The funding comes almost three years after the New York-based company exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the help of angel investors. Blue Chip Venture Co. of Cincinnati led two venture rounds totaling $1 million in 2002 and also participated in the Softbank-led round.

The emerging market online for spiritual guidance and community building drew Softbank to Beliefnet, said Eric Hippeau, managing partner of Softbank Capital. "This is an attractive market that is growing fast in the U.S.," he explained. "And it's a market that lends itself to the Internet, particularly for broadband."

Steven Waldman, CEO of Beliefnet, would not disclose the post-money valuation of his company, though he did say the new funding was an up round. He said it took about six months to raise this round.

"I'm not sure that we'll need another round," he added. "I think we feel that this should be enough capital to propel us pretty aggressively. This is a VC round of the sort that there always ought to be, which is for growth, not survival."

Beliefnet provides an array of options for those seeking inspiration and guidance. The site offers discussion forums, newsletters, quizzes, prayers and general information on religion and spirituality.

Beliefnet also has an online dating component, called Soulmatch, where people are matched based on "spiritual chemistry." Much of the site's content is free, though there are some paid products, including an e-mail-based course called "Search for Jesus."

Beliefnet also offers content for cell phones, which are fee-based, said Waldman.

Beliefnet, founded in August 1999, raised two rounds of funding before filing for bankruptcy protection. The first round that month totaled $5.5 million and was led by Highland Capital Partners. The second came in June 2000, a $20 million round led by Primus Venture Partners of Minneapolis. Blue Chip, Zero Stage Capital of Cinncinnati, Trump Group of New York and Lexington, Mass.-based Highland Capital also participated in that round.

"Getting out of Chapter 11 did not involve any venture capital," said Waldman. "We got out of it on our own with angel investors and management. When we came out of Chapter 11, the company was majority owned by staff and management."

Waldman said business has looked bright ever since. "People are waking up to spirituality and Internet advertising as a business model," he argued. "Content-oriented sites that have a large ad inventory are more valuable."

But Hippeau added that Beliefnet's executive team also drew him to the investment. "They are extremely professional and have lots of experience, and have lots of respect regarding faith and spirituality," he observed. "And the audience is incredibly dedicated and growing. This is an audience for big brand advertisers."

Waldman predicted that Beliefnet's revenues will grow fivefold over the next few years. "We're seeing very strong traffic in newsletter growth that is fueling ad growth," he said. "Our traffic has doubled in the last year." Waldman added that women comprise about 70% of users of the site. "This is an attractive demographic because advertisers are trying to reach this demographic," he said.

According to Waldman, the company will use the new funding in a variety of ways: to increase the size of the traffic through the site and through newsletters; to improve the quality and nature of the research about its customers; and to upgrade the site with features compatible with high-speed broadband access, such as more audio offerings.

As a result of the funding, Hippeau will join the board of directors. Feinberg Law Group LLC of Wellesley, Mass., served as legal counsel to Beliefnet.