English: i5invest Press Room tag:www.i5invest.com,2008:/en/press_room//8 2008-07-17T14:47:52Z Movable Type 3.33 Leading Mobile Games Developer XENDEX Raises EUR 2.3 Million tag:wwwneu.i5invest.com,2008:/en/press_room//8.62 2008-06-25T14:44:00Z 2008-07-17T14:47:52Z First round financing to support further international expansion and strengthening of global market position - new gaming platform as strategic option Vienna, June 25th 2008. In a first round of financing, PONTIS Venture Partners, a venture capital company headquartered in Vienna, Austria, as well as a group of business angels are participating with a EUR... Administrator First round financing to support further international expansion and strengthening of global market position - new gaming platform as strategic option Vienna, June 25th 2008. In a first round of financing, PONTIS Venture Partners, a venture capital company headquartered in Vienna, Austria, as well as a group of business angels are participating with a EUR 2.3 million investment in Xendex, one of Europe's leading developers for mobile games. The former founders of 3United mobile solutions PLC, an Austrian company that was bought for EUR 55 million in early 2006 by global market leader Verisign, are among the business angels. Portfolio of market leader Xendex Founded in January 2001, Xendex was among the first companies in Europe to lead the booming mobile games industry. Xendex has become one of the most successful developers of high-quality mobile games, and has achieved international acclaim within the area of high-quality 3D games. With its comprehensive portfolio of more than 45 exceptional and award-winning games, Xendex has an outstanding position in the market, and counts many globally leading publishers to its client base. The motocross series "FMX" have had the greatest marketing success to date, selling over 2 million copies worldwide. Awards for high-quality mobile games Xendex has repeatedly received awards for its high-quality game development. Over the course of recent years, the company's titles were awarded prizes by the gaming press as well as mobile operators, such as the "Game of the Year" award from mobile service provider "O2" in the UK. Leading German-speaking online magazine "airgamer.de" lists two Xendex titles as the top sports games of all times. Content Service Area for the growth market in Central- and Eastern Europe Further, Xendex is providing content services such as quality assurance, games distribution as well as portfolio- and portal management for mobile service providers and independent games portals. The primary geographical focus of this business area lies in Central- and Eastern European markets, and Xendex has generated a sales growth of 80% in the last year with over 70 channel partners, including T-Mobile, Orange and "O2". A Future Global Player thanks to Venture Capital Dr. Christoph Breidert, investment manager at PONTIS, comments on the participation: "It was not only the market successes as seen in recent times and the technically perfected and innovative production processes for mobile games; we were especially convinced by the positive feedback we received from the existing client base. We believe that Xendex is on its way to becoming a global player and wish to support it with our investment and know-how." Due to the flexible software technology the company owns, it is only a small step for Xendex to not only develop games for mobile phones, but also for other mobile devices such as the games console Nintendo DS. The worldwide revenue in this market segment adds up to billions of Euro and thus has a strategic relevance in the further growth of the company. Michael Haberl, CEO of Xendex: "After more than seven years of success in the globally dynamic market for mobile games we wanted to join with financially powerful partners to accelerate our further international growth. Our partnership with PONTIS encourages this path in a consistent and capable manner. We are especially pleased that with PONTIS we will also gain a technologically knowledgeable partner. With the support of the business angels, we will be able to extend both operative and distributional activities, so that Xendex will have even stronger international footing." Mirko Kinigadner, business angel (former business manager of 3United / Verisign Communications GmbH): "Due to the in-depth knowledge of the market we gained over the years with 3United as well as the long-term business relationship with Michael Haberl, CEO of Xendex, we have decided to support the expansion of Xendex financially as well as through our existing network and operational activities." About Xendex Holding GmbH Founded in 2001 Xendex is today a leading independent mobile and online games developer studio in Europe. Xendex employs more than 45 people and operates offices in Vienna (Austria), London (UK) and Krakow (Poland). Using its cutting edge creative and technology know-how, the company´s product range encompasses more than 45 highly successful and critically acclaimed mobile titles, including various "Mobile Game of the Year" awards, as well as 25 online casino titles. Xendex develops games based on its own IP´s as well as with leading national and international brands, including Vodafone, Coca-Cola, Disney and THQ to name but a few. In cooperation with its partners, Xendex games are distributed to more than 200 of the world's leading mobile carriers in over 60 countries worldwide. About PONTIS Venture Partners PONTIS Venture Partners is one of Austria's leading independent Venture Capital companies. The company prefers to invest in technology-oriented businesses in their early- and expansion phases, especially in the areas ICT and life