IGA Worldwide Secures $25 Million in Series B Funding; Includes GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity and KTB Ventures
Strong Endorsement of New Media Advertising Fuels Investments in Industry's Leading In-Game Advertising Network
Thursday 12th July/...IGA Worldwide Inc., the leading independent in-game advertising network, today announced that it has raised $25 million in Series B funding. GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity and KTB Ventures led the round along with existing investors, Easton Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, Intel Capital and DN Capital.
Today's announcement solidifies IGA's representation across the media and entertainment sectors and enables the company to strengthen its leadership position in videogame advertising, one of the fastest growing media and entertainment sectors worldwide. In-game advertising is set to pass the $2 billion mark by 2012, growing more than five times in size with more annual growth than any other major advertising medium.*
"We are very pleased that GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity and KTB Ventures have joined this round of funding along with our existing investors," said Justin Townsend, Chief Executive Officer, IGA Worldwide. "This investment is an exceptional endorsement for the market and it will allow IGA to further expand its global in-game advertising footprint and ability to deliver the highest ROI to advertisers and publishers alike."
"IGA Worldwide is an important investment for Peacock Equity," said Thomas Byrne, Managing Director and Group Head, Peacock Equity. "The gaming industry is one of the major focuses for our Fund and has high growth potential that can shape the future of the new media advertising industry."
"Given the significant market potential for in-game advertising, the interest level was very high among strategic investors as expected," said Christian Vry, Chief Strategy Officer, IGA Worldwide. "We expect to announce other key relationships with publishers, advertisers and other investors in the near future."
*Parks Associates Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home: Game Advertising, June 2007
About IGA Worldwide
IGA Worldwide, Inc. ( www.igaworldwide.com) is the largest in-game advertising company with a proprietary ad serving network. The IGA Worldwide Radial network enables advertisers to target millions of engaged gamers across a wide range of platforms and genres. IGA Worldwide has already delivered campaigns for diverse brands such as; 20th Century Fox, Ben Sherman, Discovery, FHM, Hawaiian Airlines, Intel, Jeep, MTV, and T-Mobile. IGA Worldwide also provides strategic consulting services including integrated product placement and promotion through its wholly-owned communications consultancy, Hive, a trading name of IGA Hive Ltd. Headquartered in New York with offices in London and Berlin, the group is backed by Easton Capital Group, Intel Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures and DN Capital.
About Peacock Equity
Peacock Equity ( www.peacockequity.com) is a $250 million equity capital fund founded by GE Commercial Finance's Media, Communications & Entertainment business ( www.geMCE.com) and NBC Universal ( www.nbcuniversal.com). Introduced in April 2007, the joint venture focuses on companies developing technologies, platforms or business models that are a strategic fit to NBC Universal and have high growth potential. Peacock Equity's capital investments, which include advertising services, digital content and communities, wireless and international platforms, range from $3 to $15 million each.
About KTB Ventures
KTB Ventures is the United States operation of KTBnetwork, the largest private equity firm based out of Korea with approximately $5 billion of capital under management. Founded in 1981, KTB has invested in more than 600 companies worldwide, including over 40 companies in the United States. Limited partners of KTB include Korea government, Samsung, LG, SK Telecom, Hyundai, major Korean financial institutes and etc. KTB has focused on digital media and gaming space, representative investments including Internet Auction (acquired by eBay), JobKorea (acquired by Monster), Focus Media (Nasdaq: FCMN), Gravity (Nasdaq: GRVY) and Com2uS (mobile game) and so on. KTB also has online game developers under portfolio and has extensive relationship with major Asian game publishers and developers. KTB has offices in Palo Alto, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Singapore. For more information on KTB Ventures and KTBnetwork, visit www.ktbvc.com and www.ktb.co.kr
About Easton Capital
Easton Capital Group (Easton) is a venture capital firm which invests primarily in growth capital and healthcare opportunities through its three funds, Easton Hunt Capital Partners, L.P., Easton Capital Partners, L.P., and Easton Hunt New York L.P. (a fund dedicated to investing in New York State companies). Its target investments are well-managed companies characterized by differentiated products addressing major unserved markets. Easton's partners have more than 180 years experience in venture capital, having managed more than $1.5 billion in assets. Easton has offices in New York and Florida.
About Morgenthaler Ventures
Morgenthaler Ventures is a leading venture capital firm that has supported entrepreneurs as a trusted partner and expert advisor for over 38 years. It focuses its energies on cultivating world-class companies in two investment areas: Information technology and life sciences. Morgenthaler currently has over $2.5 billion under management. In addition to IGA, Morgenthaler has made investments in other Internet services companies, including NexTag, SNOCAP, Orb Networks, foonz, and Rhythm NewMedia.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing, and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$6 billion in approximately 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. In that timeframe, about 157 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and another 187 have been acquired by other companies. In 2006, Intel Capital invested about US$1.07 billion in 163 deals with approximately 60 percent of funds (excluding Clearwire) invested outside the United States. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com.
About DN Capital
DN Capital is a pan-European venture capital firm, backed by leading institutional investors in Europe and the United States. DN Capital's objective is to identify, invest and actively support leading European enterprise software, communications and digital media companies. The professionals at DN Capital bring over 30 years of private equity experience to their investments, and actively work with portfolio companies to steward their growth through the various stages of development. The firm looks to invest 1-5 million per company and concentrates its investment activities in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. DN Capital is also active in helping leading US software companies enter the European market.