A month ago BuddyPress was acquired by Automattic and today the new BuddyPress website was launched:

Right now BuddyPress is still in development,  but you can download the latest BuddyPress builds through SVN if you’re game.
Is this a game changer for social networks?
If BuddyPress becomes a popular add on for WordPress Multiuser, then I think, as I’ve said before, Ning and Facebook should watch out.  Come to think of it with the Prologue theme I could see local competition for a number of tools.
Now I want to think of something to try BuddyPress on…
News from: Photo Matt » New BuddyPress Site
Screenshot/image …read more

WordPress is the bloggers platform of choice and with its array of plugins it can do nearly anything.  The WordPress Multiuser plugin BuddyPress let you turn a standard WPMU install into a powerful roll-your-own social network, now this plugin has been pulled into Automattic.
What I didn’t realize (doh!) was that BuddyPress was developed by Andy Peatling of Blaze New Media–in Vancouver!
This has been getting a lot of press today, and for good reason too because it tips Matt’s hand as to Automattic/WordPress’ plans for making a powerful, new social networking tool:

Vancouver’s BuddyPress goes Automattic | Techvibes Blog
Wordpress: Going after …read more

Great, great news this morning that Automattic received an investment, and the Gray Lady herself is one of the investors, of $29.5 million to build their business even more.  I like to see these reasonable amounts of funding.  Sure it’s a lot of money, but it also costs a lot to build a business as complex as what they are doing.  Just some of the coverage and kudos I read this morning about the investment:

WordPress.com Creator Raises $29.5M – GigaOM
» Open source business model reaching tipping point | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com
Automattic Raises $29.5M Series B Round, New York …read more

The Crunchies were given out on Friday and the complete winners list was put up on Saturday.  Congrats, of course, go out to all of the winners, but there are a few winners who I want to give special attention to:
Best bootstrapped startup: Techmeme.Founded and developed solely by Gabe Rivera, Techmeme serves as the front page of the tech blogosphere. The site’s advanced algorithms identify the day’s top stories by making sense of conversations across the web’s best blogs.
Best Startup CEO: Toni Schneider (Automattic)
Schnieder has lead the company from its roots as a open source alternative to Movable Type into …read more