Fab.com (formerly Fabulis) is a social network for gay men focused on helping users discover people, places and activities across the globe. The company recently rebranded to the more memorable Fab.com and launched a global directory of “gay-friendly places” with rankings, reviews, tips and photo uploads to complement interactive profiles and an events database. It offers an iPhone app that enables check-ins, location identification, place ratings, naming companions and image uploads. The site reports over 110,000 members, with 40% of members logging in at least 10 times per month and 25% visiting more than 50 times per month; the service attracts more than 5,000 new users weekly. Financially, Fab.com raised $1.75 million in Series A funding from investors such as First Round Capital, The Washington Post Company, Baroda Ventures and Zelkova Ventures, in addition to earlier angel financing. Fabulis is a social network for gay men that launched a major 2.0 relaunch of its website and iPhone app. The platform mixes features similar to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Groupon and Yammer, enabling status updates, streams, check-ins, messaging/chat, and a gay-relevant event directory. Version 2.0 adds Facebook Places syncing, liking and commenting, Fabulis Auctions using a virtual currency called Fabulis Bits, and Fabulis Exclusives promotions. The company reports about 80,000 active members roughly five months after launch, with about 5,000 new sign-ups per week. Founder Jason Goldberg says the team plans to ship new features weekly on web and mobile. Financially, Fabulis announced an additional $375,000 in angel funding in this round, bringing total capital injected to $1.25 million. Fabulis is a recently launched New York–based social network for gay men that centers its product around profiles, messaging attempts, and popularity contests. The company has pivoted from paid messaging to a bits-driven popularity contest model where users vote each other up and can supercharge votes with purchased bits. It runs travel-related contests (trips to Fire Island and Atlantis Cruises) and awards prizes; the platform has given away $30,000 in prizes so far. Bits are sold (the article notes "bits, which sell for 1,500 a dollar and up") and are also offered to users who sign up for advertiser marketing offers such as American Airlines; some users reportedly spend hundreds on bits. Financially, Fabulis has raised $825,000 in seed funding to date, and users' total spending has exceeded the prizes awarded. The company competes with more established startups like GayCities and is focused on monetizing both user purchases and advertiser partnerships. Fabulis is a community and lifestyle website for homosexual men that launched a public beta and explicitly positions itself as not a dating site. The service is Facebook‑centric: users sign in with Facebook Connect, import Facebook friends, and see a Plans page filled with Facebook events algorithmically filtered for gay men. Users can RSVP to events (on Fabulis only or synced to Facebook), vote on profiles, and use a proprietary virtual currency called Fabulis Bits for voting and other site activities. Prior to public launch the site was invite-only and had about 14,000 registered members, including several gay celebrities. Financially, Fabulis has raised $625k in seed funding. Investors named in the seed round include The Washington Post and Allen Morgan, a venture partner at Mayfield Fund; founder Jason Goldberg previously raised more than $50 million for Jobster.

Total raised

$3M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Dec 2010