No-brainer Web site creator Wix announced on Monday that it has raised $3.5 million in venture funding from Bessemer Venture Partners and Mangrove Venture Capital, and has also launched a "premium" version of the service geared toward businesses.
Wix's paid service, which costs $9.90 per month, follows a similar model to other Web publishing and productivity services that target small businesses: hosting and no ads. Allon Bloch, the company's co-CEO, said in a release that Wix's premium service will allow participating companies to cut down on the high costs of hiring a professional to design and build a site. "For the average small business, making a professional Web site is as complex and costly as it was in 1998," Bloch said. "I can't think of any other fundamental Internet technology that has changed so little in the last decade."
Wix, which focuses on easy creation of Flash-based sites, exited private beta in June. It's not the only company doing this--Synthasite and Weebly are two of its competitors.
The venture funding, which puts Wix's total capital at $8.5 million, will be used for further product development--as well as marketing, crucial for getting those paying users on board.