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January 30, 2007
Whisher Funded To Take On FON?
Whisher, a Spanish startup making a Wi-Fi social networking community pitch, has raised an undisclosed amount from Benchmark Capital Europe, and Swisscom. The deal was brokered by new Benchmark venture partner Klaus Hommels, famous for backing Skype in the early days.
We don't know much about Whisher yet, but its PR suggests it is a lot like FON, and not just because it is based in Spain. Update: Wifi Networking News has a lot of details on the Whisher setup and compares it to other Wifi startups.
We originally thought that users install its software on their WiFi hardware, but this is incorrect according to Wifinetworking news, it is downloaded to the PC or destop computer, which then enables Internet access as well as a set of applications on top of access, such as Instant Messaging, file sharing, direct access to local services and the ability to set up a "micro community network".
We don't know whose IM service is the default or what "local services" are offered on the top menu.
Investment capital will be used to develop additional features and "to fuel global distribution of the service".
With Swisscom behind it, it's hard to believe that this is a low budget model. We recall Swisscom quietly buying up several Wireless ISP startups in Europe during the first wave of hotspot mania over here and has consistently charged a pretty steep price for usage.
Read - Whisher Offers Wi-Fi Buddy Lists and a Lot More (wifinetnews)
Posted on January 30, 2007 02:20 PM | Posted to News And Updates | Permalink
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