GigaOM

Loomia, a San Francisco-based personal recommendation service company, raised $5 million in Series A funding from Asset Management Company and two strategic investors: Peacock Equity and Telefónica Capital S.A.U. (Point to note: Telefónica is getting pretty aggressive and is starting to invest in U.S.-based startups. The Spanish phone company also recently invested in life-casting startup Kyte.)

Loomia is one of the better recommendation services, and it is gaining a lot of traction in the e-commerce world. I have always liked the company; it’s low-key and seems to have stayed the course after rough going in the early days. However, I found that its initial focus on podcasting was too narrow. CTO and Co-founder David Marks agreed, and he outlined how he found a new model for his company in this post for FoundRead. Consumer reviews and recommendations are two categories that are becoming must-haves for e-commerce sites.

We have all seen how such services have helped boost the Amazon.com experience. It should come as no surprise that other e-commerce sites want to implement similar features. Loomia seems to be quietly marching on what seems to be the right track.