Two years ago, Mind Candy was just another online gaming company. It had some minor success with interactive puzzles and an alternative reality game called Perplexcity, but the future wasn’t exactly bright. As entrepreneurs are wont to do, Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith made one “last roll of the dice” and created a virtual world game for kids called Moshi Monsters. Though the move may have been a last ditch effort to save a stagnating company at the time, today the move seems a stroke of entrepreneurial genius. → Read More
Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith came to my office today to tell me about Moshi Monsters, his company’s virtual world for kids that is signing up a new member every second. Moshi Monsters was his “last roll of the dice” to save his virtual worlds startup in 2008, and it worked. Moshi Monsters is up to 35 million registered users, with about 7 million of those active every month, says Smith. And it is projected to generate $100 million this year from a combination of subscriptions and gross retail merchandise sales.
The site is geared towards kids between 5 to 12 years old. Each kid gets a monster pet and a room that can be decked out with virtual goods. But instead of trying to create “just another bloody virtual world,” Smith wanted it to be more like a safe social network. “Instead of copying Club Penguin,” he says, “we focused more on Facebook and tried to re-imagine that for kids.” There is pin board where friends can leave messages and a news feed, but there are also games, quizes and virtual world activities. The penny-drop moment for us was that kids like to share and show off online just as much as adults do,” he says. “If we could create the safe place online, we could create Facebook for kids.” In the video above, Smith explains his strategy and gives me a brief tour of the site. → Read More
Moshi Monsters, from UK startup Mind Candy officially launched last week with a product that marries the ideas behind Neopets and Tamogotchi with a social network for kids. Users adopt their own Monster and keep it happy by solving daily puzzles that are sent to each player. Monster owners can interact with their pets by tickling them, playing games, shopping, designing their rooms, and shortly by dressing them up. One core element being promoted for Moshi Monsters is the ability to build an emotional bond between the user and their Monster, which is achieved through flash animation and a complex behavioral engine. Monsters develop their own unique personalities depending on how well, or badly, they’ve been treated. Players can connect and communicate with others through the Friends Tree, visits to other Monster rooms, Monster blogs, Newsfeeds, and a messaging system. The site is geared towards kids, so online safety is a top priority and the Moshi Monsters team monitors site activity to make sure it remains safe. Now admittedly it sounds like Neopets or similar services with some social networking thrown in for good measure, but where Moshi Monsters stands out is with $10 million in backing from Index Ventures, Accel Partners, and Newmediaspark. Sure, money should never be the final judgement on any site, but well known VC firms think there’s something here worth investing in. I’m also no judge on what kids like (mine isn’t quite old enough yet to use this) so ultimately you (or your kids if you have any) can be the judge. TechCrunch UK has more on the Moshi Monsters from when the site first launched in closed beta back in October 2007. CrunchBase Information Mind Candy Moshi Monsters Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
It’s been a big day for Web 2.0 funding announcements. This morning we posted on Series A closing at $3 million for GotVoice. Now San Diego based online video editing service Eyespot has announced closure of its own first round of funding. The funding was led by Silicon Valley firm Gabriel Venture Partners to the total tune of $3.7 million. VentureBeat appears to have broken the story. Eyespot offers drag and drop flash video editing direct to consumers and in partnership with companies like Blip.tv and Veoh. Competitor Jumpcut was acquired by Yahoo! last month. From cell phone ring tones to short video clips, online multimedia editing is clearly being bet on as the next step for the YouTube generation. Veoh has Michael Eisner and Overture’s last CEO Ted Meisel on its board. Blip.tv is the foundation of CNN’s new citizen video initiative. Partnerships like this make Eyespot look like VideoEgg, the company that provides browser based video capture to social networking sites from Bebo to Dogster. Liz Gannes reports that Eyespot also has partnerships with Lions Gate Entertainment, Current TV, Zomba/Jive, TVT, Columbia, Epic, Island Records, and Concord Records. What a list! TechCrunch UK broke a funding story today as well. Online gaming company Mind Candy has announced that it’s raised $7 million from Accel Partners, Index Ventures and NewMedia Spark. Mind Candy has created a very popular game called Perplex City. The game incorporates real world events, websites, text messages, TV, print and a wide range of other media to create an immersive gaming experience, says TechCrunch UK’s Sam Sethi. For details on the company and its plans for expansion based on this funding, see Sethi’s coverage. → Read More
