The AIM-listed investment company Brainspark has acquired a 30% stake in the Italian location-based social network Mobnotes. The deal will see Brainspark hand over €600k equally split between cash and stock.
Similar to Loopt and other location-based social networks, Mobnotes (‘mobile notes’) lets users locate nearby friends, shops and restaurants etc. and send location notifications. It has mobile apps for iPhone, Nokia (Symbian), Android and Vodafone 360 as well as a generic mobile site, and claims 150,000 registered users in Italy, “working in conjunction with the major mobile handset manufacturers and networks.”
It terms of revenue stream, Mobnotes utilises mobile advertising as well as offering custom co-branded versions of the service. It says it expects revenues of €590,000 in 2011, which is expected to rise to over €2.5 million by 2012, and says it should become profitable in 2012.
In 2008, the company was a TechCrunch50 finalist.