The company's head of accounting told the executive of the news late Thursday. Eco Associates of Austin, Texas, withdrew its offer two weeks ago to lead the site's next round of financing, the firm said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. Urban Box Office had no official comment on the latest developments and has not issued any further statements as of 6 p.m. EST Thursday. Eco is a partnership of Interfase and Capstar Partners. But Eco said in its release that it withdrew its funding offer because UBO failed to establish alliances with strategic partners that could provide a stronger foundation for the company's efforts to reach profitability.
Urban sites face several difficult hurdles to overcome.
Executives at urban sites have found it very challenging to size the market and to understand the relationship between black cultural trendsetters and their mixed audience of inner-city teens of all ethnic groups and the suburban, largely white teens, who follow them. Also, these sites rely heavily on broadband technology, which is in less than 10 percent of all U.S. homes. Urban sites have found that the problems they face in trying to make money on the Internet are no easier to solve than the problems encountered by mainstream entertainment sites. It also speaks to the need to be a lean, mean and efficient company in the post-correction market. Privacy Policy Stock data provided by Stockpoint and its data suppliers.