Here’s a story that is either the sign of an enormous bubble or an indication that perhaps entrepreneurs need to have a bit more faith (literally and figuratively). GodTube, the YouTube for the religious, has raised $30 million at a $150 million valuation, according to Rafat Ali. The funding comes from GLG Partners, a hedge fund.
What’s interesting about GodTube is not so much the technology – as Pete wrote in his initial review, “put bluntly … it was crap” – but how it’s little more than an existing concept catered to a very specific yet very huge audience. [img src="http://i25.tinypic.com/2hqs7x1.gif" caption="" credit="" alt=""] Christian television is enormous in the US, and GodTube has been able to capitalize on people’s desire for religious programming by taking a proven concept (video sharing), a brand name clearly inspired (some would say stolen) by a market leader, and industry best practices to become a big business.
As Pete noted in August, the site actually got its start running on a $300 script. It simply exploded from there, entering the top 1000 web sites in September and never looking back.