Mobile payment service LevelUp, an off-shoot of Boston-based SCVNGR, announced this morning that it has raised $9 million from T-Venture, the venture capital arm of Deutsche Telekom. The investment is the second tranche of a larger funding round and brings the total raised to just over $21 million. SCVNGR itself has raised over $31 million. As a result of the investment, T-Venture Senior Manager… → Read More
At the beginning of the year, Square doubled its retail presence, landing in about 20K outlets nationwide. As Jack Dorsey’s mobile payment system continues to find legs, all the major players have been rushing to bring their own solutions to market. Every day there’s a new headline about mobile payments solutions, yet in spite of all the noise, no one in particular has all the traction. That’s why… → Read More
With increasing smartphone adoption and with users in turn becoming more and more comfortable using their mobile devices to do things traditionally reserved for the Web or desktops, every industry is going mobile. But, when you consider the effect mobile technology has still yet to make on transactions — ye olde exchange of money/goods — there is a huge opportunity for disruption. Carriers… → Read More
Proud Princeton drop-out and imminent mega billionaire, Seth Priebatsch is the self-styled Chief Ninja of the gaming/payments platform SCVNGR. Having raised $20 million and now employing 120 people, Priebatsch believes that the SCVNGR market could easily exceed $50 billion, a number he regards as “small”.
I’m not sure what to make of Priebatsch. The cynic in me (not hard to find) sees him and… → Read More
Today’s SXSW keynote speaker is Seth Priebatsch, founder and CEO of location-based gaming startup SCVNGR.
SCVNGR has had a big week — on Thursday the site launched a spinoff service called LevelUp that combines some of the retention mechanics seen in location-based games with the steep deals offered by sites like Groupon.
Priebatsch, who maintained an apparently super-human energy level… → Read More
Location-based gaming startup SCVNGR, which recently closed a $15 million funding round, is entering new territory: it’s launching a spinoff service called LevelUp, which goes live today in pilot cities Boston and Philadelphia. And it’s taking on some big names, including the likes of Groupon and LivingSocial (in addition to the location-based services it already competes with, like… → Read More
Location based game SCVNGR has raised another $15 million in a funding round led by European VC firm Balderton Capital, with participation from previous investors Google Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. As part of the deal Balderton partner Barry Maloney will be joining the company’s board. This brings SCVNGR’s total funding to nearly $20 million after a $4 million round in December 2009… → Read More
In a few nights, an estimated 1 million people are going to pack into New York’s Times Square for New Year’s Eve (brrr). And amidst all of the confetti, snow, and alcohol, they’re going to see a whole lot of ads, which is what Times Square does best. One of them represents a win for location-based mobile game SCVNGR: the service will be prominently featured on American Eagle’s Times Square… → Read More
It’s been less than one month since Facebook launched its new deals service on top of its still-nascent Places platform. But that hasn’t stopped it from lining up some of the US’s biggest brands in time for the holiday season. A few minutes ago, the social network posted a note that shows just how many companies have already climbed on board to offer deals over the holidays. Note that some of… → Read More
Location-based game SCVNGR is going global, and it’s getting a little help from its friends down in Mountain View. Today, the company is switching to a new, improved database of venues — the businesses, restaurants, bars, and other locations that its users ‘check into’ — and it’s also adding international support. The source of the data? Google, which has given SCVNGR access to the… → Read More
SCVNGR, a location based game that competes with the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla, has gotten plenty of attention for offering a deeper gaming experience than most of its competitiors — instead of just ‘checking in’, the game prompts users to complete various challenges, which can involve things like taking goofy photos or solving a puzzle. One thing SCVNGR hasn’t been so good at, though, is… → Read More
Quno, part of global travel technology group SilverRail Technologies, has exited stealth with the simple aim of bringing airline ticket-style booking to rail journeys in the belief that existing offerings are too unwieldy, displaying a mix of complex fares, times and information.
This is, of course, perhaps a reflection of the industry itself but either way, Quno believes it’s impacting the move… → Read More
Location-based game SCVNGR is continuing to ramp up its efforts to appeal to local businesses, larger brands, and universities. Since June SCVNGR has offered profiles to normal users (in other words, consumers), where you can see the challenges you’ve recently completed, the badges you’ve earned, and so on. But up until now businesses that offered SCVNGR challenges haven’t had a presence on the… → Read More
Over the last few months location-based game SCVNGR has been partnering with a number of major brands and companies, including the Patriots and AT&T, to participate in its rewards program that gives real-world discounts to players for completing SCVNGR challenges (its competitors Foursquare and Gowalla have also landed major deals). This week SCVNGR launched a key new component to its… → Read More
The U.S. location-based social gaming platform SCVNGR is launching in the UK today through a partnership with Quno, a web based rail search and booking service due to launch later this year. It will give rail passengers the opportunity to “participate in fun challenges” in stations across the country.
