StudiVZ
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
|
Type of site
|
Social network |
| Available in | German |
| Founded |
Germany (October 2005) |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
| Founder(s) | Ehssan Dariani (CEO) & Dennis Bemmann |
| Revenue | ? |
| Employees | 12 Poolworks LTD. |
| Website | www |
| Alexa rank |
 33,427 (April 2014[update]) |
| Registration | required |
| Launched | November 2005 |
| Current status | active |
StudiVZ, SchülerVZ and MeinVZ is a social networking platform for students (in particular for college and university students in Europe) and is based in Berlin, Germany. The name is an abbreviation of the German expression Studentenverzeichnis, which means students' directory.
The service is largely comparable to other social networking sites. StudiVZ claims to be one of the biggest social networks in Europe, with (reportedly) over 15 million members as of September 2009 across Europe, mostly in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. However, traffic to the site has entered a state of steady decline since late 2009.
The network was launched in November 2005, inside a flat in Berlin by two students named Ehssan Dariani (CEO) and Dennis Bemmann and was financed by founding investor Lukasz Gadowski. Since then, they have also collected an undisclosed sum of investments by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, the Samwer brothers (founders of the ringtone vendor Jamba!), and other sources. In fall 2006, similar services were launched in France (StudiQG), Italy (StudiLN), Spain (EstudiLN) and Poland (StudentIX). In February 2007, another version called SchülerVZ was launched, this time focused on secondary school students, with a reported membership around three million users. As of 2010[update], VZ Networks claim a total userbase of over 16 million users. In February 2008, another version for non-students called meinVZ was launched.
In January 2007, StudiVZ was sold to one of its investors, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, for 85 million euros. After a massive decline in usage since late 2009, Holtzbrinck attempted to sell StudiVZ, but as of July 2011[update] is not able to find any potential buyer.
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