NEW PARTNERS: When Katie Finnegan and Erica Bell secured funding from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss’ Winklevoss Capital for their startup Hukkster, they didn’t know an event venue came with the deal. “That’s value add capital,” quipped Cameron, who Thursday opened up the Hollywood Hills home he shares with his twin for Hukkster’s holiday party hosted by Louise Roe. On a serious note, Bell said she and Finnegan decided to partner with the Winklevoss brothers on Hukkster, a service that alerts online shoppers when products they want are discounted, because, “We were just really impressed by them. You meet with a lot of investors, but they really got it.”
The Winklevosses view Hukkster as part of a new wave of anti-social Web sites. “Every other deal site out there, you sign up and they push things to you, and one out of every hundred you act on,” said Tyler. “Hukkster really empowers the shopper to pull exactly what they want.”
Apparently, other people get the concept. Hukkster has some 40,000 users, up from 5,000 in October, who can “hukk” merchandise from more than 1,000 retailers, including J. Crew, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. “One day, you will be able to hukk everything, even this house,” said Cameron. Finnegan swooned, “I’d love that commission.”