San Francisco-based liveBooks has announced the infusion of $5 million in private funding into its photographer Web site business. The company has also introduced subscription-based pricing and templated Web sites, along with plans to expand into graphic and interior design markets.
One of liveBooks’ financial partners is Mohawk Fine Papers. The paper products company is investing in liveBooks as part of a larger effort to expand beyond its traditional line of business into a broader range of graphics-related products and services.
Since its launch in 2005, liveBooks has built more than 7,000 photographer and creative professional Web sites. The company has always marketed itself based on non-cookie-cutter design approaches, where each Web site was a custom product created though direct interaction between a paying client and a staff designer. The addition of templated sites represents a major change in positioning and the underlying business model, which now has a software-as-service component.
The new funds allow liveBooks to offer lower-priced service options, with subscription-based products starting at $39 per month. This new price is available to both template-site and custom-site customers, though the latter would also need to pay a one-time design fee.
The company said the expanded offering is better suited to the current economic climate. liveBooks has revamped its Web site to reflect the large-scope business change.