Double Fusion Inc., the leading independent in-game advertising
network and technology provider, announced today that it has raised
$26 million in a financing round led by Norwest Venture Partners
(NVP). Round participants also include the company's existing
investors, Accel Partners and Jerusalem Venture Partners, and
strategic investors Time Warner, Hearst Corporation, IDG Ventures
Pacific and Sedona Capital (Japan). Double Fusion will be aggressively
scaling key areas of the business including its media sales,
technology, and international operations to maintain its leadership in
what analysts project to be one of the fastest growing worldwide media
businesses.
The rapid growth of in-game advertising is being driven by the
huge and ongoing shift of audiences to interactive games from other
media, coupled with advertiser concerns about the engagement value of
other media. In-game advertising provides advertisers with new forms
of advertising in an immersive environment, offering new ways for
brands to engage deeply with their most important target audiences.
Established in 2004, Double Fusion is led by a management team
that pioneered in-game advertising and videogame media. The company
has developed, and successfully deployed over multiple games, an
end-to-end technology suite that enables the display of rich media
advertising inside of games, facilitated by robust development tools
and services which provide publishers and advertisers with detailed
reporting and campaign oversight. Double Fusion's dedicated production
and consulting teams work directly with advertisers, game developers
and publishers to ensure the most effective campaigns which respect
and enhance the gameplay experience.
Through the strength of its sales team, consulting orientation,
and technology, Double Fusion has earned the confidence and
partnership of some of the strongest game publishers, and has
assembled for advertisers a broad audience through its network of core
and casual online, PC, and console games and virtual worlds, reaching
engaged consumers across all demographics.
"Videogames are providing a new advertising vehicle that not only
delivers a highly engaged audience, but fundamentally changes the way
consumers are able to interact with brands," said Jonathan Epstein,
CEO of Double Fusion. "Advertising, in turn, creates new business
models for game companies that will continue to accelerate the growth
of the gaming audience. The commitment and confidence of these premier
financial and strategic partners is recognition of both the huge
potential of the in-game advertising market, and of Double Fusion's
leading position within that market."
Double Fusion's new and existing investors represent a formidable
combination of top firms among the Silicon Valley, Israeli, European
and Asian venture capital communities with leaders from media and
entertainment.
"Double Fusion has outstanding market potential," said Jim
Lussier, general partner at Norwest Venture Partners who will serve on
the Double Fusion board. "No other new advertising medium starts with
a worldwide audience of half a billion consumers, or is projected to
grow as quickly. Double Fusion's team, technology and leadership
position has earned the confidence of the combined investor group as
the company that will drive, and create huge value from a fundamental
change in video game and advertising models on a worldwide basis."
About Double Fusion
Founded in 2004, Double Fusion is the leading independent provider
of dynamic in-game advertising. Going beyond traditional advertising
mediums to engage valuable and hard to reach gamer demographics,
Double Fusion provides the widest range of in-game advertising and
marketing programs available on the market. Dedicated teams work
closely with advertisers, developers, and content owners to ensure
seamless execution of advertising campaigns, creating an additional
revenue source for videogame publishers while protecting the gameplay
experience. Double Fusion has built a management team including the
executives responsible for building the most important media
businesses connecting consumer advertisers with the video game
audience. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices
in Los Angeles, New York, Jerusalem, and London. Advertisers
interested in opportunities within the Double Fusion network; and
developers and publishers interested in increasing their per-title
revenues through integrated and dynamic ad placement opportunities
should visit www.doublefusion.com.
About Norwest Venture Partners
Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is a global venture capital firm
that has partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for
more than 45 years. NVP focuses on investments in information
technology including: consumer Internet and media, software, services,
enterprise and communications systems, and semiconductor/components.
The firm currently manages more than $2.5 billion in venture capital
out of its office in Palo Alto, California.
NVP has funded over 400 companies since inception. Some of the
firm's recent investments and transactions include Airespace (acquired
by Cisco Systems), deCarta, HedgeStreet, mBlox, Mercora, Resonext
Communications (acquired by RF Micro Devices), Spinnaker Networks
(acquired by Network Appliance), TURN, Wallop and Winphoria Networks
(acquired by Motorola). NVP has also funded such market leaders as
Actel Corporation, Brocade Communications, Cerent (acquired by Cisco
Systems), Documentum, Extreme Networks, Forte Software (acquired by
Sun Microsystems), PeopleSoft and Tivoli Systems (acquired by IBM).
For more information, please visit www.nvp.com.
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release are the property of their respective owners, may be registered
in certain jurisdictions, and are mentioned in this release for
identification purposes only.
