PRESS RELEASE - Letter to the Editor 30 November 2008
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
30 November 2008
Dear Sir,
WE ARE NOT IN A RECESSION; BUT A TRANSFORMATION, AND OUR ECONOMY NEEDS A DIGITAL “REBOOT”’
In the face of the current economic recession, the British economy must not lose sight of the inevitable trend in our industrial evolution and the opportunities that this presents.
Lord Carter, Minister for Communications, recently recognised that in these turbulent times, we should “look at other sectors . . . ,“ and that “technology, media, telecom is a critical growth sector” – and that the economy needs a digital “re-boot”. This is timely.
Our current economic misery stems from a little-mentioned, deeper source—one that also highlights our way out. We are less in recession than in need of ‘transformation’-- our industries, including the financial sector, have been overly anchored in businesses and business models of the past.
Putting aside the mortgage lending sector, innovation in the financial markets led to more and more of industry’s capital in the hands of the finance sector and funds. While funds provided a well-aligned model for investing in businesses in need of transformation, this led to excessive capital allocated to investments that were reliant on leverage to generate superior returns and public-market listed, larger companies.
Yet, technological innovations continue at a dizzying pace. Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” is in full force. Industries from telecoms to car manufacturers all face transformational changes that stem from technological innovation in the broadest sense. At the same time, superior returns stem from innovation and its commercialisation. Innovation thrives in small firms more than in corporate behemoths, yet the majority of our economy is focused on bigger businesses and is designed to service them.
While our economy looks dismal now, we need not fear regression to stone picks and axes. We will continue to evolve at an exponential rate. Even 8 years ago, while valuations crashed in the dot-com bust, the underlying metrics of technology did not slow from their exponential growth trajectory. Economic growth from innovators lies at the frontier of change, rather than from the businesses of the past. Venture capital will provide an instrumental role in supporting these pioneers.
We risk confusing recession that is driven from our reliance on old industries with a general doubt over human progress. That painful adjustment-- long-cited to follow ‘digitisation and convergence’-- is at last taking place.
We will not go back to the Stone Age; nor even the Industrial Age. Recession will not cease the perennial exponential growth of technology. I applaud Lord Carter’s words-- that our economy is in need of a ‘digital re-boot’-- and buttress the BVCA Chief Executive Simon Walker’s recommendations to stimulate the early-stage equity gap. The importance of angel investors and venture capitalists will only rise in the mid- long-term. We must recognise this and ensure that today’s gloom does not fail to reward the pioneers of our times.
Spyro Korsanos
Managing Principal
Creative Ventures Group
London W1
PRESS RELEASE: COULL - 11 February 2008
FINANCE SOUTH WEST, CREATIVE VENTURES, INVEST IN INTERACTIVE ONLINE VIDEO PLATFORM COULL -
FORMER MSN UK MANAGING DIRECTOR GILLIAN KENT JOINS COULL BOARD
(LONDON – 11 FEBRUARY 2008): Coull, a provider of interactive online video publishing platforms, has announced it has closed on a series B financing from Finance South West Growth Fund (managed by YFM), Creative Ventures Group and private investors.
With this investment, Coull today launches two products available to brand and content owners to create and manage interactive online video:
Coull Engage is an online video advertising format, enabling unprecedented levels of interactivity and consumer engagement. Brand marketers and digital marketing agencies can easily create interactive video adverts, with Coull’s robust reporting tools allowing real-time campaign tracking, measurement and monitoring.
Coull Activate is a web application that allows content owners to make any video content interactive – activating objects to link to other sites or additional product information. Content owners can use Coull Activate to monetise product placement; increase consumer dwell time; and control and monitor distribution across the web.
“Coull’s technology allows any video to be made interactive – activating objects to link to another site, product or service,” said Irfon Watkins, Coull CEO. “This offers brands and content owners increased creative scope to incorporate advertising into online video content, in a way that directly engages consumer audiences. Maximising the opportunity presented by the continued surge in consumer use of online video.”
In an online video advertising trial, Coull enabled Agent Provocateur to distribute a video where viewers could click on items of clothing or accessories to view more product information or make a purchase directly on the Agent Provocateur site. It achieved click-through-rates (“CTRs”) of 44%, compared to the average single-digit CTRs of other forms of online advertising and video advertising.
