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Author Topic: I copypasta PR in this thread: $425 Million Invested In Virtual Worlds Companies  (Read 3488 times)
schild
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on: January 24, 2008, 10:17:06 AM

Quote
$425 MILLION INVESTED IN 15 VIRTUAL WORLDS COMPANIES IN 4TH QUARTER 2007

Research by Virtual Worlds Management Reveals 15 Companies Raised $375 Million,
Two Companies Acquired for $50 Million

January 24, 2008 - Austin, Texas -- Virtual Worlds Management, the leading media company tracking the virtual worlds industry, has announced findings from a comprehensive study of accountable transactions showing that venture capital and media firms have invested more than $425 million dollars in 15 virtual worlds companies during the fourth quarter of 2007. Of the $425 million, $375 Million was invested in 13 companies and the remaining $50 million consisted of two acquisitions.

Fourth quarter numbers are up from $220 million having been invested in 23 virtual worlds-related companies in Q3 2007. In the third quarter Disney also announced its $700 million acquisition of Club Penguin. No comparable data is available for Q4 2006.

Investors during the Q4 2007 period include: Omnicom, Alloy Ventures and Storm Ventures, Vickers Financial Group, DHX Media Ltd., Benchmark Capital, Canaan Partners, GrandBanks Capital, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures, Rustic Canyon Ventures, Providence Equity Partners, Charles River Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners and Pequot Ventures, Gigamedia, Sony and Time Warner, Microsoft and BigFish Games.

"Most of the investors in Q4 were venture firms," said Christopher Sherman, Executive Director of Virtual Worlds Management. "Sony and Time Warner, the only two media companies investing during the period both opted for Gaia Online. Meanwhile Omnicom invested in virtual worlds agency Millions of Us, and television personality Pat Sajak became a significant shareholder of Numedeon. The largest investment by far was ZeniMax's $300 million financing from Providence Equity Partners."

Four of the companies that raised funding are squarely focused on the youth and kids virtual worlds market: Gaia, Hidden City, Numedeon and Star In Me.  The close proximity of the online game industry to the virtual worlds industry can be seen in the recent funding news as well. Many of the software companies who received funding service both the online game industry and the virtual worlds industry. Indeed of the total 15 companies who received funding six are squarely in the game business as well as the virtual worlds business.

It is worth noting that the Zenimax investment is only partially focused on virtual worlds, showing a still prevalent industry bias towards PC and console games. Zenimax owns game publisher Bethesda Softworks, but is also launching Zenimax Online Studios to tap into the massively multiplayer online game and virtual worlds markets.

Virtual Worlds Related Companies Funded During Q4 2007
Editors Note:  Each company links to a full article about their funding
Code:
Company  Segment    Amount        Who Invested  Acquisition
Aria Services Software          4,000,000 Hummer Winblad Venture Partners no
Fix8 Software          3,000,000 Vickers Financial Group no
Gaia Online Platform         12,000,000 Sony and Time Warner no
Hidden City Games Platform         15,000,000   Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Ventures no
Live Gamer, Inc. RMT         24,000,000   Charles River Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners and Pequot Ventures no
Millions of Us Agency undisclosed  Omnicom no
Multimap mapping service         50,000,000 Microsoft yes
Numedeon Platform undisclosed  Pat Sajak no
Qwaq Enterprise Platform          7,000,000 Alloy Ventures and Storm Ventures no
Star In Me Children's Platform undisclosed  Electric Sheep Company no
Thinglefin Platform undisclosed  BigFish Games yes
Tribal Nova Platform Producer          2,000,000 DHX Media Ltd. no
Vivox Software          7,800,000 Benchmark Capital, Canaan Partners and GrandBanks Capital no
XL Games Game studio undisclosed  Gigamedia no
ZeniMax Media game & worlds developer       300,000,000   Providence Equity Partners  no

Sorry for the bottom part being nearly illegible. if someone wants to table it up nice, go ahead.

ANYWAY.

I think this confirms that anyone can get funding.

Also, 300M invested into Zenimax? Whut? Where's that money going? I'm pretty certain it's not going to employees.
Draegan
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Posts: 10043


Reply #1 on: January 24, 2008, 10:47:43 AM

How can I scam a piece of the pie?
Yegolev
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Posts: 24440

2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST


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Reply #2 on: January 24, 2008, 11:37:07 AM

I'm looking forward to nice photos of new cars from Raph and Lum.