sciences, as well as industrial technologies. The PONTIS-managed VC fund PVP I was remunerated by well-known Austrian and international investors. The management team at PONTIS has many years experience in risk capital financing, mergers and acquisitions and the industry of technological domains. The company is among the most active venture capital businesses in Austria. To date PONTIS has already built up a portfolio of eleven investments and plans to enter one or two additional investments with its PVP I fund. With the sale of the holdings in UC4 software to the Carlyle Group, PONTIS has been above average in its success. Graphical Materials and Press Inquiries: viennabrand Agentur für Markenkommunikation KG, Albertplatz 1/1, 1080 Vienna Ulrike Schuster, Tel.: +43 (0) 1 405 00 54, Mob. +43 (0) 664 55 78 348 e-mail: schuster@viennabrand.com, www.viennabrand.com For more information: PONTIS: PONTIS Venture Partners Management GmbH A-1010 Wien, Löwelstraße 12 Tel : +43 (1) 533 32 33 - 0 Email: christoph.breidert@pontisventure.at Web: www.pontisventure.at Xendex: Xendex Holding GmbH (Austria) A-1070 Vienna, Mariahilfer Strasse 116/3 Tel: +43 (1) 890 8 009 - 0 Email: office@xendex.com Web: www.xendex.com Business Angels: i5invest Beteiligungs GmbH A-1140 Vienna, Hütteldorferstraße 253 Email: vienna@i5invest.com Web: www.i5invest.com]]> 123people.com optimizes Web-Based People Search - European incubator releases "the next generation of people search on the Web" tag:wwwneu.i5invest.com,2008:/en/press_room//8.27 2008-01-25T23:09:27Z 2008-03-11T23:34:08Z VIENNA, Austria - January 25, 2008. i5invest, a European-based IT and mobile telecommunications incubator, today announces the European launch of 123people.com, a site designed to fundamentally improve the quality of people search on the Web. In addition to aggregating people information from globally accessible databases and networks on the Web, 123people.com also crawls country-specific Web... Administrator VIENNA, Austria - January 25, 2008. i5invest, a European-based IT and mobile telecommunications incubator, today announces the European launch of 123people.com, a site designed to fundamentally improve the quality of people search on the Web. In addition to aggregating people information from globally accessible databases and networks on the Web, 123people.com also crawls country-specific Web sites to provide fast access to the most comprehensive results possible. "We're out to change the way Web users search and discover people information," explains Stefan Kalteis, CEO of 123people.com. "123people.com combines superior search results, usability and privacy controls to offer the next generation of people search." 123people.com aggregates people-related photos, videos, social networking profiles (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and any additional publicly accessible people data that can be found on the Web, including e-mail and postal addresses and telephone numbers. The Market's Increasing Desire for People Search Technology People search is one of the fastest growing interests of Web users. According to a recent Technorati study, approximately 30 percent of search quieries conducted in traditional search engines like Google are people-related. However, the search results in these engines are often overwhelmingly buried in pages of unrelated results and can be frustratingly uncomprehensive. "People data available on the Web was decentralized and time consuming to navigate. There is overwhelming demand in the market for a effective and efficient search technology. We jumped at this opportunity to introduce our 123people.com technology to the market," said i5invest founder and CEO Markus Wagner. Everyone you (want to) know in one centralized hub Registered users of the site have the ability to combine Web-based profiles into one centralized hub. 123people.com displays search results in two structured sections on the results page. In the "On the Web" section, any data that cannot be exactly identified as specific to a specific person appears. In the second section, additional data from social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace is displayed. In each section, the source of information is identified with a link or logo. 123people.com organizes aggregated people profiles in a dynamic hub where users can claim, tag, vote and comment on profiles. Any registered user can easily adjust privacy settings and decide what information is or is not displayed as well as determine how much of his or her personal data is open for editing by other users. 123people.com is currently in its private beta release and not accessible to US users without an invitation code. Invitation codes will be made available upon request. About 123people.com 123people.com revolutionizes people search on the Web. The European-based startup provides Web users with a search platform that allows every user to easily and securely find Information about "everyone you (want to) know." i5invest, led by Markus Wagner, provides 123people.com with the capital and strategic insight needed to create its search technology. For more information, visit www.123people.com. About i5invest I5invest GmbH, based in New York, Vienna and Salzbrug, focuses on developing and providing early stage capital for IT and mobile telecommunications ventures. Led by founder and CEO Markus Wagner and driven by a core international team of 12 seasoned entrepreneurs in a network ranging from Europe to New York, Boston and Silicon Valley in the US, i5invest powers the foundation of tommorrow's online business. For more information, visit http://www.i5invest.com and i5invest.wordpress.com.]]