BOULDER - If money makes the world go around then it is humans' social nature that provides the fuel.

From cavemen gathering around the fire to Russian and American astronauts meeting in space there's little doubt humans like to hang out together. Connecting with each other is still important in the recent digital revolution.

One Boulder company cashing in on all of this cyber handshaking is HiveLive. In November it launched a way - called "hives" (short for Web archive) - to help companies connect and share information with their employees and customers.

John Kembel, co-founder and chief executive of HiveLive, said these "hives" let consumers, employees and even vendors and consultants of a company communicate, collaborate, discuss, vote and share files and ideas.

Hives also can be built into blogs, forums, chat rooms and more. The patent-pending technology lets businesses forge tighter bonds with their customers, partners and employees, according to the company.

"Users can choose the people, create the type of information and define how they interact by turning one-way, controlled messages into two-way conversations that foster innovation, creativity, loyalty and trust," Kembel said.

HiveLive claims to be the first company to deliver this kind of social software for business-related communities.

Many different companies - from software providers to manufacturers - are using LiveConnect, HiveLive's product, to communicate with customers, employees and partners.

Kembel said positive feedback from customers is already coming in. "They like the uniqueness and flexibility."

One customer is Boulder-based Rally Software. Ryan Martens, the company's founder, said HiveLive helped Rally Software build a customer community.

"(HiveLive) gave us the flexibility to customize our community to our specific needs, resulting in more collaboration and activity among our core audience," Martens said. "It's dramatically improved the way we interact with our customers. It gives us up-to-the-minute product feedback, great market intelligence and peer-to-peer support."

Kembel said the key to any community is people and information. "How you tie those two together is extremely important, and at HiveLive we've developed a people-centered platform (so customers can) make a community their own."

Kembel and his brother, Geoff, originally discussed a broader application for the idea. "We initially set out to build an online community where anyone could share anything with anyone else. As we went along we discovered a need in businesses to share information to build their own private communities to connect with customers and employees."

Greg W. Schneider, a spokesman for HiveLive, said the private company already has a number of clients, but he declined to disclose revenues.

 Schneider said HiveLive charges a monthly subscriber fee based on the number of users but would not share what the range of those fee were. He says the company raised 1.65 million in a seed round in fourth quarter 2007. "The money was raised from a few angels who are Colorado-based and who have been extremely successful in their own business careers," Schneider said.

HiveLive's product works best for medium to large companies, and it has special appeal for manufacturers of consumer goods, electronics and technology-driven products.
Employees at these kinds of companies can use HiveLive to form workgroups regardless of where they're located, and they connect across time zones and cultures to share ideas and make decisions.

Vendors and consultants can use a HiveLive community to stay connected and collaborate with constituents.

Kembel said customers of these businesses like sharing their experiences and knowledge, and HiveLive "nurtures viral communication," delivers feedback for brand development and can form stronger connections with brands.

HiveLive and similar companies may be onto something.

According to IDC, a global market research firm, the social networking application market was relatively small in 2006 - coming in at $46.5 million. IDC has forecasted, however, that this market will grow to $428.3 million by 2009.

IDC also predicted that companies that successfully adopt this social networking technology could see advantages such as evangelistic customers, better employee morale and more profitable relationships with key partners.

"In today's highly competitive environment, businesses cannot underestimate the power of online communities in connecting people in ways that accelerate business performance and agility," said Rachel Happe, research manager, digital business economy at IDC. "By integrating online communities into their day-to-day activity businesses are empowering and engaging their customers, partners and employees in a whole new way."

Kembel has been creating new products and technologies for more than a decade and frequently consults as an innovation expert for major consumer product companies nationwide. He has worked with IDEO, Intel, IBM and Interval Research. He's a consulting associate professor and strategy board member for the new Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University.