SponsorPay Emerges from Stealth Mode, Building Virtual Currency Monetization Platform for Europe

The virtual goods market within social applications and games continues to grow at a torrid pace. And as the market is growing, competition is only getting more fierce. Today, a new company focused on helping European app and game developers monetize through virtual currency is coming out of stealth mode: SponsorPay.

Backed by Team Europe Ventures and headed by Jan Beckers, Berlin-based SponsorPay bills itself as “Europe’s virtual currency monetization platform.” Like many of its North American counterparts, SponsorPay is focusing on helping developers monetize through advertiser-financed virtual currency transactions. Instead of buying virtual currency directly, players can participate in offers or surveys in exchange for in-game currency.

As you would expect, SponsorPay is making big localization efforts. The service is available in localized versions for 14 European countries, and the company has hired country managers focused on specific European markets. Initial customers include Frogster (Runes of Magic), Gamelabs (Gallendor), and Playa Games (Shakes & Fidget).

“There is no other international industry that is comparable to the online game market. Our customers’ games are often played in more than 50 different countries. That is why we are focusing our technology and structure on growth right from the start. In the near future, we want to serve players in all of Europe and North America in their native languages,” Beckers says.

While major virtual currency players like Super Rewards and Offerpal have been increasingly focusing on localizing their services as well, SponsorPay isn’t the only Europe-focused virtual currency monetization platform we’ve profiled. In April, Tel Aviv-based SupersonicAds came out of stealth mode on Inside Facebook as well.

However, SponsorPay is in great position to pose a significant threat in Europe. With an experienced team, strong investors (Team Europe partners Lukasz Gadowski and Kolja Hebenstreit also backed StudiVZ), and local expertise, it will be very interesting to see how the company and market develop over the next year.

Source : www.insidefacebook.com

Sponsorpay holt früheren Telefonica-CEO

Andreas Bodczek, Ex-CEO der Telefónica Deutschland, soll das Wachstum und die Internationalisierung des Berliner StartUps SponsorPay weiter voran treiben. Hierführt übernimmt Bodczek als Geschäftsführer die kaufmännische Leitung der SponsorPay GmbH.
SponsorPay bietet kostenlosen Zugriff auf Bezahlcontent in Online-Games, wenn der Spieler Angebote eines SponsorPay-Partners wahrnimmt (Kauf eines anderen Gutes, an Umfragen beteiligen, ..). Zuletzt konnten die Berliner Gameforge als Partner gewinnen.

Source : gamesdienst.de

SponsorPay Partners With Commission Junction

Today the Europe-based ad offer network SponsorPay announced a partnership with performance marketer Commission Junction, part of Value Click. The partnership will increase the size of SponsorPay’s ad inventory while also strengthening its position in the US market, where Commission Junction is already active. The two companies will operate together in over 30 countries throughout Europe, North America, and South America.

SponsorPay is pledging to advertisers working with it through Commission Junction that it will perform “quality checks” on users, to make sure worthwhile leads are being generated by ad offers. The company also tries to weed out low-quality offers from inventory, like mobile offer scams. SponsorPay is currently a dominant ad offer network in Europe, where it appears in game portals like Bigpoint, Gameforge, Innogames, and Cafe.com.

Like other European ad offer networks, it emphasizes offering fully localized interface and ad inventory to users in different countries. SponsorPay would clearly like to make inroads in the US, where the online gaming market is driven more by social networks than portals. Currently SponsorPay is headquartered in Berlin with a staff of 35 people. Last month it acquired European competitor GratisPay, substantially extending its reach.

Source: www.virtualgoodsnews.com

Former Microsoft Deal Guy Bruce Jaffe Lands at IPO Candidate Glam

Bruce Jaffe, last seen cutting deals for Microsoft, has a new gig: He’ll be CFO at Glam Media.

The Web publishing heavyweight has already been on the shortlist of tech/media companies in line for an IPO, though the company won’t comment on anything connected to a possible offering. But you can connect the dots here: If you are going out to the public markets, it helps to have a guy with doctorate from Redmond.

Then again, you could have said the same thing about Stephen E. Recht, Glam’s current CFO, who helped bring Shutterfly public way, way back in 2006, and joinged Glam in 2007. Recht will stay on with Glam through the summer, the company says.

