Kiip Raises $4M For Mobile Game Ad Net

  • by April 6, 2011
Kiip, a start-up ad network for mobile video games, has secured $4 million in Series A funding led by new investor Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, with additional participation from True Ventures and Crosslink Capital.

The company will use the new capital to expand hiring and build out its technology platform. Kiip was co-founded by 19-year-old Brian Wong, fellow ex-Digg executive Courtney Guertin, and Amadeus Demarzi, previously of San Francisco design agency Sequence.

Kiip, currently in what it calls "super secret stealth mode," plans to unveil details of its platform and initial advertising and gaming partners at ad:tech in San Francisco next week.

Juniper Research recently said that spending on in-game mobile advertising is expected to increase tenfold over the next five years -- from $87 million in 2010 to $900 million in 2015. And that's just for display ads, "because that's the only ad format that currently exists," a Kiip spokesperson notes.

Indeed, according to Wong, the firm plans to "go beyond the traditional banner ad to bridge the world between gaming and brands by delivering unparalleled engagement opportunities for brands to reach intended audiences at just the right moment."

A Flurry Analytics study indicated that most mobile social gamers may be well-educated females in their mid-to-late 20s. Just last week, Rally Marketing Group bought gamer PassionFruit in another move to reach the elusive and growing female gamer audience.

Kiip named Hummer Winblad partner Lars Leckie to its board of directors, and hired former Digg director of sales Chris Kobran as vice president of sales, and former Live Gamer vice president of mobile and social Dan Silberberger as vice president of business development.

 

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