p> <p>MyStrands has also launched a very nifty <a href="/blog/1709-mystrands-launches-music-video-channels">music video service</a> for aggregating and recommending content from YouTube. The company has yet to make a profit but claims to have made more than $12m in sales of its various products during 2007.</p> <p>Recommendation is certainly a valuable market to be acquired in, as shown by the <a href="/blog/1270-cbs-buys-london-based-last-fm-for-280m">$280m paid by CBS for Last.fm</a> and <a href="/blog/1279-ebay-buys-stumbleupon-for-75m">eBay’s $75m purchase</a> of browsing application StumbleUpon. </p> <p>Marshall at <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mystrands_55m.php">Read/WriteWeb</a> is enthusiastic about the company, especially if it is moving into other areas of recommendation, such as shopping. </p> <p>He says: </p> <blockquote> <p> <em>“Now MyStrands has a war chest to hire top scientists and try and take recommendation to the next level for any type of data. If you can't see the value in that , then you're probably not paying attention.”</em> </p> </blockquote> <p> <strong>Related stories:</strong> <br /> <a href="/blog/1375-music-recommendation-site-nets-25m-in-funding">Music recommendation site nets $25m in funding</a> </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph>According to its <Link URL="http://blog.mystrands.com/2007/12/04/mystrands-raises-24-million-to-lead-the-social-recommendation-industry/" Window="Self">blog</Link>, the funding will be used to expand its recommendation engine beyond music:</Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>“The future of the web is personalisation and we are committed to leading it. </Quote> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Quote>"These new funds will allow us to go one step further, enabling us to grow to the next level of product development, always respecting our core proposition: help people discover new things.”</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>In addition, MyStrands clearly intends to invest some of the cash in <Link URL="http://www.mystrands.com/corp/jobs.vm" Window="Self">expanding its staff</Link>. It already has 90 personnel, so expect three figures soon... that's quite a (growing) cost base.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>So what do these people do? Well, the company’s main product so far is a music recommendation engine, which can be used online or via mobile. Like one of our favourite apps, <Link URL="http://www.last.fm" Window="Self">Last.fm</Link>, it can synchronise with iTunes to learn more about its users’ tastes. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>MyStrands has also launched a very nifty <Link URL="/blog/1709-mystrands-launches-music-video-channels" Window="Self">music video service</Link> for aggregating and recommending content from YouTube. The company has yet to make a profit but claims to have made more than $12m in sales of its various products during 2007.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Recommendation is certainly a valuable market to be acquired in, as shown by the <Link URL="/blog/1270-cbs-buys-london-based-last-fm-for-280m" Window="Self">$280m paid by CBS for Last.fm</Link> and <Link URL="/blog/1279-ebay-buys-stumbleupon-for-75m" Window="Self">eBay’s $75m purchase</Link> of browsing application StumbleUpon. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Marshall at <Link URL="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mystrands_55m.php" Window="Self">Read/WriteWeb</Link> is enthusiastic about the company, especially if it is moving into other areas of recommendation, such as shopping. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>He says: </Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>“Now MyStrands has a war chest to hire top scientists and try and take recommendation to the next level for any type of data. If you can't see the value in that , then you're probably not paying attention.”</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related stories:</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1375-music-recommendation-site-nets-25m-in-funding" Window="Self">Music recommendation site nets $25m in funding</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2007-12-05T13:17:00+00:00 1 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>Social recommendation service MyStrands has bagged another $25m in financing to expand into new markets, such as shopping.</strong> </p> <p>The funding, adding to the $24m it raised just six months ago, was led by Spanish bank BBVA and previous investor Debaeque.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.mystrands.com/">MyStrands</a> has now raised $55m in total, <em>so why does it need all this cash?</em></p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Social recommendation service MyStrands has bagged another $25m in financing to expand into new markets, such as shopping.</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The funding, adding to the $24m it raised just six months ago, was led by Spanish bank BBVA and previous investor Debaeque.</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Link URL="http://www.mystrands.com/" Window="Self">MyStrands</Link> has now raised $55m in total, <Quote>so why does it need all this cash?</Quote></Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 2006 364714 MyStrands nets another $25m in funding false 2007-12-06T13:56:00+00:00 mystrands-nets-another-25m-in-funding 2009-04-28T23:02:31+01:00 2009-04-28T23:02:31+01:00 174