The founders of Joongel which presented at the TC50 DemoPit are announcing a $100K investment from Israeli uber-Angel Dr. Yossi Vardi. Vardi pledged the investment on the spot at TC50 and the parties have since worked on finalizing the terms and paperwork.
Interestingly, the investment will go into a new company called “Modular Patterns, Ltd.” (no site yet) and is intended for the development of a new product as opposed to furthering the Joongel service/product the company showcased at TC50. The founders are keeping tight-lipped about the nature of the new product and were only willing to share that it “relates to web service collaboration”.
While the founders have explained to me that the new product will take priority, they will continue maintaining the business around Joongel. Here’s how I previously described it:
Joongel considers itself a platform for the creation of web-based toolbars. These are toolbar “strips” in the header area of a web page that require neither download nor installation. Site publishers can use Joongel to offer a search engine aggregator or a vertical search engine for travel, video, cooking, etc. The motivation for publishers is mainly through monetization via affiliation and ad rev-share.
Users can take advantage of Joongel directly through Joongel.com, using browser search plugins, or through eight websites dedicated to various verticals such as travel, shopping and entertainment.
Since TC50 Joongel claims to have experienced a steady growth of users which are adding their plugins, particularly images search, music search, social media search and Creative Commons & free stock photos search (which was suggested to the founders by our very own Erick Schonfeld). The company is in talks about opening local versions of Joongel in France, UK and China.
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Way to go guys,
I’ve been using Joongel for a while, very cool interface
and wicked torrent search
I have yet to try Joongel. But it certainly looks interesting
“Vardi pledged the investment on the spot at TC50″
I’d be curious to hear — were there any other deals or huge benefits that TC50 participants landed? Some more success stories would probably help to “sell” the value of the conference to other people considering becoming participants or presenters.
this is lame logic..
1. Company demos a product at TC50
2. Company gets funded for another product
3. TC boasts about Company getting funded
WTF??
Mazal Tov!!!!
Don’t let their looks fool you, these are two of the hardest working and most talented guys in the Israeli startup world. If only they would share some of that chocolate. mmmm….chocolate. Mazal tov to you big-daddy-super-star-champions!
Umm a $100K investment is newsworthy now? My the credit crunch is really having an effect in the VC world!
anyone know what joongel means? that is a stealth name in and of itself. sounds like a hair care product.
went to the site liked it. because of joon i was easily able to check the major sites and now have a new found respect for deliciou.us which gave the best results for my blog related query.
these guys are on the right track by engine mashing. cant wait to see there next product.
EngineLocator.com- another great site is http://www.searchcrystal.com
Why in the world would you buy all the domain names in the form of every English word only to suffix it with “Locator”?
Way to go Joongel! Great team, excellent execution. Having Vardi behind this venture will increase the chances of succeeding by 100.
MAZAL-TOV KRISHIM !!!!
Congrats Dror, Daniel and all the team! These Guys are the most dedicated people I have ever seen , Yossi invested in gold, and i am sure his investment will yield! gl and all the best!
checked the site - really liked it!
does joongel stand for jungle?
I love Joongel! clever and simple!
Goodluck
The technology is too simple and can be replicable in a couple of hours by anyone. Joongel has neither a technology advantage or a network effect (like ebay or myspace) advantage.
Maybe this is the reason they have decided to develop a new product instead of furthering joongel.
Mazal Tov Guys!!! im very happy for you guys, u really deserve it!
The Joongel team can do anything! high calibre, dedicated, exceptional ‘good guys.’ Love the Joongel tool, can’t wait to see what they do next…
Great product, great TC article, and great guys
Good luck with the new venture guys!
Way to go guys!!! keep up the good work. looking for a CFO by any chance?