By Allan Maurer
FORT MYERS, FL – A number of companies offer ways to share Web pages and comment on them, but Slingpage, a Fort Myers company that launched its public beta last month, has a new approach to the idea. It allows users of its software to share Web pages in real-time and interact with the receiver, all from their browser.
The company raised a $2.2 million angel round earlier this year. Founded in 2007, it has been in “heavy development” until this summer, says Jake Cody, VP of marketing. “Now we’re transitioning to marketing.”
Cody says the company will seek a venture round of about $5 million. The company has nine employees and does not plan additional hiring until it completes another funding round.
“Right now,” he says, “We’re focused on how to bring people into the system. There are a million and one Web services out there, mostly free. So we’re working to differentiate ourselves, make people aware of our brand, and delivering enough value so people feel they should use the service.”
Cody suggests the service has numerous potential uses. “It’s a great way for people shopping online for cloths, travel, flights, to share Web pages back and forth,” for instance, he notes. It can also be used to comment on staff blog entries—or a competitor’s.
Slingpage plans to make money through advertising, primarily via a search box it installs on a user’s browser with the application. “It’s very unobtrusive,” notes Slingpage CEO Peter Weinberg.
Weinberg also points out that the service does not display any advertisements over published Web sites. Its service is similar to Google’s, displaying ads relevant to a search.
To receive Slingpages, both sender and receiver must download the free software. It imports a user’s contact lists all at once or one at a time. Users currently number in the thousands, Weinberg says.
The software is an extension for Internet Explorer that runs on Vista or XP Windows systems. Versions for Firefox and Mac are in the works.
Weinberg says sharing a Web page by sending a link is neither real-time nor interactive. “With Slingpage, we’re moving Web surfing from a solo experience to more of a social networking experience,” he said in a previous interview.
The company is getting good coverage in the tech press, although TechCrunch questioned whether it is better than Stumbleupon, a somewhat similar service.
On the Web: www.slingpage.com
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