GeoCities’ Growing Territory
GeoCities, the Santa Monica company that offers free home pages on the World Wide Web, will announce today that it has raised $9 million in venture funding.
The 2-year-old company creates communities by inviting Netizens to set up “homesteads” in one of 29 themed neighborhoods such as CapitolHill (government and politics), HotSprings (health and fitness) and Yosemite (outdoor recreation).
Initially, GeoCities founder and Chief Executive David Bohnett set out to raise between $5 million and $6 million, but “we found so much enthusiasm for the concept, we were oversubscribed,” he said.
The new infusion of cash will enable the company to grow from 42 employees to more than 60 in the coming months, said Bohnett, who hopes to take the company public late this year.
Softbank Corp. of Japan, the giant computer magazine and high-tech trade firm, is one of GeoCities’ new investors, and Eric Hippeau, chairman and chief executive of Softbank’s Ziff-Davis unit, will join GeoCities’ board of directors.
Other investors include Chase Capital Partners of New York; InnoCal, a venture capital firm funded by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System; FlatIron Partners, which funds Internet ventures; and CMG@Ventures, which had previously invested $2.1 million in GeoCities.
The GeoCities main page at https://www.geocities.com was recently ranked by PC-Meter at the 10th most visited Web site. GeoCities says it’s adding 2,500 net new members each day and expects to cross the 300,000 mark soon.
THIS WEEK
* Today, 5 p.m.: Director Richard Attenborough will discuss his latest film, “In Love and War.” America Online. Keyword: NYT
* Tuesday, 6 p.m.: Actor and director Vondie Curtis Hall of “Chicago Hope” talks about working with Tupac Shakur on the film “Gridlock’d.” Internet. https://www.pathfinder.com/people
* Wednesday, 7 p.m.: The American Film Institute launches its OnLine Cinema series with the 1916 Charlie Chaplin classic “The Rink.” Each month, AFI will present a different classic movie on the Web. Internet. https://www.afionline.org/cinema
* Thursday, 3:30 p.m.: Three 1996 National Book Award winners will discuss their work and their lives at the New York Public Library, and the Book of the Month Club will provide a live cybercast. Internet. https://www.realaudio.com
CYBERSPACE
* President Clinton will be inaugurated today for his second term in office. To find out more about the inaugural tradition, check out https://www.whitehouse.gov. Along with plans for this year’s events, visitors will find portraits and biographies of all presidents and their inaugural addresses.
The Inaugural Classroom, at https://www.pbs.org/inaugural97/, features dispatches from Alexandra Leichtman, a high school senior from Kansas who won a trip to Washington in a speech contest. PoliticsNow’s coverage at https://www.politicsnow.com/news/inaugural/imain.htm has audio clips of past inaugural oaths and speeches, a rundown on unofficial inaugural events and links to other Web sites.
* For many Americans, the significance of the inauguration pales in comparison with this Sunday’s Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans. At https://www.superbowl.com, a series of online chats with NFL players leads up to the big game. Visitors can also take a virtual tour of the New Orleans Superdome and vote for the best play of the game. If you’re going to a Super Bowl party and you’re looking for things to talk about, bone up at Gridiron Trivia at https://www.gridirontrivia.com
* The Brainwave Project--a joint effort of four leading Web sites--premieres today with an examination of the spreading ideology of libertarianism, which has always held disproportionate influence on the Internet. At Feed, a four-person panel will critique Charles Murray’s new polemic, “What It Means to Be a Libertarian.” Meanwhile, Salon will feature an essay by Gary Kamiya, a critic of the libertarian movement. Electric Minds will devote much of its Tomorrow section to the discussion, and Site will challenge some of libertarianism’s truisms. All four sites can be accessed at https://www.salonmagazine.com/brainwave/common970120.html
Site suggestions can be sent to cutting.edge@latimes.com
