Blackbox Republic Reinvents Social Networking, Online Dating and eCommerce, Sets to Launch New Destination for the Sex-Positive Movement

PORTLAND, Ore., July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackbox Republic, a new company focused on reinventing the online relationship market, emerged from stealth today with $1M in seed funding. The company has created an all-new Community Exchange Platform that combines social networking, event planning, eCommerce and mobile. It is the basis of the first Blackbox Republic offering, which will be tailored for members of the world's sex-positive movement, a large and growing community that is not served by public social networks or transactional dating sites.

The sex-positive creative culture is made up of tens of millions of people who don't have issues with their own sexuality or that of others. They gather at massive spectacles like Love Parade, Electric Picnic and Afrika Burn, as well as thousands of smaller regional and local meet-ups. Blackbox Republic will be a members-only experience that will unite the sex-positive community and give them a personal, private and secure way to connect online and in person. It will fill the void between public social networks like Facebook where over sharing runs rampant, and arcane dating sites like Match.com that treat personal connections like shopping cart transactions.

Blackbox Republic was founded by Sam Lawrence, CEO, and April Donato, VP of Community Relations. Sam was most recently CMO at Jive Software, where he successfully built the Social Business Software market. April is a designer and active blogger and thought leader on issues related to the sex-positive movement.

"Sex-positivity is the newest social movement on the heels of other social issues like race and gender equality," said Donato. "It's a growing population fueled by the open-minded Millennial generation, who in the US alone will reach over 100 million people in nine years."

"It's the perfect storm right now. There is a huge business opportunity in providing an innovative, private setting where this community is safe and free to express themselves," said Lawrence. "Public networks like Facebook, transactional sites like eHarmony and all the online vendors who support them are painfully separated from the sort of blended, high-value interactions that occur in real life. It's time to reinvent them in a way that serves today's community needs."

About Blackbox Republic

Blackbox Republic is a pioneering social software company and developer of a Community Exchange Platform that blends social networking and eCommerce, with a unique privacy model. The company is backed by angel investors, and headquarters are in Portland, OR. For more information visit Blackbox Republic online at www.blackboxrepublic.com.

SOURCE Blackbox Republic

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