After years of employing an ad-hoc community-driven approach to mobile, one of the world’s biggest Web sites is going mobile in a much more organized way. Wikimedia Foundation is currently pitching deals involving a new mobile version of its ubiquitous Wikipedia site that it hopes wireless carriers will offer to…

Reframe It, which offers a web commenting system mostly used by groups to talk internally about the content of websites, has raised a “multi-million” dollar round of funding. The startup isn’t saying how much exactly it raised, although an SEC filing shows that the company has raised $2.2 million so…

Microsoft’s MSN is once again turning to wiki startup Wetpaint to boost the content offerings on its entertainment portal. MSN will now prominently feature nine of Wetpaint’s existing user-generated fan sites on MSN Entertainment. Earlier this year, MSN used Wetpaint’s wiki-platform—which lets users edit and contribute photos, videos and text—to…

Wikia, the for-profit wiki company led by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, has made a small purchase: It has picked up Lyric Wiki, a wiki site that features nearly one million user-uploaded song lyrics. Wikia says it has also reached a licensing deal with Sony (NYSE: SNE) subsidiary Gracenote so that…

It’s almost an after-thought when you realize that Wikipedia doesn’t have any online video. But better late than never. The online user-edited encyclopedia will introduce video clips for its users to run by the end of the summer, Technology Review reports (via ReadWriteWeb). The news comes about two months after…

The value of Amazon.com’s private investments may have fallen by 64 percent last quarter, but that hasn’t stopped the online retailer from investing in startups. Online cooking encyclopedia Foodista.com announced this week that it had raised a first round of funding led by Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN). (PeHub puts the size…

Looking to boost user engagement (and fill space cheaply), MSN said Wednesday it would use Wetpaint’s wiki-platform to let visitors edit and contribute photos, videos and text to new fansites hosted on its MSN Entertainment portal. MSN will launch more than two dozen such sites on its entertainment portal this…

Just over a year after launching his Wikia Search engine, Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales is closing it down, citing the economy. Wikia Search attempted to duplicate Wikipedia’s success by allowing users to edit and suggest search results for different queries. It promised to insert transparency and a “human touch” in…

For the college students pining for the good ol’ days when Facebook was only for them: CollegeWikis, a group messaging and info platform, has closed a $2 million round led by HighBAR Ventures, with participation from Richmond Management, eCoast Angel Network and Boston Harbor Angels. Since its launch last year,…

Online “wikizine” company Zimbio has raised a $6.8 million first round led by Menlo Ventures, with Draper Richards participating, according to Venture Wire (via VentureBeat). The Redwood City, Calif. company provides the technology and network for the creation of community-produced interactive magazines. Zimbio claimed 6 million-plus uniques in Julky based…

We hadn’t heard about Ambient Devices for a long time now, but it is back in news: the “information orb” and datacasting company has received its first institutional round of funding, seven years after its launch. The company has received an undisclosed amount from Boston-based early stage VC firm .406…

After several months in beta, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is going wide with content site Knol. While the site appears to be a challenge to Wikipedia, Google stresses that the articles and entries have a professional quality. The way Google is maintaining this difference between Knol and Wikipedia is that all…

Wiki publisher Wetpaint has raised a big $25 million third round led by DAG Ventures, an unspecified financial investor (Update: Kara reports that it’s Fidelity, which also invested in Slide’s bid round), and past backers Accel Partners, Trinity Ventures, and Frazier Technology Ventures. The Seattle-based company has previously raised about…

The Wikimedia Foundation has picked up $3 million in grants from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The philanthropy will parcel out its grant in $1 million installments over three years to the non-profit group that runs Wikipedia. The proceeds will be used to support Wikimedia’s hiring and development. Sue Gardner, the…

TradeVibes, a Mountain View, CA-based wiki for info on startups, has raised a $900,000 seed round, says VentureBeat. Investors include Ron Conway, Dave McClure, the Kinsey Hills Group and Felicis Ventures. Not only is the site seeking to build a thorough startup database (fundings, management, etc.), it’s hoping to become…

Palo Alto-based SocialText, a maker of wiki software for enterprise users, has raised a $9.5 million third round from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, SAP Ventures and Omidyar Network, all of which were previous investors. Along with the new funding news, SocialText founder and CEO Ross Mayfield is stepping aside and will…

Community investing site Wikinvest has raised $2.5 million in an initial round led by DCM.  The company has created a platform where people can share financial information, research companies and debate stocks.  The company sees the wiki format as a more credible alternative to stock message boards, which tend to…

Enterprise social software company SocialText has secured $3 million as it looks to raise a $6.5 million third round financing, PEHub reports, citing a regulatory filing. The company, which makes collaborative wiki platforms for businesses, has backing from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, SAP and the Omidiyar Network, which helped provide $3…

Wiki hosting site PBwiki has received $2 million in funding from Mohr Davidow Ventures, as well as an additional $100,000 from previous investors Ron Conway and Chris Yeh, Techcrunch reported. David Weekly, the company’s CEO confirmed the funding news on PBwiki’s blog. The company, which launched in June 2005 and…