Vodafone Ventures and a subsidiary of Japan-based conglomerate Softbank join venture consortium investing $18m in PlaySpan's series C round.
PlaySpan, a US-based operator of payments within computer games, has raised $18m in its series C funding from a consortium including two strategic investors. Vodafone Ventures, the corporate venturing division of UK-listed mobile phone operator Vodafone, and a subsidiary of Japan-based conglomerate Softbank co-led the round, and were joined by repeat venture capital investors Menlo Ventures, STIC Investments and Novel TMT Ventures.
Softbank China & India’s Bodhi Investments fund, an early-stage investor in Asia, was the investment division for Softbank.
In November 2008, Playspan said it had raised $16.8m in its series B round from US-based VCs Easton Capital Group and Menlo Ventures; Asian investors Novel TMT Ventures, the $70m technology, media and telecom investment unit of Hong Kong-based conglomerate Novel Group, and STIC International, the global investment division of a South Korea state-backed VC; and other undisclosed investors. Playspan said in November 2008 it had raised $24m to that date, although news provider PEHub said it had previously raised about $28m.
Playspan provides developers and publishers, such as Nickelodeon, a platform to manage micropayments, e-commerce, and micro-transactions in 180 countries.
Matthew Fix, a US-based principal at Vodafone Ventures, said: "PlaySpan has emerged as the clear industry leader in this fast-growing space and has built a full stack platform that is proven with millions of consumers and thousands of merchants worldwide."
Shawn Carolan, managing director at Menlo Ventures and board member of PlaySpan, added: "Vodafone and Softbank lead the market in online monetization. Their inputs will be particularly helpful as we expand internationally."
