If you’re one of those people that thinks that horoscopes are a load of nonsense and simply vague statements that could essentially fit anyone, you’re definitely not alone. But Astrolome is seeking to change that. The Israeli startup has just closed a seed round of $300K with Kima Ventures and some additional business angels in order to develop a real-time personalized horoscope platform.
The company’s secret sauce lies in using an individual’s birth chart (date, time and place of birth) and current location to provide a more accurate reading than the majority of horoscopes – which give strictly sun sign information. Therefore, each user receives a more customized astrological reading rather than generic information designed to pertain to as many people as possible. In addition, the platform is complete with social features, enabling users to rank forecasts for accuracy and share comments on various events with their friends and other users.
Now, I feel pretty much the same way about horoscope as Jason did when he covered Moonit a while back. I have not the slightest clue what it means for Mars to be in the 6th house or how to interpret Pluto. But while I may be tempted to call it all a bunch of hocus pocus, that doesn’t mean it should be written off entirely. Plus, some of the readings can be highly entertaining.
The platform – which is currently in beta and free for a single user account – is planning to introduce a small fee in order to add multiple users to the same account. A free iPhone app is also available so that you can get readings when you’re on the go, with Android and Microsoft mobile apps arriving shortly (in addition to other premium services). Oh, and you can also follow the readings for celebrities like Lady Gaga, Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake and Lindsay Lohan. In fact, going strictly off of the current celebrity list, Astrolome seems targeted towards a young adult crowd.
I admit that it’s a bit of an unusual investment on behalf of Kima, who has previously invested in companies like Paper.li, Storific and more recently, Tickengo. Nonetheless, Kima co-founder Jérémie Berrebi is thrilled and believes that there are many possible sources of revenue in this particular sector. Let’s just hope he isn’t going by the stars on that one.