Coull also announced the appointment of Gillian Kent, former MSN UK managing director and CEO of Propertyfinder.com, the News Corp-owned property portal, to the board of directors at Coull, alongside Spyro Korsanos, managing principal of Creative Ventures, the London-based specialist early-stage media/technology investor and manager.
“These new appointments bring extensive experience to the board as we embark upon rapid expansion” states Bernard Holcroft, Coull chairman and director of Rupert Hambro & Partners, Coull’s major shareholder.
Gillian Kent stated: “2008 is the year for online video. Making it easy to tag moving objects, making them interactive and providing an end-to-end platform is a very exciting next generation step in online video for both content owners and advertisers.”
“With the online video advertising market predicted to grow 550% over the next 4 years, to $8 billion in Europe and US alone, Coull is well-positioned, with market-leading technology, to provide some great features to advertisers,” added Spyro Korsanos.
END
ENQUIRIES
Anthony Payne/ Paul Mungo, Peregrine Communications
Tel (Direct): +44 (0) 20 7822 2302/ +44 (0) 20 7822 2307
Tel (Mobile): +44 (0) 7930 643 983/+44 (0) 7941 225 651
anthony.payne@peregrinecommunications.co.uk
paul.mungo@peregrinecommunications.co.uk
Coull is a leading provider of web-based tools for enhancing and managing interactive videos. The Coull platform enables video owners to identify and tag objects within online videos, and customize user experiences around interacting with those objects. Coull-enhanced videos are driving deeper consumer engagement with brands as well as innovation in product placement.
About Creative Ventures Group
Creative Ventures GroupTM is a specialist early-stage media/technology investor. It invests high-net-worth individual investors’ capital into early stage ventures and assists in their corporate management. It focuses on the growing opportunities at the micro segment of the market, focusing on ventures with capital investment requirements of below £2 million.
Creative Ventures announced, in August 2008, its investment into TNWA, which through its ownership of enemydown.co.uk, and Creative Ventures’ investment, has become the largest online multiplayer PC gaming community in the UK and top 3 in Europe.
About Rupert Hambro & Partners
Rupert Hambro & Partners Limited invests in a mix of early stage ventures backing management in sectors where brands or IP can be developed to create value. It first invested in Coull in late 2005 and became the majority shareholder in June 2006.
About Finance South West
The Finance South West funds are managed by: YFM Venture Finance Limited (Growth Fund), and Finance Cornwall Fund Managers Limited (Business Loan Fund), both of whom are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Finance South West also provides services, including Gateway to Finance and Gateway to Success, which are not subject to FSA regulation. Finance South West is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
PRESS RELEASE: TNWA - 12 November 2007
Xleague.tv to cover Enemydown (ED), Midway and PLAY.com (www.play.com), Unreal Tournament® 3 £50,000 competition
(London - 12th November 2007) – Following last week’s announcement that Enemydown, Midway and PLAY.com are to hold a massive £50,000 cash tournament to celebrate the launch of the eagerly awaited Unreal Tournament® 3 on PC DVD from Epic Games, Xleague.tv today announced that it will broadcast exclusive TV coverage of the tournament leading up to the final event.
Only gamers pre-ordering and purchasing Unreal Tournament 3 from PLAY.com before its scheduled launch in November and post launch through December will receive a unique registration code allowing them to enter two massive competitions with their new game. One is a single player tournament with a fantastic first prize of £20,000, and the other is a team-based tournament with an even bigger prize of £30,000.
Xleague.tv will exclusively televise select matches from the online competitions, which will take place following the launch of the game. The finalists will then be invited to the grand-slam shoot out in March 2008 at a soon-to-be-announced UK venue worthy of such a showdown.
Today’s announcement further solidifies the growing relationship between Xleague.tv and Enemydown/TNWA Group, having already had a successful collaboration in the form of the Packard Bell EU open ‘Play Harder’ tournaments.
Ray Mia, Channel Head – Xleague.tv, said: “XLeague.tv is continually striving to give the UK gaming community the very best coverage of the best gaming events. I'm excited to announce our exclusive coverage of the Enemydown Unreal Tournament 3 £50,000 competition, in conjunction with PLAY.com and Midway Games Ltd.
Since our Channel Launched in May 2007, we have employed a great deal of broadcast know-how into producing gaming shows that would excite the knowledgeable gamer, as well as providing compelling television to the uninitiated. We are the first broadcaster to effectively manage and create programming for multi-player games, and with the increasing success of our Gears of War and Halo 3 shows, UT3 looks set to become an important part of our gaming line-up and broadcast schedule for 2008.
