Facebook announces the latest apps to win fbFund support

FbFund, a $10 million grant program for Facebook apps backed by the social network and its venture investors, has announced a second group of winners today.

Each winner will receive a $25,000 grant and mentorship from Facebook employees and investors. They’re listed below, and include many unlaunched and early-stage applications.

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There’s also another stage of the competition coming in November. Facebook users will be able to vote on their favorite apps from among these 25, and the top five — as selected by both users and the fbFund advisory committee — will get $225,000 each. The second round requires the 25 winners to submit a one to two minute video. If you’re a Facebook user, become a fan of the fbFund Facebook page to get involved.

The criteria the committee used in the competition is the same as how Facebook generally defines quality apps. In essence, this means apps that help users rather than abusing them by doing things like sending spammy invites and notifications.

In this second group, Facebook employees helped screen more than 600 applicant videos, with the winners ultimately being chosen by Facebook’s own investors, Accel Partners and Founders Fund.

The first batch of fbFund winners was announced in July. Facebook says many of those winners have benefited through the subsequent funding, mentorship and visibility, leading to things like partnerships with other companies.

This second round of app funding is also going towards those that use Facebook’s forthcoming Connect service, which allows third parties to integrate Facebook data into other web sites.

The winning apps span what Facebook proclaims an “amazing diversity” of areas, including e-commerce, education, sports, weddings, etc…. Facebook is also emphasizing that the winners won due to the strength and promise of their teams.

The winners, including descriptions from the Facebook blog post on the announcement, after the jump:

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• BarTab – Send a drink to a friend, with Facebook! BarTab allows users to send real drinks to each other for only $1. Drinks are redeemed through the user’s cell phone at partnered bars and restaurants.
• Black Drumm -Black Drumm develops applications that helps users organize events with friends. Whether it is going to a local concert, or planning a trek on Kilimanjaro, the application seamlessly coordinates offline activities; no more chains of emails to sort through, or spreadsheets to maintain.
• Bottle Rocket – Bottle Rocket helps users pick the perfect bottle of wine. Users can compare wines with friends on Facebook or on the Bottle Rocket iPhone application. Bottle Rocket then analyzes the wines users have liked with ratings from their friends to make informed recommendations.
• Check My Campus – Check My Campus makes the college search process easier, better and more fun. The application allows current college students to share photos and videos about life on their campuses, giving high schoolers an inside look at what real life is like at these different schools.
• Daikon – Daikon enables users to build powerful applications on the Facebook platform without writing a single line of code. Daikon produces applications that focus on increasing the enjoyment and productivity of the Facebook experience.
• Faithfeed – FaithFeed is an application where users can share about their journey of faith with friends. Through the application, users can share praises, prayer requests, resolutions and the details of what God is teaching them. Users can also keep each other accountable and support each other throughout the week.
• Good Call Sports LLC – Good Call Football is an app developed by Good Call Sports that allows users to predict each offensive play during a televised football game, in real time, and compete nationwide based on the accuracy of their predictions.
• GroupCard – GroupCard lets users rally their friends to sign the same printable online card to celebrate any occassion. Each friend can add a message, upload photos or audio, and even make a gift contribution. GroupCard started at Stanford, and is already used by thousands of groups worldwide.
• HitGrab – MouseHunt, a HitGrab creation, is a game of epic proportions. Players are hunters, hired by the king to trap mice that infest his kingdom. For each mouse caught, users will find a reward, bringing them closer to being the best MouseHunter in the land.
• Infrablue Technology – Twenty20 Cricket, a Infrablue Technology app, was developed for cricket fanatics around the world to connect and share their passion via an exciting online cricket manager game. Users compete to be the best team by training their players, and then challenging their friends and other team managers!
• Kontagent – Kontagent is the leading viral analytics platform for social network application developers. Kontagent analytics provides deep social data visualization and analysis that delivers actionable insights delivered via a hosted, on-demand service.
• Koofers – Koofers helps students create and share information that helps with classes. Users can share old tests, quizzes, and study guides; view current and past grade breakdown and average GPA for every class and professor; review professors and read ratings before signing up for new classes, and get help from other students in the same class.
• Newsbrane – Newsbrane recommends news stories and other online content to users based on their interests. Vote items up and down and Newsbrane learns the stories a user wants to see.
• Party Buzz – Party Buzz is your source of information for what’s happening offline amongst your friends. Check out your friend’s events, discuss weekend plans, and find the best parties. Bonus feature: for each event check the median age, guy-to-girl ratio, number of singles, and more!
• Pongr – Pongr is a mobile price comparison service that lets you check prices online and at nearby stores. While shopping, users can share items with their Facebook friends. Pongr mobile apps, texting, and image recognition makes bargain shopping fun!
• ProfessionalProfile – Professional Profile leverages a user’s existing social connections into a professional network.
• RealGifts – RealGifts is a social gifting application that allows users to send their friends real, tangible gifts in the mail, without needing to know their friends’ delivery address. Combining “virtual gifting” and eCommerce, RealGifts is the most convenient way to send real gifts to your friends.
• Socialfly – Be twice the friend in half the time! Socialfly lets users write their own notes about people, set reminders to talk to friends, and plan fun activities together. Socialfly will soon be available on both Facebook and the iPhone.
• Teach the People – Teach the People is an open educational platform. Teachers get the tools to share their expertise, allowing their knowledge to go viral, attract an audience, and be monetized effectively. Students get access to high quality, low cost education in Facebook’s social environment.
• Thankster – Thankster helps you appreciate the people in your life. From Facebook, your cellphone, or anywhere you’re connected, you can send the people around you digital awards that recognize them for the nice things they do in everyday life.
• The Game Creators – The Game Creators built Social Arcade, an application which users get creative and design their own game from shoot-’em-ups to platformers to racing games and more. Users can give friends the gift of a game and even personalize it.
• TrailBehind – TrailBehind helps users find great places to hike. Avid hikers can explore maps, plan trips, log their travels, and work together to build better maps of the outdoors.
• vDream Racing – vDream would be Henry Ford’s favorite application on Facebook. vDream offers users access to real cars, real parts, real performance specs, and the ability to connect and compete with other car enthusiasts.
• WedSnap – WedSnap created Weddingbook, a social network on Facebook for those preparing for a wedding. Brides and grooms meet on Weddingbook to get advice, support, and inspiration during their engagement and wedding planning process.
• Wildfire – Wildfire enables consumers to discover, share and engage with interactive promotions like contests, sweepstakes and give-aways and enables companies to easily create their own attractive, branded promotions that are automatically integrated with Facebook’s social features.