It’s been a little over a year and a half since we wrote about Fritz Lanman’s departure from Microsoft, to build his own startup called “5Star.” Well, now we’re hearing that his startup, actually called Livestar, is going to launch soon, judging by a demo video posted on Lanman’s Facebook page. As early as next week even.
Since our initial article, Lanman, a former Microsoft and Yahoo deals guy, has made some pretty savvy angel investments, most notably getting in early on Pinterest and Square. And now he’s ready to focus on his own project.
We’re hearing that the startup is trying to own the trusted recommendations space, and aiming squarely for the gap between Foursquare (mobile-enabled local) and Yelp (reviews). Livestar is apparently approaching this from a unique perspective, but one that that demo video does not entail.
We’re also hearing very very specific funding information, that the startup has raised $2 million from investors Hadi and Ali Partovi, Peter Chernin, Paul Buchheit, WME and Ray Ozzie. More next week apparently!