Well that was quick or just well timed PR: HitFox Game Ventures, the games distribution incubator that launched last month, has given birth to two new startups already.
AppLift, co-founded and managed by Kaya Taner, who was an early employee at HitFox, promises to be an affiliate network that will focus solely on mobile games. App Discovery, also co-founded and run by another HitFox manager, Xavier Rezgui, operates at the consumer end to help mobile gamers intelligently navigate the 100,000 or so games in the iOS App Store.
Both startups hatched with a “seven figure” Euro seed investment from HitFox.
The fact that the two new companies are co-founded by HitFox alumni is very much in keeping with the German-style incubator model, and — dare I say — is reminiscent of the infamous Samwers’ Rocket Internet (but without the cloning!). That perhaps shouldn’t be too surprising — HitFox Game Ventures is headquartered in Berlin after all, and its founders, Jan Beckers, Tim Koschella, Ruben Haas, Hanno Fichtner, and Team Europe, have been around the block more than a few times.
Additionally, when the incubator was first announced, CEO Beckers talked up HiFox’s team of 55 gaming, marketing and IT specialists that it put together over the last 12 months. That sounds like a startup factory if there ever was one. Although, he also said HitFox aimed to acquire or establish at least two businesses per year, so theoretically, that could be its work done for now. I doubt it, however. This is surely one to watch.
More details on the two launching startups.
AppLift: Game publishers are said to be able to profit from its network of ‘game affiliates’, by referring new mobile gamers from 50 cents upwards. At launch AppLift is bundling the mobile games of established publishers such as Gameloft, Gameforge, Kabam, TinyCo and 6waves. While gaming affiliate networks are nothing new, HitFox claims a first in the mobile gaming space or at least that it’s a hole that AppLift will fill.
App Discovery: Game Finder is a free app for iOS that acts as “quality filter”, claiming to only show the best mobile games in a clearly laid out way. For the launch, the app features 500 games, curated by the Game Finder team.