Spire.com: Where the rich share tips, and I get jealous » VentureBeat

By Anthony Ha

Spire.com, a social networking site for the rich, has just raised $9 million in a first round of funding. Through articles and member recommendations, the site does a pretty good job of packaging “the good life.” Heck, I signed-up this afternoon, and I’m already feeling vicariously wealthy — golf, anyone?

The Boston-based company isn’t the first social networking company to target the rich — last September, Robert Frank of the Wall Street Journal wrote about two competitors, DiamondLounge and aSmallWorld. But both sites focus on the networking side of things — helping users connect with their rich friends, finding rich dates and so on. Spire.com’s strength, on the other hand, is its content. The company has acquired Suzanne’s Files, which published articles on travel and beauty. Suzanne Aaronson (the Suzanne of Suzanne’s Files) now works as Spire.com’s “curator,” providing her content exclusively to the site’s members.