Posts Tagged ‘Zynga’

DoubleClick Founder’s New Startup Raises $6 Million

Published by pratyushkp on July 23rd, 2011 - in Social, Technology

Image via CrunchBase

FindTheBest, a comparison and decision engine, has completed a $6 million round of financing courtesy of the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’ sFund.

The newly secured funds will be used to launch a network of vertical comparison sites and help the budding startup expand internationally.

Founded by DoubleClick creator Kevin O’Connor, FindTheBest launched in August 2010 to help consumers make faster and more informed decisions by objectively comparing information on products and services.

The FindTheBest name is meant to suggest that users can turn to the site to find the best [insert anything here].

One year since launch, the startup claims to attract 2 million unique users per month. It has also expanded its product and feature set to become both a comprehensive machine- and human-powered curation service.

sFund is the $250 million social innovation fund put together by Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and partners such as Facebook and Zynga. Friend management startup Katango, née CafeBots, was the first startup to receive funding from sFund; it just launched its iPhone app for group and private messaging.

FindTheBest’s $6 million Series A was raised in two parts with the startup first securing $2 million in early December of last year.

Source :- http://mashable.com

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Tags: CafeBots, DoubleClick, , FindTheBest, , Kevin O'Connor, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,
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Zynga Introduces PrivacyVille Game To Teach People About Privacy

Published by pratyushkp on July 8th, 2011 - in Social, Technology

Image via CrunchBase

Zynga‘s newest game won’t let you grow corn. But it will teach you about online privacy.

The game, called PrivacyVille, is intended to help users learn more about Zynga’s privacy practices and also gives people access to additional privacy resources.


“We created PrivacyVille by leveraging our creative and gaming talents to build a more accessible (and rewarding!) privacy education experience,” the company said in a blog post.

PrivacyVille is modeled after the game CityVille and gives users rewards for learning about privacy. Users don’t have to be registered or on Facebook to play the game, though if they are, they can collect zPoints to receive items in other Zynga games.

In PrivacyVille, players go on a tour of a small town where the buildings each represent parts of Zynga’s privacy policy. After the tour, users take a quiz to become a Certified PrivacyVille Tour Guide. Afterwards, they can take their zPoints to RewardVille and redeem them for virtual items.

The game opens up to the public today at www.zynga.com/privacy.

Zynga recently filed its S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission in preparation of its initial public offering.

Check out PrivacyVille below:

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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Google+ Games Could Be In The Works

Published by pratyushkp on July 2nd, 2011 - in Social, Technology

Image via Wikipedia

Several features of Google‘s new social network are quite similar to Facebook features, and rumor has it that the two will become even more similar with time.

According to Engadget, Google Plus’s source code reveals that a social gaming network may be in the works.

Facebook has had major success with social games like Farmville and Mafia Wars, and it’s likely that Google will take a cue from its biggest competitor in the social space.

In 2010, Google invested over $100 million into Zynga, the social gaming giant that has enjoyed staggering profits from its partnership with Facebook. Engadget predicts that Google’s payoff for that investment may well come in the form of Google+ Games. Zynga is expected to make its initial public offering any day now.

The Google+ source code also indicated that Google may introduce a feature called Questions, which will let users ask and answer questions with each other, similar to Facebook’s Q&A feature of the same name.

Multiple sources also reported to All Things D that Google+ Games are on the way. A Facebook spokesperson, however, was a bit more vague.

“It’s important to keep in mind this is an ongoing project and this is just the beginning,” the spokesperson said. “We plan to add a lot of features and functionality to Google+ over time. We’re just excited to get started.”

Check out our slideshow (here) to see what else Google+ has in common with Facebook.

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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Zynga IPO: Social Gaming Company Files S-1 With The SEC

Published by pratyushkp on July 2nd, 2011 - in Social, Technology

Image via CrunchBase

Social gaming giant Zynga is going public.

The San Francisco-based company has just filed its S-1 with the SEC.

“The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined,” according to a press release from Zynga. “A portion of the shares will be issued and sold by Zynga, and a portion will be sold by certain stockholders of Zynga.”

Though the filing claims that the company aims to raise $1 billion, TechCrunch suggests that this number could simply be a placeholder. Sources told Reuters that the company could raise as much as $2 billion, placing its value between $15 and $20 billion.

Underwriters include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, JP Morgan and Allen and Company.

Though only four years old, Zynga has developed a slew of popular web-based games like “FarmVille,” “CityVille” and “Zynga Poker.” According to the filing, these successful titles have helped attract nearly 60 million active daily users worldwide. In the first three months of 2011, the company reports a total revenue $235.4 million.

According to All Things D, this is “the first publicly held company that makes its revenues mostly from the sale of virtual goods.”

For more from Zynga’s S-1 filing, check out our look at the IPO by the numbers.

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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