In line with other games built on top of SCVNGR, which runs on iPhone and Android, the Quno… → Read More
Location-based game SCVNGR has had a big week of news, first with its partnership with AT&T and then the release of its secret social mechanics playdeck. Today the company has announced that it now sports full integration with the recently launched Facebook Places — you can send your SCVNGR checkins to Facebook, and you can import your checkins on Facebook Places into SCVNGR.
Facebook… → Read More
A few weeks ago, location-based game SCVNGR launched a new feature called Rewards that makes it an increasing threat to the likes of shopkick, Foursquare, and every other company looking to combine the power of coupons and deals with location. The premise is simple: complete SCVNGR challenges to earn points, which you can in turn redeem for rewards at select merchants like Journeys. And today… → Read More
The crux behind game mechanics is the feeling that you’ve accomplished something; “If you’re clicking on a plot of land or a musical note that is an accomplishment” says Social Gaming Network’s Shervin Pishevar. The new social gaming gives you the opportunity to share these goals with your social graph so that many people see them, as well as the chance to work on these accomplishments… → Read More
Foursquare may be helpful for seeing what your friends are up to, but the act of checking in — standing in a bar, face buried in your phone’s screen as you hunt for the right venue — is anything but social. Now, hot on the heels of its partnership with the New England Patriots, location-based gaming service SCVNGR is announcing a nifty new feature that could go a long way toward resolving… → Read More
Over the last few weeks, the New England sports press has been scratching their heads over mysterious T-shirts they received from The Patriots that were emblazoned with the words, “HELP VINCE“. The shirts obviously refer to NFL star Vince Wilfork, but give no indication as to what he needs help with. As it turns out, he’s “lost” his Super Bowl Ring, and he needs help finding it — and the… → Read More
Location-based gaming startup SCVNGR is continuing to flesh out its Foursquare competitor. Today, the service is launching online profile pages, giving users the ability to showcase all of the challenges they’ve completed, as well as the associated photos and tips to other players. It’s hardly a huge feature, but it’s one that the service has been sorely lacking (and was, unsurprisingly, the most… → Read More
Facebook, Twitter, and other places people gather, socialize and share, have turned out to be ideal app platforms. At TechCrunch Disrupt, we’re taking this trend offline. Disrupt is our media and technology conference starting tomorrow. Check out our amazing agenda. And yes, we will sell tickets at the door. Disrupt-as-platform started yesterday with our developer-packed Hack Day and Scrapyard… → Read More
Its unfortunate lack of vowels aside, Google-backed SCVNGR is emerging as a real threat to Foursquare and the bevy of location based services. Last week, SCVNGR launched its consumer-facing side with apps on the iPhone and Android, a major departure from its initial focus on larger institutions (like universities and governmental organizations).
Since its consumer launch, Scvngr CEO Seth… → Read More
It was only a matter of time. Since last summer, we’ve been tracking the progress of SCVNGR, a location-based gaming platform that allows users to build engaging, real-world scavenger hunts that use their mobile devices to both receive clues and solve riddles. Until now the service has primarily catered to museums, universities, and businesses, who use it for things like tours, orientations, and… → Read More
SCVNGR, the platform that lets you build location-based games compatible with any mobile phone, is on a roll. The company has just raised $4 million from Google Ventures, with participation from existing investor Highland Capital. Google Ventures’ Rich Miner will be taking a board seat. The news comes just over a week after we learned that SCVNGR is cash flow positive, with over $1 million in… → Read More
Back in August, I wrote about an interesting new company called SCVNGR. Their goal? To turn scavenger hunts into a business by offering companies, universities, and other organizations a platform on which they can build city (or campus) spanning activities. Since then, things have really started to take off for SCVNGR: the startup has crossed “well over” $1 million in revenue in its first full… → Read More
For many people, the term “Scavenger Hunt” conjures childhood memories of running around the neighborhood on a quest for knickknacks like thimbles and socks — an experience that loses its luster beyond the age of ten or so. But as it turns out, they’re big businesses: major corporations and universities have successfully used more elaborate scavenger hunts as team building exercises, and a… → Read More
Today marks DreamIt Ventures’ first Funding Day, during which the new startup incubator will introduce a dozen new companies to a collection of founders and venture capitalists. DreamIt is a program in the same vein as Y Combinator and TechStars, offering startups seed funding, guidance, and connections in exchange for equity. We’ve written brief introductions to each of the startups, which you… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
