A new private equity fund has picked up what was left of Sneakerplay, the social network for sneaker fanatics that we deadpooled late last year when its founders pretty much abandoned the service (but kept the website online, hoping for a buyer to step up).
The fund, dubbed Keroch, has acquired the assets and IP of Sneakerplay and plans to grow the niche community site to a more relevant property. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Sneakerplay has always been a completely bootstrapped venture so we can safely assume the founders are happy with the sale, especially since they’ve basically moved on from the project some time ago.
What struck me is the fact that everyone seems to be doing their best to conceal the names of the people involved with the private equity fund. The website won’t teach you a thing about that, except for the tidbit that the team consists of four partners, who “possess 30+ years of combined experience in the technology/internet industry ranging from large companies such as Yahoo! to small start-ups.”. The only name we came up with so far is Brian Rothenberg, former product manager for Yahoo! Real Estate.
Either way, the acquisition of Sneakerplay is Keroch’s first move and they plan to turn the small community of sneakerheads into a relevant niche social network with more features and a clear path to monetization through sponsorships and on-site advertising on the roadmap.
As an aside, some people were upset when I deadpooled the company (and now of course I happily admit they were right) but it seems like the article at least got the Sneakerplay team the necessary attention to engage in bidding wars with potential acquirers. Co-founder Robleh Jama has promised a post on his personal blog with all of the juicy details from dealing with investment bankers, to press coverage, bidding wars and exploding term sheets, which should be an interesting read.
thanks for the follow-up post Robin. It’s been a fun ride…
“has acquired the assets and IP of Sneakerplay” – the only IP these guys own is 75.126.33.213. And anyway, the only shoes worth building a community around are Air Jordan VI.
Social networking sites don’t generate any IP. It takes about a week to build a social networking site/service. The only thing they’re good at is being at the right place at the right time (which they obviously deserve all the credit for).
I see a new trend coming – companies bagging T.C to deadpool them, the easiest way to get some VC love.
Is that really the way dying startups shoot for funding? I thought there are more direct ways to get funding when you are in such a state. Or is it that they were having a hard time getting listeners?
test
woopsy *blush*, got tricked by the shiny blue button
Its a good news..
Keroch rocks! Good business guys from Yahoo Real Estate and Yahoo Shopping. They’re on a roll and will turn this site around.
Social network for sneaker enthusiasts? Yea, some sites should stay in the deadpool.
Just because it doesn’t seem like a good idea to you, doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea. I used to work with Sneakerplay on advertising and sponsorship strategy; here’s my response to Robin’s last post: http://tinyurl.com/6aszav
Congrats to RJ, Mo, and Rob.
Could it be Jason Bourne?
Fun for the guys behind Sneakerplay though, I personally never understood how the site could not make money; They had some sweet ad-deals and good content!
Great post!
Thanks,
Ben Fryxell
http://macmaniapodcast.com
Thanks for the coverage Robin. We’re excited to leverage the unique platform that the Sneakerplay founders have built in order to grow the site and further engage with its amazingly devoted community.
For those interested in the world of sneakers, consider checking out http://www.superkix.com, the only search engine for authentic sneakers – we just launched a couple weeks ago.
Users can search sneaker inventory by size, updated continuously from 35+ leading online retailers and discover new styles set to debut using a consolidated and ranked feed from the 20+ most authoritative sneaker bloggers.
And starting next week, we will be holding a massive sneaker giveaway that includes Nike What The Dunks and other limited edition pairs.
I just wanted to send my congrats to RJ and the SP team!
glad to hear that the bailout hearings for sneakerDoggz.biz weren’t all for show.
http://www.yout...h?v=Njbb_DXQ4Yc
afterall, they do make some really cogent arguments, in spite of Representative Draper’s comments.