Boston-based MocoSpace, a mobile social networking and entertainment startup, said today it has closed a $3.5 million financing round from SoftBank Capital. As part of the deal, SoftBank Capital’s founder and managing partner, Ron Fisher, is joining the MocoSpace board. The company’s previous investors include General Catalyst, Pilot Group, and angel investor Michael Dearing.
MocoSpace says it will use the money to expand its management team and move deeper into mobile browser-based social gaming. The startup is developing a software platform for game developers to build Web-based apps (not specific to any smartphone operating system), and also says it will release its own browser-based mobile social game. MocoSpace calls itself the “largest entertainment destination on the mobile Internet,” with more than 14 million users and three billion page views per month. It says it is already profitable.
The company started in 2005, and until recently has focused on building a mobile social community for owners of feature phones (non-smartphones). In May, MocoSpace moved beyond feature phones and into mobile apps for Apple’s iPhone and Google Android smartphones.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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