Stardoll is a an online paper doll community where you can create your own dolls or build off of celebrity-branded dolls. Users can dress up their dolls, add makeup, and interact with each other in clubs. Stardoll also offers interactive activities, and somewhat educational games for their users. The service is monetized through virtual goods. For 2011, Stardoll posted revenue of SEK 202 million (€23 million) according to Allabolag.se.
I remember talking to a developer who used to work at Startdoll at our ArcticEvening event in Stockholm, and he told me when he first took his job there he wasn’t extremely passionate about the product. But he grew an appreciation when he implemented a commenting feature, and suddenly comments in this one small area were pouring in at 16 a second, or some crazy number.
He’s no longer at Stardoll, but as a side note Stockholm is developing high-qualaity developer talent that knows how to scale digital products. On the web, Stardoll is churning huge numbers. Spotify has scaled up worldwide while still keeping their high-bandwith service instantaneous. And iZettle and Klarna have seen some good numbers, which I imagine is a feat considering the challenges of financial services.
200 million is a milestone for any social community, and we should remember to keep Stardoll in our conversations when we think about Nordic online communities. It’s not just Habbo up here.