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$148.5 MILLION INVESTED IN 12 VIRTUAL WORLDS-RELATED COMPANIES IN Q3 2008

$493 Million Invested So Far In 2008

October 15, 2008 - Austin, Texas -- Virtual Worlds Management, the leading virtual worlds trade media company, has announced findings from a comprehensive study of accountable transactions showing that venture capital and media firms have invested more than $148.5 million dollars in 12 virtual worlds-related companies during the third quarter of 2008 with participation from many more VC firms and angel investors. The total investment in the virtual worlds space for 2008 is now over $493 million.  VWM produces the annual Virtual Worlds London taking place October 20-21, 2008 in London and the Engage! Expo taking place March 10-11, 2009 in New York City.

The bulk of the investment is in the entertainment space, with all but $22.4 million going to developers of worlds with strong gameplay elements, ties to media brands, or the youth sector. As we've previously reported, youth worlds are constantly on the rise and investors remain interested in backing them as long as they can find unique propositions.

 Virtual Worlds News has the analysis here: http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/10/1485m-invested.html

 

Virtual Worlds-Related Companies Funded During Q3 2008
Editors Note:  News Story column links to a recent full article about the company
 
Company Segment Amount Named Investors More info
Gaia Online Teen and Young Adult World $11 million Institutional Venture Partners http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/07/gaia-online-get.html
Heatwave Interactive Online game developer $7.5 million Syncom Venture Partners http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/07/heatwave-intera.html
Hollywood Interactive Group Celebrity-themed virtual world for women $5 million ($2M of which were previously reported) BlueRun Ventures http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/09/hollywood-inter.html
Knowledge Adventure Kids educational worlds $5 million Led by Azure Capital and TeleSoft Partners http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/08/knowledge-adven.html
MindFuse Casual MMO/Virtual World $1 million convertible note Angel investor group Keiretsu Forum http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/10/mindfuse-raises.html
Monte Cristo Games Mirror world/online game $7 million Arts Alliance, 360 Capital Partners, and Innoven Partenaires  http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/07/monte-cristo-ga.html
ON24 Virtual events $8 million+ Part of an equity capital round led byU.S. Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, and Rho Ventures as well as an expansion capital round led by Gold Hill Capital http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/07/on24-gets-8m-in.html
RobotGalaxy Kids toy-based world $5 million+ Private placement http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/09/robotgalaxy-get.html
Six Degrees Games Tween sports-themed world $7 million Led by Prism VentureWorks and Clearstone Venture Partners http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/08/six-degrees-gam.html
Taatu Teen and Young Adult World $2.64 million BAMS Angels Fund with participation from international professionals in association
with the original investors Genesis Technology, Madian and SF Investments		 http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/10/taatu-announces.html
Trion MMO publisher $70 million Co-led by an unnamed large global financial institution and Act II Capital with participation from all previous investors, including first-round participants DCM and Trinity Ventures, and B-round investors Rustic Canyon, Time Warner, Peacock Equity, and Bertelsmann http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/09/trion-gets-70m.html
Ukash Payment methods (used in virtual worlds and elsewhere) Approximately $14.4 million Blue Label Telecoms (via subsidiary Gold Label Investments) and DataCash http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/09/ukash-gets-inve.html
Virtual Tweens Tween Green-themed World $1 million Private investors http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/10/ekoloko-launchi.html
Webcarrz Flash-based virtual world developer in stealth mode $4 million Meakem Becker Venture Capital http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/08/webcarzz-gets-4.html
YoVille Virtual world on Facebook Undisclosed acquisition Zynga http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/07/zynga-aquires-f.html
Total $148.54 million
Source:  Virtual Worlds Management

About Virtual Worlds Management

Show Initiative LLC is the leading provider of trade events and media for virtual worlds and games. Show Initiative's Virtual Worlds Management division provides comprehensive media and events including Engage! Expo Conference (March 10-11, 2009 in New York) and 3D Training, Learning and Collaboration taking place April 20-21, 2009 in Washington DC. The company also publishes the Virtual Worlds Weekly email newsletter, the daily www.VirtualWorldsNews.com blog and the www.VirtualGoodsNews.com blog. More information about Virtual Worlds Management can be found at http://www.VirtualWorldsManagement.com   

Contact:

Tim Williams
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tim@showinitiative.com
512-289-8687

 

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