It’s been a while since we caught up with WAYN, one of the earliest social networks (so early they once charged for access). WAYN is a niche social network which focuses on the younger, aspirational traveling classes. Amazingly, despite the recession, they are still gap-yearing around the world using WAYN to meet fellow travelers, and there are now 15.5 million registered users globally.
More interestingly, London-based WAYN has revealed exclusively to TechCrunch Europe that the site is now in profit. And next month it is going mobile with an iPhone and Android application created jointly with UK mobile social startup Rummble. WAYN users will be able to check in to places, and Rummble will get access to the WAYN user base. → Read More
It’s been a while since we caught up with WAYN, one of the earliest social networks (so early they once charged for access). WAYN is a niche social network which focuses on the younger, aspirational traveling classes. Amazingly, despite the recession, they are still gap-yearing around the world using WAYN to meet fellow travelers, and there are now 15.5 million registered users globally.
More interestingly, London-based WAYN has revealed exclusively to TechCrunch Europe that the site is now in profit. And next month it is going mobile with an iPhone and Android application created jointly with UK mobile social startup Rummble. WAYN users will be able to check in to places, and Rummble will get access to the WAYN user base. → Read More
British site Where Are You Now? (WAYN), a social network for meeting fellow travelers, is rumored to be in negotiations with AOL to be bought for $200 million. That would make it one of the biggest Web 2.0 acquisitions of a UK startup after CBS’s $280 million purchase of Last.fm. TechCrunch UK has the scoop: Social travel site WAYN is allegedly in talks with AOL over a possible $200m sale to the consumer portal giant. A spokesperson for the UK startup denied that any sale talks are taking place. However, I have tonight spoken to three well-placed sources who have all independently quoted the $200m figure to me, and named AOL as the prospective buyer. . . . the fact that no deal has been announced yet is put down by my sources to delicate negotiations around a generous earn-out clause proposed by the founders. And the signs are that this is proving to be a sticking point in negotiations. The site is only on course to bring in $4.5m of revenues this year, a figure which contrasts markedly with the exit price. WAYN raised $11 million in 2006 from DFJ Esprit and a gaggle of British entrpreneurs, including Lastminute.com founder Brent Hoberman. ComScore, which only recently started tracking the site, counts 3.6 million unique visitors in November worldwide. The company says it has 9 million registered users. The purported $200 million price tag seems steep, at more than 40 times revenues. But the site also makes money through affiliate deals with travel sites like Kayak. Travel sites are all about lead generation. CrunchBase Information WAYN Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
With the news that Wayn.com has secured $11 million from British VC fund Esprit Capital Partners to fuel its expansion, it appears “location” is the new wave in social in networking. We’ve seen it invade the verticals of music (MySpace), eateries (Yelp) and shopping (Crowdstorm). Now, where you are and who you are is as important as what you like. They will also be looking at new revenue streams (ticketing surely, and beefing up the subscription model?), other markets, trip planning and rich media (YouTube meets TripAdvisor?) . WAYN allows users to create profiles, search for other travellers near them and make real-world friends, as well as informing family where they are. Membership has grown from 45,000 users in March 2005 to seven million today, and is increasing by up to 35,000 new members per day according to the company. Like a lot of Brit-start-ups the Eastern European aspect is never far off. Part of the funding will be used to expand its development team in Poland. Given that Brent Hoberman will join WAYN’s board as chairman in January 2007, a link with Lastminute.com seems logical (travel packages + friends, new and old?). Stuart Chapman, partner at Esprit Capital Partners, also joins the board. The funding also includes a group of angel investors including Adrian Critchlow and Andy Phillipps, co-founders of Active Hotels, David Soskin, chief executive, and Hugo Burge, vice chairman, of Cheapflights and Constant Tedder, co-founder and managing director of Jagex, which runs RuneScape, the online multiplayer game. Although Wayn’s membership cover 220 different countries, it is mostly known in the ‘gap year’ countries of UK, Australia and Europe and has little presence in the US. That should change with the new funding for marketing. And looking at Alexa it is the only UK-based social media travel site to come even close to TripAdvisor. Wayn has also had criticism because of the way it encourages people to add contacts from Hotmail, Gmail etc. although the company has said it is now easier to opt out of these. So if location is the new wave, where does that leave “location-oriented” started-ups like TrustedPlaces.com, TravelHiker.com and BuddyPing.com? It may mean that other startus in the space either attract new funding, or perhaps will change their business model to get some of the “WAYN-effect”. → Read More
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