Entries tagged as iVillage
Friday, April 4. 2008
Social Networking Services for Vietnamese Women
One day after
Yahoo announced its Shine portal
for women, in Vietnam the web 2.0 startup Vinalive also stirs the social networking competition with its PhunuNet targeting dynamic
Vietnamese women. It seems that PhunuNet is following the simple but
successful model of iVillage.
While social networking sites are in a fierce competition seeking users and monetization with such names as Tamtay, Yobanbe, Cyworld, Zoomban etc., targeting women segment is a smart way to differentiate. PhunuNet offers useful content for women’s interests, including Love & Sex, Fashion & Beauty, Health, Lifestyle, Career & Work, Entertainment & Celebrities, Travel, Cooking, Pregnancy & Babycare, Brides, Horoscope etc. It also offers social Q&A, video sharing, groups, events and blogging tools. Not just an iVillage clone, PhunuNet has good localization approach tailored to the taste of Vietnamese women. In fact PhunuNet currently looks like a content portal rather than a web 2.0 services. PhunuNet will have to improve a lot to be a good web 2.0 product rather than a women portal like it is now.
Vietnamese startups should not overlook the women segment in Vietnam, which may total 50% of Vietnamese Internet population of 20 millions. Women-oriented media channels account for the lion’s share of Vietnamese advertising expenses on TV and magazines. VCs are also rushing to women oriented websites in the United States. NBC Universal acquired iVillage, the most popular women’s site along with its other Internet properties for $600 million in 2006.Glam Media, the number one women’s property on the Net as per the latest comScore ranking raised $18.5 million in Series C funding from Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures (DAG), Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, WaldenVC, and Information Capital (Chairman & CEO Samir Arora’s fund). Glam Media had also raised $10 million in Series B led by Accel Partners with Draper Fisher Jurvetson and WaldenVC in 2004.
The question now is can VCs in Vietnam see the value of this potential segment?
While social networking sites are in a fierce competition seeking users and monetization with such names as Tamtay, Yobanbe, Cyworld, Zoomban etc., targeting women segment is a smart way to differentiate. PhunuNet offers useful content for women’s interests, including Love & Sex, Fashion & Beauty, Health, Lifestyle, Career & Work, Entertainment & Celebrities, Travel, Cooking, Pregnancy & Babycare, Brides, Horoscope etc. It also offers social Q&A, video sharing, groups, events and blogging tools. Not just an iVillage clone, PhunuNet has good localization approach tailored to the taste of Vietnamese women. In fact PhunuNet currently looks like a content portal rather than a web 2.0 services. PhunuNet will have to improve a lot to be a good web 2.0 product rather than a women portal like it is now.
Vietnamese startups should not overlook the women segment in Vietnam, which may total 50% of Vietnamese Internet population of 20 millions. Women-oriented media channels account for the lion’s share of Vietnamese advertising expenses on TV and magazines. VCs are also rushing to women oriented websites in the United States. NBC Universal acquired iVillage, the most popular women’s site along with its other Internet properties for $600 million in 2006.Glam Media, the number one women’s property on the Net as per the latest comScore ranking raised $18.5 million in Series C funding from Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures (DAG), Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, WaldenVC, and Information Capital (Chairman & CEO Samir Arora’s fund). Glam Media had also raised $10 million in Series B led by Accel Partners with Draper Fisher Jurvetson and WaldenVC in 2004.
The question now is can VCs in Vietnam see the value of this potential segment?
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