HouseValues Invests $2.75M In ActiveRain. I don’t know either companies (an indication of my ignorance and not the level of success or potential of either firm).

But, expect more of this:

- HouseValues is a successful company that is sitting on cash, they’ll invest it in a strategic opportunity.

- Niche social networking sites make a lot of sense, and instead of pushing the greed envelope and getting VC money, ActiveRain is raising money from a company that can validate its model and accelerate its business plan.

With the credit and housing markets in the US under attack, I can imagine that raising money from money-men was a challenge, so looking to strategic money makes sense for Active Rain.  Alternatively, in a lukewarm housing market, it makes sense for HouseValues to bring a potential competitor on-line by investing in them.

This is as win-win of a deal as you can get. Executing is a different story… and sometimes these deals don’t work out… but guess what, VC-funded deals have a higher propensity to go bust.

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