PlaySpan Raises 6.5 Million in Venture Capitol – 12 Year Old Owner Thrilled
By Stephany on Thursday, September 20th, 2007 at 12:15 PM PST In Computer, Game Companies, Game Platforms, Gamer Life, Games, Games Industry
PlaySpan, founded by Arjun Mehta a 12 year-old 6th grader from Silicon Valley, has just raised $6.5 million in venture capital. Mehta started the company with funds earned selling online game items won from MMO quests. He started this company last year in his parent’s garage.Mehta’s company offers game publishers a technology that allows users make payments and shop for other items. It calls itself the first “publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network.” Mehta, says that he is passionate about software that can make the game experience more “rewarding”.
According to his website, this is the gist of exactly what PlaySpan does: “PlaySpan is game industry’s first publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network. PlaySpan’s patent-pending in-game search, commerce and micropayment technologies enable game publishers and developers to generate new revenues, acquire new users and extend the loyalty of existing users. Leading game providers and virtual world publishers have selected PlaySpan as their official marketplace for virtual goods commerce.”
In August, PlaySpan Signed-up seven MMO games with a combined user base of over 10 Million Gamers. No word on when PlaySpan will be launching. Investors include Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, STIC and Novel TMT Ventures.
Via: TechCrunch
Let me see…when I was 12 I was playing Little League Baseball and playing video games in my spare time. I’m sure my parents would have rather had this 12 year old as their son than me… hell, I would!
How much of Mommy or Daddy is behind all this ?
That’s not how venture capital works, my friends. Venture capital goes into a company to run the company and pay for its operational expenditures such as salaries, development, rent for the company building, utilities, etc. If one person gets to become an overnight millionaire, investors wouldn’t put their money into a start-up.