Roughly 3.5 billion people are active users of social media. In fact, the average user spends over 2 hours a day on social media. Similarly, businesses utilize social media heavily, with nearly 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies active on Twitter and other sites. However, concerns over privacy, content control and data tracking continue to grow. These concerns are creating new needs and expectations from consumers, which in turn are shaping the newest social media platforms. And for companies like Webtalk, which employs an ad-sharing revenue structure and a partitioned newsfeed, it’s what’s driving growth.
Funding is Believing — Webtalk’s Recent Momentum
Attracting venture capital and private equity funding is not always the easiest thing for the newest social media platforms. After all, suggesting one can compete against Twitter, Instagram and Facebook require not only a concept but also proof. But Webtalk is attracting 20,000 to 30,000 new users each day. In fact, the company now has over 2.8 million total users, with 520,000 users active monthly. Given that its initial Beta launch and offering was only in mid-2018, these figures are quite impressive.
Most recently, Webtalk secured an additional $1.8 million in funding from Paul Woodcock, a health technology entrepreneur. This brings their total funding to date to $4.2 million—with another $1.2 million anticipated in the near future. This places its valuation at $20 million, thus making it quite attractive as one of the newest social media platforms. And with plans for SEC filing as a Regulations A+ mini-IPO, Webtalk could raise sizable investments for continued growth.
Webtalk: Its Leverage Among Giants in Social Media
R.J. Garbowicz, who saw the need for a change, founded Webtalk in 2011. He believed the newest social platforms needed to better portray the actual relationships someone had in their life. So he and his team designed Webtalk so that virtual relationships could be categorized by type from the very beginning. Personal-, private-, business- and other categories allow users to immediately define content sharing.
These features seem like a combination of LinkedIn and Facebook. However, Webtalk also provides granular communications and content management. Similarly, the platform facilitates contact management and content collaboration, which is ideal for businesses. And all of this is structured within a system that validates user information, thus creating a higher level of trust.
Community Trust and Shared Ad Revenue Drive Continued Growth
Certainly different from the other newest social media platforms, Webtalk launched as an invitation-only site. This feature was inherently designed to bank on and strengthen the trusting nature of the community. But at the same time, this social media platform structured its revenue-generating approach to include users. Those invited have the option to pay for ad-free subscription services, which generates revenue. Likewise, current users may also share in ad revenues by inviting and attracting more Webtalk users. This offers advantages from both a revenue and quality perspective.
Based on these revenue streams, Webtalk expects to have positive cash flow later this year. This is likely a significant reason why this social media platform has been able to attract new investors and sustain growth. And it also likely plays a factor in its rapid user expansion. While it’s a hard sell to think that Webtalk will ever usurp the king (Facebook), as one of the newest social media platforms, it continues to show promise.
