By Sunshine K. Mugrabi

A new site claiming to be the Web 2.0 answer to party planning launched this month. Its founder is now working Sand Hill Road in search of venture backing for the start-up.

Matt Douglas, founder of Natick, Massachusetts-based MyPunchbowl.com said he believes there is room in the competitive space now dominated by Evite, the party invitation site owned by Barry Diller’s IAC/Interactive Corp.

Tthe start-up also joins an increasing number of niche Web companies that are attempting to take advantage of the advertising possibilities online. And, as with the last dot com bubble, many of these companies are finding that it’s more difficult to become profitable than it appears on the surface.

The Ajax-powered MyPunchbowl site aggregates all of the elements of party planning that a person might think of—from searching for local reviews on karaoke machine providers, to photo uploading, to sending out invites. Mr. Douglas also plans a social networking element to the service, providing post-party networking abilities for those shy souls who failed to get the phone number of the attractive guy or gal across the buffet table.

“We saw a gap in the party planning market,” said Mr. Douglas, who said he got the idea after a frustrating experience attempting to put together his yearly Groundhog Day party.

Clean cut with a ready smile, Mr. Douglas projects all the enthusiasm of an entrepreneur who believes in his product. He’ll have to use this smile quite a lot in the coming months as he seeks funding from the venture community.

He aims to raise about $2 million, most of which is needed to begin ramping up the marketing side of the business. He plans to generate revenues through a combination of advertising and partnerships with party supply companies. So far, he said, he’s spoken to several interested VC firms.

Some industry observers say MyPunchbowl fills a hole that is not fully covered by Evite. “The fact that there’s only one competitor means there’s an opportunity here,” said analyst Greg Sterling.

If the site can maintain its uncluttered appearance, it may appeal to viewers who don’t like the advertising on other similar sites, said Mr. Sterling. He said that the fact that the company has a built-in viral marketing component may also help it to get off the ground. At the same time, he said, it could be difficult to dislodge entrenched player Evite.

And, as with the last dot-com boom, so many sites claiming to have found a new way to do business rise and fall before they have even had a chance to be tested. In addition, said Mr. Sterling, the company may fall into the all-too-common category among Web 2.0 start-ups—interesting, but more of a feature than a potential standalone company.

Mr. Douglas is unruffled by these criticisms, saying that if the feature is successful enough, it will make the company an attractive takeover target.

The party industry is growing at a significant rate. Last year, U.S. spending on party supplies, such as balloons, pinatas and gift wrap came to $10.2 billion. Armed with such statistics, Mr. Douglas says his idea just might float.