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MocoSpace gets $3.5M in funding to launch browser-based mobile social games

MocoSpace is using the $3.5 million round of strategic funding it just received from SoftBank Capital to expand its mobile browser-based social gaming offerings and management team.

Previous investors include General Catalyst, Pilot Group and angel investor Michael Dearing. MocoSpace claims to be the largest social entertainment destination on the mobile Web with 14 million-plus users and 3 billion page views per month. 

The current investment is a sign that the intersection of the mobile Web, social networking and gaming is reaching the mainstream.
 
Mobile Marketer?s Dan Butcher interviewed Justin Siegel, CEO of MocoSpace, Boston, about the latest round of funding and the development of the MocoSpace Games platform. Here is what he had to say:

How will MocoSpace invest the new funding?
MocoSpace is dedicated to engaging and entertaining generation mobile, so we see a lot of opportunities in building a new games platform for mobile browser-based gaming.

We will use the funds for building out the gaming team in technology and business development, and also for marketing.

We are also connecting with game developers, and want to reach out to them in creative ways as well as at conferences and events.

The MocoSpace Games platform will provide game developers with a robust environment and mobile Web reach via smartphone browsers, as well as access to the MocoSpace audience, which already plays 1 million games on the site per month.

What is MocoSpace?s growth strategy going forward?
We continue to grow organically and have been successful in monetizing that growth via advertising, reaching profitability.

With this push into mobile social games, we expect that virtual goods and games will become a bigger percentage of our revenue.

Through our games partners we will be launching games that are interesting to our diverse audience.
These may be casual games, music games, adventure games, et cetera.

Stay tuned for specifics?we?ll be making an announcement in the very near future about our first title for mobile social games.

What is the current state of mobile social gaming? What is its potential going forward?
We believe there is a major untapped opportunity in mobile browser-based social gaming from a developer perspective. That is why we are launching the first platform to cater to this market.

There's no question that for social gaming to truly take off, a gamer needs to be able to play against all of their friends, and this is currently difficult on mobile because people have a variety of mobile OS platforms on their phones, whether it be Apple iOS, Android, BlackBerry, et cetera.

Therefore, a mobile browser-based approach would open up social gaming to the highest number of gamers on mobile, which is why we are investing in this area.

Final Take
Dan Butcher, associate editor, Mobile Marketer

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