I just saw that NextNewNetworks has secured B-round funding to the tune of $15mm. It’s a nice follow-up to the $8mm they raised from Spark Capital in early 2007, and testament to the audience they’re building rather quickly.

I heard an early overview of their then-unannounced business model from co-founder Fred Seibert back at the end of 2006, when I asked him for thoughts about my own evolving co-founded startup.

Fred has one of those dream bios that I’ve always envied. He and I met when we both served on the board of a non-profit in Atlanta back in the ’90s. He was president of  of MTVi at the time, having started his MTV career as their very first creative director back in the day. Fred’s the main man behind popular online animation distributor Channel Frederator and one of the executive producers of Fairly Odd Parents on Nickelodeon.

A couple VC’s who looked at (and passed on) my startup 2.0 expressed a preference for the micro-channel/content roll-up focus of NextNewNetworks vs. the kitchen sink aggregation approach of TIOTI. NextNewNetworks would own all the advertising revenue on the shows they created and the highly targeted audience that each show would build. Sustaining a business on the sub-10% revenue share the content owners might one day offer on their stuff would be tougher for aggregators.

I’d say the jury’s still out on this one, and 2008 will be prime time for a big TIOTI B-round or acquisition if it’s going to happen. Congrats in the meantime, Fred. I continue to learn from (and be inspired by) your approach to business.