Jobster is a social network and online recruitment web site that started in 2004.  Every time a user creates an account on Jobster, they add skill tags to their profile and show their availability which includes job hunting, happily employed, etc.  I was just looking through some of the profiles on Jobster and it seems like that this is a good way for recruiters to network with potential prospects.  However, one of the flaws with Jobster’s revenue model is that they made job postings free. 

Maintaining Jobster is not cheap.  Since 2005, the company had raised $48 million.  The company is burning $1 million per month.  The company had $11 million in losses in 2007.  And the company has $3 million left.  The founder and CEO of the company, Jason Goldberg left last year as well.  Now that the company is under new management, they are looking to raise more money and try to get the recruitment social network back on track.

Previous investors include Ignition Partners, Mayfield Fund, Trinity Partners, and Reed Elsevier Ventures.  A few months after the social network launched, Jobster acquired WorkZoo.  Jobster also acquired Jobby, a startup that matched candidates to jobs through the use of tags.

If the Seattle, Wash. does receive additional funding, then one of their first priorities on the agenda should be cost cutting and talent management.  The new management should be focusing on also making Jobster in a competitive position to be able to take on Monster or CareerBuilder.

[Information Source: ERE]

Avvo.com, a start-up that is currently in stealth mode.  The company is based in Seattle, WA and is run by former Microsoft and Expedia founders.  The $10 million in funding was provided by Ignition Partners and Benchmark Capital.

The first round of funding was for $3 million so that brings them a grand total of $13 million.  Mark Britton is the CEO/President and was a previous Executive VP of Worldwide Corporate Affairs at InterActiveCorp Travel / Expedia Inc.  Paul Bloom is the VP of Products & Marketing at Avvo and is a former senior manager at Microsoft’s Consumer Division.

Through this fround of funding, Brad Silverberg will be joining the board of directors.  Silverberg is a founding partner at Ignition Partners.

“This investment from Ignition and Benchmark further supports our belief that we have the right solution for helping consumers navigate the highly confusing legal industry,” stated Britton. “Brad is simply the perfect addition to our team with his extensive operating experience, technological prowess and raw smarts. We are lucky to have him.”

For more information, there is a press release available on the Avvo.com Press page.