Glam’s new hire put in more than a dozen years at Microsoft, including a stint as CFO at its MSN unit. Most recently, Jaffe ran its corporate development group. Glam points out his experience with the $6 billion aQuantive deal in 2007 as a highlight, but there are plenty of Web folks I talk to who argue that Redmond blew billions on that one.

Jaffe left Microsoft (MSFT) in early 2008. Since then he’s been running his own consultancy, working with clients including… Glam. Jaffe’s name did pop up as a possible Yahoo (YHOO) hire after Carol Bartz reshuffled the ranks last year.

Source : mediamemo.allthingsd.com

LEAD411 LAUNCHES "HOTTEST SILICON VALLEY COMPANIES" AWARDS

LOS ANGELES, Calif., – May 25, 2010 - In order to recognize the fastest growing technology companies in Silicon Valley, Lead411 is proud to announce the release of its “Hottest Silicon Valley Companies” awards.

Background
Each day, the Lead411 research team scours through 600+ press releases and business articles including venture capital fundings, company launches, new office openings, customer press releases, etc. This information has given insight to which are the fastest growing companies in the U.S. Their “Hottest Companies” awards have been created to recognize these fast growing companies in different geographic regions. This particular list originally started with over 1600 companies and it has been narrowed down to the top 69.

“We have been tracking fast companies for our customers for the past 10 years,” said Tom Blue, CEO of Lead411, “and we felt it was important to recognize these growing brands publicly… specifically in the Bay Area”

How the Winners were Chosen
First, all companies must by in either the Software, Wireless, Internet, or Media industry, have less than $100M in yearly revenues, and be within Silicon Valley area. From there, each company must meet one or more of the following requirements;

• ** 100% increase in revenues over the past 3 years; OR
• ** $15M+ in funding in the past 2 years; OR
• ** 2X traffic gains to their website in the past 12 months AND over 1M unique visitors a month.

Nominations/Applications If you would like to be listed in the 2011 Silicon Valley awards, our 2010 National Hot 500, or any future awards please apply here.

About Lead411
Lead411 provides information, news, and research about U.S. companies and their executives. Founded in 2001, its goal has been to focus on quality corporate data that is valid and useful rather than producing as many company records as possible. In addition, Lead411 tracks company news in order to alert its customers about venture financing, new hires, hiring plans, etc. Customers include Gartner, Administaff and ADP.

Source : www.lead411.com

Steve Jobs to Kick Off Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2010 with Keynote Address on Monday, June 7

CUPERTINO, California—May 24, 2010—Apple® will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address by CEO Steve Jobs on Monday, June 7 at 10:00 a.m. This year’s WWDC sold out in a record eight days to over 5,000 developers.

The five-day event running from June 7 to June 11, is focused on providing advanced content for skilled developers across five key technology tracks: Application Frameworks; Internet & Web; Graphics & Media; Developer Tools; and Core OS. Apple engineers will deliver over 100 solutions-oriented technical sessions and labs. WWDC 2010 gives an incredibly diverse community the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPhone®, iPad™ and Mac® developers from around the world.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Press Contacts:
Trudy Muller
Apple
tmuller@apple.com
(408) 862-7426

Jennifer Bowcock
Apple
jennifer.b@apple.com

(408) 974-9758

Source : www.apple.com

iPad Available in Nine More Countries on May 28

CUPERTINO, California—May 7, 2010—Apple® today announced that iPad™ will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK on Friday, May 28. Customers can pre-order all iPad models from Apple’s online store in all nine countries beginning on Monday, May 10. In the US, Apple has already sold over one million iPads and customers have downloaded over 12 million apps from the App Store, as well as over 1.5 million ebooks from the new iBookstore.

iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPad is 0.5 inches thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.*

The App Store on iPad lets you wirelessly browse, buy and download new apps from the world’s largest app store. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for iPad and will run almost all of the more than 200,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. Developers have created more than 5,000 exciting new apps designed for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch interface, large screen and high-quality graphics.

Pricing & Availability
Apple plans to release iPad in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore in July. Apple will announce availability, local pricing and pre-order plans for these nine additional countries at a later date.

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Press Contacts:
Natalie Harrison
Apple
harri@apple.com
(408) 862-0565

Tom Neumayr
Apple
tneumayr@apple.com
(408) 974-1972

Source : www.apple.com