WisdomArk

Here's yet another new, curious, web-based venture: WisdomArk. I hear that they've just received $6.3 million in Series A venture capital funding from El Dorado Ventures, Venrock Associates, and Benhamou Global Ventures. Their web site doesn't say much, yet, simply:

WisdomArk is the developer of a new consumer web service for the collaborative capture, sharing, preservation and rediscovery of the stories of our lives.

That sounds potentially interesting, but you do have to wonder whether they will really be able to generate sustainable profits, or whether they are being "built to flip".

Oh, and an earlier version of their web site (courtesy of Google's cache) says the following:

WisdomArk is opening its MemoryArk Beta service to a select few people willing to explore an experience of self-discovery and expression in connection with friends and family.

MemoryArk is being created to help you capture, organize and share the formative life-events, personal experiences, and beliefs that shape who you are, and will keep these for generations to come.

MemoryArk aids the recollection of a loved-one's lifetime of experiences, simplifies the collection of images and music that reflect their personal history, and helps users discover and articulate the beliefs and values which guide their lives.

One aspect that intrigues me is precisely how they are going to be able to support the preservation of information. Simply putting information on servers at a start-up company doesn't seem like a reliable form of very long-term archival storage. Do they have a deal with Iron Mountain or some other archiving business that can give consumers an iron-clad assurance that their information is truly being preserved, far beyond the lifetime of a simple VC-funded startup?

-- Jack Krupansky