San Francisco-based hi5, which operates the third largest social networking service in the world, is announcing a partnership with PlaySpan today in an effort to get more revenue out of its 60+ million members strong userbase. PlaySpan, famously founded by a 5th grader two years ago, will henceforth be powering micropayments for virtual goods and premium content sold on the social network.
Two of PlaySpan’s payment solutions will be used, getting the most out of the variety of payment methods used across the globe, which is essential for hi5 since the large majority of its users are located outside the U.S (about 40% speaks Spanish, for example). The company’s subsidiary PayByCash is able to support approximately 80 payment methods in 180 countries and boasts an extremely low fraud rate, and the addition of hi5 to its customer reference list further validates the alternative micro-payment platform. → Read More
Who says raising money is hard these days? PlaySpan makes it look like child’s play. The startup, which was literally founded by a 5th grader, just raised $16.8 million in a series B round from existing investors Easton Capital Group, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, and STIC.
PlaySpan was founded two years ago by Arjun Mehta, then in the 5th grade, and his father Karl Mehta, who is the CEO. It is a marketplace and micro-transaction payment system for virtual goods in more than 200 different video games. So far this year, more than $50 million worth of transactions have gone through PlaySpan, and the company has reaped revenues in the millions of dollars. → Read More
Virtual world goods seller PlaySpan has received $6.5 million Series A in a round led by Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, STIC and Novel TMT Ventures. PlaySpan hasn’t launched yet, but is promising a product that will attempt to be an official commerce provider for multiple MMOGs. According to PlaySpan, the company has already signed up seven MMOG partners The interesting side of PlaySpan is with the background story: PlaySpan was founded by Arjun Mehta (pictured) , a 6th grader from Silicon Valley who founded the company from money earned selling online game items won from quests he fought while attending 5th grade at Challenger School in San Jose. No word on when PlaySpan will be launching. (via Metaversed) → Read More
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