Dow Jones reports that Gather.com has raised $6 million in venture funding.
Gather.com founder and CEO Tom Gerace, co-founder of the 1999 IPO from Be Free Inc., is leading an Internet-based push to end the "literary industrial complex" as it now exists.
The $6 million venture round was co-lead by Jim Manzi, former chief executive officer of Lotus Development Corp., and Allen & Co. Manzi will join Gather.com as a board member.
Other investors include Southern California Public Radio, American Public Media Group, and Gerace.
We mentioned Gather in a post from last November when we discussed their goal of building a giant blogging community. Gather's article ranking system may interest some writers but it remains to be seen how much interest there will be in Gather Points -- unless they are redeemable for actual cash.
On Malik and Mister Snitch are also discussing Gather.com. Mister Snitch thinks a Gather-like model will eventually work.
Malik doesn't think the business model has legs, but we think it (or something like it) will fly, pretty much the same way Blogcritics does. In fact, Blogcritics should be concerned, because they reimburse their reviewers with only attention and swag. Gather and its ilk will pay actual cash.
There does appear to be a lot of blogging activity at Gather but those Gather Points need to be redeemable as cash and not as coupons or free stuff. The Boston Globe also has an earlier article about Gather (via Micropersuasion.com)
Dow Jones 
