Dopplr, a social network for travelers, is getting a lot of attention; although it’s in an invitation-only mode, there have been plenty of positive reviews. What’s also important, however, is the attention it’s received from some investors.
Attention equals money, in this instance, and although the amount they gave is unknown, “[t]he investors are Martin Varsavsky, Joichi Ito, Reid Hoffman and The Accelerator Group led by Saul Klein,” according to an entry on the Dopplr Blog. Note: if those names are unfamiliar to you, their pasts shouldn’t be. The release continues, “This international team – frequent travellers who themselves use Dopplr – has separately made previous investments in many successful Internet companies, including Last.fm, Joost, FON, LinkedIn, Flickr, Technorati, Wikia, Xing, Stardoll, Six Apart and Netvibes.”
That’s a strong portfolio. Now, to return to the public perception of Dopplr, it would seem that this social network is destined to become similarly well-known – an “About Us” section at the end of the blog entry reveals, “Dopplr travellers have shared over 110 million kilometers (70 million miles) of trips to over 2000 cities around the world with their close friends and colleagues.”
Need a more objective source of information? In a recent article for the Guardian Unlimited, Bobbie Johnson placed Dopplr among the “Top 10 dotcoms to watch.”
Furthermore, blognation UK’s Ewan Spence wrote, “Having seen an early version back in March, Dopplr has become genuinely useful to myself . . .”
Unfortunately, there’s no word on when Dopplr will launch to a wider audience, but this funding should bring it a step closer.
