Exit Games raises an additional US $4.6 million (€3.5 million) investment
BDMI, Neuhaus Partners and smac partners finance global growth of multiplayer games service provider
San Francisco/CA, Hamburg, March 5th 2007 - Exit Games, a leading service provider for multiplayer mobile and online games, announces the closing of a new financing round amounting to 3.5 million by Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), Neuhaus Partners and smac partners. This additional funding is to drive the international growth as well as the product development for new mobile and online technologies.
Exit Games Neutron® is a global service platform for multiplayer mobile and online games. It facilitates access to mobile online gaming and offers unprecedented flexibility for end-user billing - on all devices and networks. Customers of Exit Games are leading developers and publishers of game software in the USA, Asia and Europe. Exit Games' partners are mobile network operators, portals and technology companies.
Exit Games Neutron® offers two benefits: First, the development tools and operating platforms substantially reduce the development costs of multiplayer games for mobile phones and PC. Second, the worldwide connectivity of the Neutron platform opens up additional revenue streams, integrating operators' and portals' sales and payment systems as well as in-game advertising and online communities of third party providers.
"The additional funding will be used to further improve our customer and partner offering. Key focus is on our technology partnerships with global industry leaders as well as new features for communities, social gaming and latest mobile and online platforms", says Exit Games CEO Harald Behnke.
"The clear focus and the strong position of Exit Games in the US and Europe confirm that the company is well prepared for the imminent growth in mobile and online gaming. We are pleased to support the company's experienced team as Exit Games expands the mobile gaming market and addresses new markets and territories", says Richard Sarnoff, President of Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.
"Our early engagement in Exit Games three years ago and the excellent product development since then have convinced us to continue to actively support Exit Games. By leveraging its strong international market position in mobile entertainment we see the company to be well established on its path to becoming the international market leader", notes Matthias Grychta, Managing Partner at Neuhaus Partners.
"In our opinion Exit Games is highly skilled at developing the latest mobile phone and broadband technologies through its products and partnerships as a software service for the whole gaming industry. This combination has convinced us to support the company in its growth for many years", explains Oliver Kolbe, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of smac partners.
About Exit Games
Exit Games is a leading service provider for multiplayer mobile and online games. The Exit Games Neutron® service platform connects network and service providers with users all over the world. Neutron is used by leading game publishers, developers and mobile communications companies like THQ Wireless, Glu, World Golf Tour, SkyZone, Square Enix's UIEvolution, Fremantle Media, Verizon, Cingular, Sprint, Softbank, Vodafone, Qualcomm, Intel, Sony Ericsson or Siemens. The company was founded in 2003 with venture capital funding and maintains branches in San Francisco, USA and Hamburg, Germany. For more information, please visit our website: www.exitgames.com
About BDMI
Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, based in Luxembourg, is the Venture Capital subsidiary of the international media company Bertelsmann AG. BDMI investments focus on new trends and business models in the area of digital media. BDMI expects to support the success of portfolio companies through a close working relationship with Bertelsmann divisions (RTL Group, Random House, Gruner + Jahr, BMG, Arvato, Direct Group), enhancing their leading and innovative positioning in the media industry. BDMI is managed by an international team based in US and Germany. For further information: www.bdmifund.com.
About Neuhaus Partners
Neuhaus Partners, based in Hamburg, was founded in 1997 by Dr. Gottfried Neuhaus and is one of the leading, independent Venture Capital groups in Germany. Investments are made throughout Europe in technology companies. Since inception, 36 investments have been completed, and in 34 of these cases, Neuhaus Partners was the lead investor. Track record: two IPO's, fourteen trade sales, two buy-backs and eight insolvencies. The first closing for its new 100 Million Euro technology venture fund was announced in December 2006.
About smac partners
smac partners - formerly known as Siemens Mobile Acceleration in Communications (SMAC) - is a private equity company specialised in managing venture portfolios worldwide. We are focused on venture capital (VC) deals in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) worldwide with an exceptional track record. smac partners actively manages portfolio companies in Europe, North America and Asia. We currently advice TempoPark Fund I, an acquisition of 24 wireless-related venture assets from Siemens AG.
For further information please contact:
Exit Games
Alexandra Vogel
Phone: +49 40 41 35 960
press@exitgames.com
http://www.exitgames.com
Neuhaus Partners GmbH
Marc-Michael Braun
Phone: +49 40 355 28 2 - 29
Braun@NeuhausPartners.com
http://www.NeuhausPartners.com
Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments
Andreas Grafemeyer
Senior Vice President Media Relations,
Bertelsmann AG
Phone: + 49 52 41 80 24 66
andreas.grafemeyer@bertelsmann.de http://www.bdmifund.com
smac partners GmbH
Oliver Kolbe
Phone: +49 89 55 06 88-60
okolbe@smacpartners.com
www.smacpartners.com