FUHU, a startup that produces virtual avatars and identity cards and rich media web widgets, has secured $6.25 million in Series B funding from The Acer Group (which produces Acer, Gateway, eMachines and Packard Bell computers). FUHU also signed a 10 year contract to distribute FUHU products in all Acer computers and smart mobile phones. FUHU raised $1.5 million in Series A funding in February 2008 from John Hui (co-founder of eMachines), VIA Technologies, UMC Capital, Industrial Bank of Taiwan, Alorica, and several angel investors.
FUHU’s urFooz product, an embeddable virtual identity card, allows users to create an avatar and portable profile that contains music, photos, feeds, and videos. The widget then lets users syndicate their profile on social networks (MySpace, Facebook etc.). Through the deal, FUHU will collect computer users’ information with out-of-the-box registration for Acer computers. Users will be given the option to create a urFooz avatar and account upon registration. Here’s one for Britney Spears:
Filling out a profile is similar to filling out a profile on a social network—you are asked for the essential information you would share with a friend, including hometown, employers, relationship status, and education. You can link your profile/avatar to your accounts from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, FriendFeed, blogs and more. You can also dress your avatar in designer clothes through purchases at urFooz’s virtual mall. And you can embed your urFooz card on any social network, blog or site. The card is dynamically updated on these sites when you update your profile. Currently urFooz has about 20,00 users but CEO Jim Mitchell says that the startup could add 1 to 2 million users a month through the integration of urFooz with Acer computer registration. Whether users will actually feel compelled to keep using the profile is another question. The idea of an embeddable avatar is interesting but you can also share photos, videos, and music within your social networks without the help of a widget,
Another FUHU widget that will be integrated with Acer computers is the Spinlets widget, which is a rich media widgets that let users place favorite music, videos, links, pictures, MP3s, ring-tones, news and more on social networks, sites and blogs. Currently, the Spinlets site only lets you embed music widgets on sites but the video, pictures and additional functionality will be coming soon. FUHU says there will be some sort of pre-loaded mashup of the Spinlets widget already downloaded on the computers but would not reveal more details about what this will look like.
One of the advantages for Acer in this deal is that the company will have access to data and information about users who set up a urFooz profile, including hobbies, activities, interests, says Mitchell. Acer is also planning to integrate FUHU’s widgets into its smart phones, which are already out in Asia. Acer plans to unveil its smart phones in the U.S. in 2010. Competitors in the rich media widget space include Slide and RockYou.
First comment!
BUFU: By Us, Fuck You!
You may be first but your insight regarding this article is anything but. I don’t quite understand all this hype around social media myself, locator guy said something that seems to make sense but I don’t quite grasp yet. Anyways, this does open-up privacy issues in my mind, first, why does a computer need to have your personal info to begin with? Second, what right do they have to publish it all over the web? I am buying a computer, not a method to be marketed to.
Jon
http://WoodMarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
This is Hot News. This is going to be Open Social Cloud Computing at its finest. Terrible domain name but they are definitely on track. who wants to be “imprisoned” in one social site when they can syndicate with all of them in one sitting. kinda like power.com but the opposite. power pulls into one, and fuhu pushes out social widget id syndication to all. welcome to the cloud.
AvatarLocator.com – be yourself
This Comment Is Spam.
wtf .. . this is worse than gilmore
enoughwiththelocator.com — can’t you stop shamelessly promoting your useless company already?
Widgets man, whod’a thunk?
this is a rip off of http://www.mEgo.com which has been around a lot longer…i’m one of the founders, and lucky for us, we have a far superior product – if any of the urfooz have the guts to talk, contact me: ariel@mego.com and view http://www.mego.com – although i’m sure they’ve seen it. i guess copying is the biggest form of flattery. We really believe in user empowerment and making sure identity is kept in the control of the users and not a private company. We have a long term vision, of which i doubt urfooz can keep up.
Ariel, you keep your doubts to yourself, and let the company grow!!
(and if your company is better and blah blah, how come I havent heard about it at all, but been a big fan of Fuhu for a long time, hm?)
why does it matter if it’s bundled with Acer products– who uses bundles software anyway? lame
also, see what megos look like on iphones:
http://strangec...com/iphone.html
and our upcoming management tool:
http://www.yout...h?v=IPrT94gOLjM
Sounds like something that would make me NOT want an Acer.
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Good for you… so what?
Jon
http://WoodMarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
Acer? Packard Bell? I am convinced that all the start up dorks are chronic masterbaters. Go get a real job and quit wasting time and money. Is this what your parents paid for when they sent you to Stanford?
So what, another fracking avatar? Dumbasses
“FUHU, a startup that produces virtual avatars and identity cards and rich media web widgets”
Let me help you with this one…
“FUHU, a startup that produces crappy bloatware and useless cruft…”
Thats a lousy logo the one they have. How can they produce avatars for other people?
yea, it looks like photoshop vomited and they decided to put their company name on top of it instead of cleaning it up
Can’t believe Acer choses this company to deliver Avatars… A 10 minutes google research will show there are better avatar provider companies around that will be happy to partner Acer… Sorry for them.