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
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Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
Lantyssa
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Reply #3 on: January 24, 2008, 12:55:26 PM

Here you go:
Code:
  Company              Segment              Amount  Acq.    Who Invested
Aria Services      Software               4,000,000  N  Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
Fix8               Software               3,000,000  N  Vickers Financial Group
Gaia Online        Platform              12,000,000  N  Sony and Time Warner
Hidden City Games  Platform              15,000,000  N  Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Ventures
Live Gamer, Inc.   RMT                   24,000,000  N  Charles River Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners and Pequot Ventures
Millions of Us     Agency               undisclosed  N  Omnicom
Multimap           mapping service       50,000,000  Y  Microsoft
Numedeon           Platform             undisclosed  N  Pat Sajak
Qwaq               Enterprise Platform    7,000,000  N  Alloy Ventures and Storm Ventures
Star In Me         Children's Platform  undisclosed  N  Electric Sheep Company
Thinglefin         Platform             undisclosed  Y  BigFish Games
Tribal Nova        Platform Producer      2,000,000  N  DHX Media Ltd.
Vivox              Software               7,800,000  N  Benchmark Capital, Canaan Partners and GrandBanks Capital
XL Games           Game studio          undisclosed  N  Gigamedia
ZeniMax Media      game & worlds        300,000,000  N  Providence Equity Partners

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
UnSub
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Posts: 8064


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Reply #4 on: January 24, 2008, 05:33:41 PM

I wonder how many of these projects will be scrapped due to loss of funding caused by sub-prime market related issues...

Viin
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Reply #5 on: January 24, 2008, 05:47:46 PM

What does Multimap have to do with Virtual Worlds?

- Viin
sidereal
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Posts: 1712


Reply #6 on: January 24, 2008, 05:48:24 PM

Multimap    mapping service            50,000,000       Microsoft    yes
Um, what?  Multimap does mobile geolocation and mapping stuff.  Not a virtual world.

Also, 300M invested into Zenimax? Whut? Where's that money going? I'm pretty certain it's not going to employees.

Elder Scrolls Online, yo

THIS IS THE MOST I HAVE EVERY WANTED TO GET IN TO A BETA
Venkman
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Reply #7 on: January 24, 2008, 06:28:43 PM

Weren't these the same guys that cited $800mil in "Activity" in Q3 2007 when $700mil of that was for the $350mil down + $350mil later deal between Disney and CP, and another bit of that the Intel acquisition of Havok?

  • Aria Services- They're an ecomm services provider. What world?
  • Fix8- What virtual world? They make tools to let you animated yourself onto an avatar, for stuff like Skype and IM programs. What world?
  • Hidden City Games- They make online TCGs. What world?
  • Live Gamer, Inc.- RMTer* What world?
  • Multimap- They plan to build a virtual world out of their mapping? Otherwise, what world?
  • Numedeon- Close but not really a virtual world in the game sense. More like a 3D corporate intranet, which is cool but along a different vector.
  • Qwaq- Same deal
  • Thinglefin- If "investment" is the same as outright acquisition. Otherwise, there's nothing but a blog up for Thingle anyway. What world.
  • Tribal Nova- This is more like Playhouse Disney (multiple minigame/aggregator) stuff than Club Penguin (single world) stuff. What world?
  • Vivox- Integrated voicechat for games like SL and Eve. What world?
  • XL Games- Only thing I could find in English was a game that closed in Dec 2005.
  • Zenimax- Their "worlds" are just like every other single/multiplayer game "world"

That leaves actual "Virtual World Activity" of 12mil +undisclosed + undisclosed (for Gaia, Star in Me, and Millions of Us).

These guys seem like they're trying to sell news so they can sell reports so they can sell conferences so they can sell business services. They can say just about anything, and be so obviously wrong their "services" are questionable.

* ya know, before I finished this post I was gonna say "Sheesh. Next they'll start using IGE and other farming/RMT companies as proof of "investment". There goes even that.
Sunbury
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Posts: 216


Reply #8 on: January 25, 2008, 08:39:17 AM

Quote
Numedeon           Platform             undisclosed  N  Pat Sajak

Pat Sajak?  Wheel of Fortune Virtual World?

www.numedeon.com
http://www.whyville.net/top/pdf/whyville_101.pdf

"Whyville.net is a leading virutal world website for... ages 8-15."
"Whyville specialized in custom integrated sponsorships..." (aka targeted ads?)
"Citizens attend live Senate debates..."

Screenshots show very crude 2-d sprites (waist up only?) with text bubbles on a very flat abstract cartoony background.

"1.7 million registered members
will be visited > 40MM times
spend 5MM hours
generate 1BB page views"

MM = Million?  BB = Billion?
Hutch
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Posts: 1893


Reply #9 on: January 28, 2008, 10:22:54 AM

Also, 300M invested into Zenimax? Whut? Where's that money going? I'm pretty certain it's not going to employees.

Elder Scrolls Online, yo

Yeah, we covered the Zenimax $hojillion already.

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Haven't you noticed? We've been sharing our culture with you all morning.
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