> Fundraising without spending money tag:wwwneu.i5invest.com,2007:/en/press_room//8.61 2007-12-17T14:41:21Z 2008-07-17T14:43:47Z Fundraising without spending money Fundraising without spending money turns into reality with email charity. email charity (www.emailcharity.com) is a fundraising tool that allows anyone to help without any further costs or efforts, simply by sending emails on a daily basis. With a professionally designed email signature, the user shows his support for a certain charity... Administrator Fundraising without spending money Fundraising without spending money turns into reality with email charity. email charity (www.emailcharity.com) is a fundraising tool that allows anyone to help without any further costs or efforts, simply by sending emails on a daily basis. With a professionally designed email signature, the user shows his support for a certain charity initiative, thus generating attention and donations. Licht ins Dunkel, the largest charity initiative in Austria in cooperation with Ö3, is one of the first partners of this innovative fundraising tool email charity. In order to support a non profit project, every user has to choose a charity campaign to support. The user then generates attention for the campaign by sending out emails with a personally designed email signature. One does good, without having to spend money. The user uses his good reputation to help a good cause. Beside the innovative fundraising tool, the site also provides a conventional tool for giving donations online towards the selected projects. Clear presentation of the charity projects At www.emailcharity.com, users can quickly and easily get an overview of all charity projects. If he decides to support one of those causes the next step will be to generate a personal signature. This will work automatically with an installer, or if favored manually with a few simple steps. Besides the personal data within the signature, each sent out mail will include a banner with information on the selected charity project. The help these emails generate, will multiply itself by its own, creating a snowball effect. New possibilities to fundraise money Email charity not only opens new possibilities for donors, but also new possibilities for non profit and non governmental organizations. This is the first tool where non profit organizations can advertise easily and efficiently. A number of organizations (e.g. Licht ins Dunkel, Caritas, Die Roten Nasen or Licht für die Welt) have started to use the advantages of the fundraising tool already on www.emailcharity.com.

About email charity

Email charity (www.emailcharity.com) is an innovative fundraising tool where anyone can help without any further costs or efforts, simply by sending emails on a daily basis. With a professionally designed email signature the user shows his support for a certain charity initiative and generates attention and donations. Email charity opens up new ways of social commitment for donors and fundraising non profit organizations. Press contact: email charity GmbH Bernhard Lehner Mail: b.lehner@emailcharity.com Press-Hotline: +43 664 439 86 09 NGO and partner contact email charity GmbH Sebastian Philipp Mail: s.philipp@emailcharity.com Phone: +43 699 10 400 100]]> Markus Wagner helps Austrian mobile gaming company Xendex to expand tag:wwwneu.i5invest.com,2007:/en/press_room//8.60 2007-08-22T14:39:38Z 2008-07-17T14:41:14Z Internet entrepreneur Markus Wagner joins Xendex, one of the leading providers for mobile gaming. As business angel Wagner will contribute time and know-how to help finance and internationalize Xendex. For Xendex Markus Wagner's help promises acceleration in the planed growth, especially for the international market. Wagner lends Xendex his support and provides his international network... Administrator Top games and international expansion of Xendex Xendex founder and CEO Michael Haberl drafts the future market strategy: "Successful mobile games for the future have a worldwide known brand, an innovative game concept and a broad distribution network." Xendex will concentrate on high quality, international brands and their ambitious implementation with a wide mobile and platform coverage. "Xendex has a great technological advantage and an excellent reputation in the international gaming community - a good basis for future growth," says Markus Wagner, who is looking forward to the collaboration. The i5invest investment strategy i5invest, which was founded by Markus Wagner, defines itself as an incubator for future business models. After entering the Austrian online world, Papermint, a few weeks ago Xendex seems to be the reasonable next step for i5invest. "We pay special attention to the high synergy between our investments. Another crucial factor is the growth potential of the various business models," explains Markus Wagner. "In my eyes Xendex meets both requirements perfectly. With the support of Xendex we now support another Austrian pearl within the gaming industry". About Xendex Xendex was founded in 2001 by Michael Haberl and is still owned 100% by the management. Ever since the first year of operations Xendex has been writing black numbers. Today the company engages over 45 employees in Austria and the US. The products range includes over 40 successful game titles to more than 25 casino games. Last year the team of "Nate Adams Freestyle Motocross" got to celebrate a special success. O2 UK, one of the biggest mobile service providers in Europe, voted Freestyle Motocorss as the best mobile game in 2005. Xendex also has an exclusive customer base and is already branding games for companies such as A1, Vodafone, Head, Coca-Cola light, Generali and other well known companies. About i5invest The i5invest GmbH (www.i5invest.com), who is based in New York, Vienna and Salzburg, is a start-up factory for the IT and telecom sector. Together with a team of 12 internationally experienced entrepreneurs and a network in New York, Boston and the Silicon Valley, i5invest works as an incubator for future online business ideas.]]