Subhub close to investment

SubHub, a startup which has been around for a couple of years now, is flipping its high-cost service for subscription content web sites to a more “Web 2.0″ model of a low cost, low entry point. The upshot is that just about anyone will be able to afford to create a content-based web site with subscription and e-commerce facilities baked-in.

The move comes as the site is looking for investment and it would be fair to say that CEO Evan Rudowski is now in discussions with several well-known VC firms about a funding round in excess of £2.5 million. He tells me he is optimistic.

Now of course, this kind of stuff is leaked to the press all the time, often to jack up the price, but those who know SubHub know they don’t announce anything lightly. The funding will enable them to complete the conversion of the model from its current high-priced, highly customised, and low volume approach (£1,500 one-time set-up, £67/month hosting and service charge) to one that is frictionless, self-provisioning, low priced and high volume. Customers will be able to try the service for free and continue on by paying a low monthly fee of around £15/month — with no set-up costs. Did someone say Fremium?

SubHub has a team of 10 based in Cardiff and more than 100 websites currently running on its platform. It combines content management with membership, and with multiple ways of making money — from subscription, advertising and e-commerce.