When NewsCred relaunched in January, TechCrunch called it ”The Ning for Newspapers” as it allowed users to create a combination news aggregation and opinion site, like your very own The Huffington Post. NewsCred has had several pivots in its three years of existence, but now it’s solely focused on B2B licensing deals and tirelessly helping to connect the dots between brands and online publishers.
“We’ve completley pivoted the company around. Now, we’re launching our next generation newswire. We’re helping publishers and brands get access to amazing content. Right now, their only option is going to AP or Reuters. We want our service to disrupt the industry,” says NewsCred’s Founder and CEO Shafqat Islam.
Let’s say Coca-Cola wants to run a series about music. Through NewsCred, Coca-Cola would have access to sources like Billboard.com, MTV News, The L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune as well as smaller music blogs. Revenue from the Coca-Cola deal is then split amongst the news sources in that package. Content producers don’t have to pay for anything; they simply receive a check at the end of the month. Islam says providers are making 6 figures a year off of NewsCred’s service and the company is on track to pay a few million dollars in syndication fees in 2012. “Content creators produce amazing journalism and they’re looking for non-display revenue. It’s a nice source of additional, incremental revenue,” he says.
Through NewsCred, the publisher or the blog also gains exposure, distribution and the company gets paid. Another New York City based startup named Contently is solving similar problems by helping brands outsource high-quality content from individual writers. Contently wants to put an end to content farms like Demand Media. Check out our launch story on the company here.
For brands and publishers, NewsCred charges a monthly API licensing fee for access to its content. The fee is based on the volume of news stories as well as the sources licensed. Content is customized, tailored and monetized through new advertising opportunities making it sound like a win-win. For larger publishers with a high volume of pageviews, NewsCred guarantees revenues. It’s an opportunity for big brand companies to save money on hiring a full-blown marketing staff or in-house editorial team while still positioning themselves as thought leaders in an industry.
“We’ve created a single platform for the world’s best journalism. And in doing so, we’re delivering millions of dollars of revenue back into the news ecosystem, and helping an important industry find new models to not just survive, but thrive.”
-NewsCred’s Founder and CEO Shafqat Islam (pictured below)
NewsCred raised a $750K seed round in September 2010 from Floodgate, IA Ventures and Naval Ravikant followed by a $4M Series A round in October 2011, led by FirstMark, with participation from Lerer Ventures, AOL Ventures and Advancit Capital (Shari Redstone) and participation from existing investors.
Republicans and Democrats may finally agree on something: Small business owners and entrepreneurs need better and more plentiful opportunities to gain access to capital, grow their businesses, and create more jobs.
Last month, the House voted 407 to 17 to pass passed the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, which seeks to makes it easier for small businesses and entrepreneurs to raise capital through crowdfunding. The new bill would let let small companies sell up to $2 million in equity online. Investors would be allowed to put in as much as $10,000 or 10 percent of their annual income—whichever is less.
In addition to the overwhelming bipartisan support the bill received in the House, the President supports it as well. In a September 8 address to a Joint Session of Congress on jobs and the economy, the President urged Congress to remove the red-tape—and SEC restrictions—that make it difficult, if not illegal, for entrepreneurs to raise funds in public.
"This bill will make it easier for entrepreneurs to raise capital and create jobs," the White House noted in a statement. "The Administration looks forward to continuing to work with the Congress to craft legislation that facilitates capital formation and job growth and provides appropriate investor protections."
Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, a vocal Republican supporter of crowdfunding, addressed the Senate Banking Committee last week, urging members to consider crowdfunding as a viable method for entrepreneurs raise funds. He described crowdfunding as "the grease that keeps the gears in the American economy churning."
Current online investment platforms—such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo—allow people to offer funds for projects, though they do not offer true equity in return. Sites like Microventures do offer equity, but to invest you must be an angel investor. Right now, there's no legal way for unaccredited people to invest in companies for equity.
"Imagine that," Brown said. "The next Steve Jobs being held back by rules from the age of the typewriter. When are we going to give the tools and resources to our job creators? [Crowdfunding] is an innovative way to look outside the box and get up with the times to open up capital markets to new businesses and existing small businesses. It has the potential to be a powerful venture capital model."
Although much large-scale crowdfunding still illegal in the United States, there are several crowdfuning firms overseas already connecting investors with entrepreneurs. Symbid, a Netherlands-based crowdfunding firm, enables entrepreneurs to secure funding from €20,000 up to €2.5 million. Crowdcube, which is based in the U.K., offers a similar service, but with no investment maximum. Entrepreneurs go online, write their pitch, and offer two numbers: the target—which is the total amount of money they wish to raise and invest in the business—and the equity offered.
Critics to the bill argue that devious entrepreneurs will have open range to set up phony companies and lull neophyte investors into dropping them cash. And because there's potential for thousands of daily transactions, there would be little oversight. Brown, though, believes the benefits outweigh any risks.
"Americans are allowed to gamble unlimited amounts at casinos, and can send donations to charities halfway around the world with one tap of a trackpad," wrote Brown in a recent Wired editorial. "Yet, we are legally prevented from making even modest investments in job-creating small businesses."
Carl Esposti, the founder of Crowdsourcing.org, points out another argument: that the investment risks involved are actually lower, since there will be many investors doing due diligence on the investment. Therefore, he says, if 150 or 200 people decide to vote on an entity, the aggregate of the risk assessment might indicate that that entity is not such a bad bet.
"There's an interesting dynamic on whether it actually creates a natural calibration of risk-reward," Esposti says. "From that perspective, it has some really interesting potential."
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