Saturday

MocoSpace Gets $3.5 Million from SoftBank

Mobile phone sociable entertainment web site MocoSpace announced Thursday that it has secured $3.5 million in a round of funding from Softbank Funds, bringing the cellular startup’s total money to $10.5 million. MocoSpace stated in its press release that it will use the funds to increase its cell browser-based sociable gaming platform.

The firm takes a unique angle on the typical social-network platform. Although most social networks begin out on the internet and then develop a cell app to go along with it, MocoSpace was designed to be mobile phone from the beginning. The Boston, Mass.-based startup launched its mobile-only community in 2006 and has since pulled in some impressive numbers.

To date, the community has 14 million members and claims to see three billion pageviews per month. It’s definitely a far cry from the 150 million active mobile phone users on Facebook, but MocoSpace claims to be the largest mobile-only community on the net. The MocoSpace consumer base is fairly diverse: A third of its person base is Hispanic and another third is African American, and its popularity is strongest among 18 and 34 year olds, with the majority of users under 30.

In February MocoSpace released a survey of its people dating habits and found that fully 90% of respondents stated that pictures are the most essential factor in making the choice to meet with an additional MocoSpace user.

“MocoSpace is uniquely positioned for massive growth at the crossroads of powerful trends in mobile phone, gaming and interpersonal, as well as appealing to one from the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population, the Hispanic market,” mentioned Ron Fisher, managing partner at Softbank Cash, who will be joining MocoSpace’s board of directors.

SoftBank Capital forked over $3.5 million in funding to phone entertainment destination MocoSpace. SoftBank recently invested $150 million in on-line gaming powerhouse Zynga and apparently wanted to make a play in mobile phone browser-based social gaming.

SoftBank joins previous MocoSpace funders, including General Catalyst Partners, Pilot Group and angel investor Michael Dearing, who put in $3 million in funding in 2007. The Boston-based organization, which is apparently profitable, said the funding might be used to broaden MocoSpace into gaming platforms.

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