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DiData ex-CEO Dawson pumps R10m into social network start-up

Cape Town - Former Dimension Data CEO Brett Dawson will be joining social discovery and messaging platform Gather Online as chair.

Dawson invested R10m to support the company's expansion, Gather Online announced.

"[Gather Online] fills a real gap for engagement in the current social media landscape," said founder and CEO, David Price.

In its seed funding drive to investors, Gather Online differentiated itself as an interacting social networking site, arguing that current platforms are plagued by group interactions that "quickly become stale and inactive".

Its business model is focused on business to consumer premium subscriptions as well as advertising revenue.

"Statistics show that freemium companies are able to convert between 1% and 10% of its users into paying customers with the average being between 2% and 5%.

"Gather’s conversion rate should be greatly enhanced through its strong B2B business strategy. Gatherings which require an entry fee will garner a 10% fee generating revenue for the Company," Gather Online said.

The platform is aimed at linking people with similar interests, and promises that companies will be able to promote their brands to an engaged audience.

"We believe there is a significant opportunity for a platform that encourages people to become more engaged with each other. On the other major platforms, a post only gets engagement from about 1% of people so 99% are passively consuming.

"Gather Online overcomes this by facilitating more fruitful communication which has a beginning and an end, like we have in real life," said Price.

Dawson left Dimension Data as a successful CEO. According to executive chair Jeremy Ord, Dawson increased sales from $2bn (about R24bn) in 2004 to $8bn (about R95.2bn), as reported in The Register.

Price said that Dawson was part of a third seed funding round that was oversubscribed.

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