Yahoo Brickhouse, the portal's San Francisco based startup incubator, has released a new site called BravoNation. The site, now in private beta (or "rough draft" as they're calling it), allows users to create and send flash-based virtual awards, or "Bravos," to anyone with an email address. Once a user signs up and joins the site, he or she can keep track of which awards they have received and which ones they would like to receive, which remains as public information to anyone who views their profile. The cards are bought using a currency called "Bruckos" which accumulate based on the amount of time spent on the site. Think of it as a network based around e-cards, the electronic greetings which made companies like BlueMountain successful during the dot-com days.
BravoNation was created by a team lead by Gordon Luk, one of the cofounders of the highly useful calendaring site Upcoming.org (now part of Yahoo). While it seems aimed at the subset of people who regularly pass along Facebook "gifts," BravoNation also hopes to attract developers. Its API is open and available to be implemented into outside sites without need of a Yahoo ID.
Interested in sending out these Bravos to pals? As a Christmas present to our dear readers, Wired has five invitations to distribute. Send an email to megan_mccarthy@wired.com with the subject "Bravo for BravoNation" for your invite.