> Incubator i5invest enters 3D-Onlineworld Papermint tag:wwwneu.i5invest.com,2007:/en/press_room//8.59 2007-05-24T14:35:14Z 2008-07-17T14:39:27Z Incubator i5invest enters 3D-Onlineworld Papermint New York & Vienna, 24th May 2007. Internet Entrepreneur Markus Wagner leaves the US-telecommunication group VeriSign with immediate effect in order to launch i5invest, an IT company that boosts Internet start-ups based in the US and Austria. One of the first steps is to enter in to the 3D online... Administrator Incubator i5invest enters 3D-Onlineworld Papermint New York & Vienna, 24th May 2007. Internet Entrepreneur Markus Wagner leaves the US-telecommunication group VeriSign with immediate effect in order to launch i5invest, an IT company that boosts Internet start-ups based in the US and Austria. One of the first steps is to enter in to the 3D online world, Papermint. Farewell 3united/VeriSign "I've been tempted to something new for a while now" says Markus Wagner, "I'm ready to go with new ideas." At his last job Wagner took care of the quick and seamless integration of 3united AG with VeriSign New York. Wagner, a graduate at the university of applied sciences in Salzburg, and his partners have been expanding their business since 1999 into the worldwide leading provider for premium-sms, m-commerce and mobile content solutions. In February 2006 VeriSign took over 3united for 55 million euros. Markus's business know-how and capital, which were gained during the process of setting up, internationalizing and selling the company, will now be used to help boost new business ideas in Austria, Germany and the rest of Europe. The Establishment of i5invest At i5invest, Wagner has put together a team of 12 experienced and internationally oriented entrepreneurs, many of them former companions. "i5invest will act as an incubator of future business ideas. i5 stands for; innovate, inspire, incubate, invest and internationalize". Hence i5invest will mainly invest in business-to-consumer (B2C) web 2.0 projects and take them from conception to success on an international level. Wagner himself describes i5invest as a bridge between the US and Europe. "We have a powerful network that reaches from Vienna, to New York and Boston to the Silicon Valley in California", says Markus Wagner. "This is ideal for European start-ups, who want to grow internationally and seek global partners." As a side effect i5invest promotes Austria as a location for hi-tech centers of excellence. Joining Papermint One of the first projects by i5invest is to enter the Austrian 3D online world, Papermint. The virtual social network by the Viennese software company Avaloop went live on the 21st of March 2007 and was widely discussed in the national media scene. As a business angel, who contributes capital and know-how, Markus Wagner is now helping Papermint with financing and internationalization processes. "I see great advertising potential with Papermint. The advertising volume inside of virtual worlds are growing rapidly", says Wagner. Avaloop is glad about the support and plans on going live in Germany and the rest of Europe as soon as possible. "A business personality such as Markus Wagner enriches our team enormously. He has a lot of experience with building up companies from the start and his knowledge concerning further financing and the planed internationalization of Papermint will be a great help for us," says Martin Sirlinger, Managing Director at Avaloop. By now i5invest is already moving into the same office building as the Avaloop team, which is located inside a former cinema in the 14th district, Vienna. For i5invest the support of Papermint is only the first step towards a promising future. Ever since the IT branch got wind of Wagner's plans, more and more business ideas reach the i5invest office. Wagner plans on starting off with a few carefully selected ideas within the next few months, "I don't want to give away more about it for now" he says and smiles. About i5invest The i5invest GmbH ( www.i5invest.com ) is based in New York, Vienna and Salzburg and can be described as a start-up factory for the IT and telecom sector. Together with a team of 12 internationally experienced entrepreneurs and a network in New York, Boston and the Silicon Valley, i5invest works as an incubator for future online business ideas. About Avaloop/Papermint The Avaloop IT Solutions GmbH (www.avaloop.com) is Austria's first business that concentrates fully on the development 3D online worlds and virtual social networks. Avaloop's team of 11 employees is located inside a former cinema in Vienna and was originally build up by Lev Ledit, Martin Sirlinger, Markus Nenning and Claudia Kogler. On the 21st of March 2007 Avaloop's "multiplayer online game and chat" Papermint (http://www.papermint.com) went online. About 3united/Verisign At his last job Wagner was responsible for the quick and seamless integration of 3united AG with VeriSign New York. 3united, which was cofounded by Markus Wagner in 1999, quickly turned into one of the worldwide leading providers for premium-sms, m-commerce and mobile content solutions. In February 2006 the American telecommunication group VeriSign Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN, http://www.verisign.com) took over 3united for 55 million euros. Press contact: i5invest Bernhard Lehner Hütteldorfer Straße 253, A-1140 Vienna Mail: b.lehner@i5invest.com Press-Hotline: +43 664 439 86 09 www.i5invest.com]]>