Oddpodz, an on-line community for creatives finalizes round of funding

    /24-7PressRelease/ - September 03, 2006 - The company which operates Oddpodz.com, an on-line community for the Creative Class, and Odditeaz.com, a branded apparel line, has raised a half-million dollars from five different sources. Oddpodz.com hopes to follow in the success of other on-line communities like MySpace.com, Facebook.com and iVillage.com, but with many new dimensions including: a unique member experience and a creative industries marketplace.

The financing allows Oddpodz to move ahead with the back-end build out of its Web site, expand its product line and increase the marketing efforts.

"We are very excited about this infusion of cash to escalate the growth of the firm," said Post. "The company formed in January and went live with a beta test size in July. The response to the creative community and apparel line has been great. We are generating income and adding new members everyday."

The concept for Oddpodz was derived from the growth and importance of the Creative Class in economies and societies around the world. A term Creative Class was coined by social scientist Richard Florida, and author of "The Rise of the Creative Class." His research shows there are roughly 40 million Americans that fall into this class and 150 million members worldwide. The Creative Class includes 30% of all employed people and nearly half of all wages and salaries. "The Creative Class is an important and influential buying population. They are responsible for creating innovative products and ideas that make are world better everyday. They are also trendsetters and first movers in many brand categories. They have tendency to be more loyal and exhibit cultish behavior—which are attributes marketers like. Apple computer is a good example," explained Karen

Post, President of Oddpodz. Oddpodz is designed to appeal to the 25-45 year old, right-brainer, non-conformist, creative person and those who aspire to be like them.

Currently Oddpodz offers: a blog, an expanding marketplace, content on diverse subjects ranging from featured change agents, to creative resources, to a section called "vent" where members can post anything from confessions to annoying situations. The site also publishes a weekly ezine called Openeyez covering current news, books and odd, but interesting things.

With the new funding in place, the company will complete phase two which will add a robust lifestyle network where Oddpodz can meet other creative people for leisure and professionally. They will also enjoy a lot more interactivity and search features. Phase two is expected to launch in early December.

About the founders
Karen Post, President
Co-founder, Karen Post is the president of Oddpodz and serves as creative director. Karen is a national branding expert, speaker, and businesswoman. For more than 23 years she has been involved in building brands and businesses for diverse industry sectors.

She has been featured in international business and marketing print, broadcast, and on-line media outlets. She writes a monthly column for Fast Company magazine and her latest book, Brain Tattoos, is receiving national and international praise.

Jocelyn Ring, Vice President
Co-founder, Jocelyn Ring is the vice president of Oddpodz and serves as community director. A former investment banker, Jocelyn has managed debt, equity and M&A transactions for both small and large companies in diverse industry sectors. In September 2002, Jocelyn left Wall Street to pursue an MBA in marketing and management and initiate a business consulting practice.

# # #