I am particularly enthusiastic and encouraged by the increasing association between XLeague.tv and Enemy Down. It makes perfect sense that one of the leading on line gaming outfits in the UK partner with the leading games broadcaster. After we successfully co-launched three PC Leagues sponsored by Packard Bell, the UT3 £50,000 competition is excellent news for the gaming community, and now they can fight it out on TV. It's an exciting time for UK Gaming, and we're proud to be part of it.”
"Having Xleague.tv onboard for this competition will add yet another appealing facet for everyone purchasing Unreal Tournament 3 from PLAY.com,” added Paul Sulyok, CEO of The TNWA Group. “They have demonstrated a perfect affinity with a broad gaming audience and transposed this into a show format that conveys the non-stop action a game like UT3 provides. This tournament will be essential viewing!”
Enemydown hosts the largest UK community of online PC gamers. The site has hosted some of the largest online gaming tournaments in recent years, attracting both amateur and professional clans. The site is widely regarded as a premier destination for Europe's competitive PC gamer teams.
About Xleague.tv:
Xleague.tv is the UK’s first dedicated e-Sports channel and website. The revolutionary gaming channel offers a comprehensive range of services to its members, including leagues and tournaments, customisable user profiles, match scheduling and club and team creation.
Xleague.tv is as part of the Portland Media Group and was launched at a cost of £5 million. Portland has a wealth of in-house facilities including production, post-production, transmission and play-out, as well as advertising, media buying and planning and modeling agency.
About The New World Assembly:
The New World Assembly (TNWA) is a pioneering developer of online PC videogame environments, systems and software. The company is internationally recognised for innovations such as devotii, the community gaming arena and Prizefight, the first gaming for cash prizes service, which are contributing to the global growth in subscription-based and online multiplayer games. TNWA has also developed ground-breaking anti-cheat software, online team management software and a scaleable online tournament system, all of which are incorporated exclusively in the company's own products. For more information about TNWA, its products and services please visit www.tnwagroup.com
About Enemydown:
Enemydown is a premier clan-tournament community that serves experienced competition gamers. The strict Enemydown admittance policy has enabled it to become a large, trusted and thriving community of dedicated gamers. The experience and reputation of Enemydown has given rise to partnerships with major publishers and industry businesses. ED will continue grow as a premier clan-tournament community, by ensuring the excellent culture and service continues to thrive and evolve. Visit www.enemydown.co.uk for more information.
Caroline Miller - Enemydown
Indigo Pearl
E: info@indigopearl.com
T: 020 8964 4545
PRESS RELEASE: TNWA: – 10 August 2007
Creative Ventures invests in TNWA/Enemydown to create largest UK online multiplayer PC gaming communiity
CREATIVE VENTURE PARTNERS LLP BACKS LEADING MULTIPLAYER ONLINE GAMING PLATFORM PROVIDER THE TNWA GROUP
(LONDON –10 AUGUST 2007) – Creative Ventures LLP (‘Creative Ventures’) today announced an investment in the TNWA, a leading developer of a new online multiplayer gaming platform. TNWA has made its functionality and platform available through the newly launched, devotii™ - an online community gaming arena. TNWA has developed ground-breaking anti-cheat software for its service,online team management software and a scaleable online tournament system, all of whichare in the company’s portals.
Creative Ventures further announced that TWNA, with Creative Ventures’ support, today acquired Enemy Down [www.enemydown.co.uk], widely regarded as the premier destination for Europe’s competitive PC gamers. The acquisition makes TNWA the largest tournament gaming community in the UK and one of the top 3 in Europe.
Spyro Korsanos, Managing Principal of Creative Venture Partners LLP, said: “We are extremely positive about the growth potential of the online multiplayer gaming sector, and TNWA’s role in that growth, as it becomes an increasingly common form of entertainment worldwide. Companies from Microsoft to News Corp are pursuing the spaces of social networking and supporting gaming communities. TNWA are hosting growing communities of gamers and providing them with everything they need to play and communicate quickly and easily in one place.”
“TNWA has a very talented, dedicated management team with significant experience from the PC gaming industry. They have built a world-class, scalable platform that can operate across multiple titles from the top games’ publishers, such as Electronic Arts. In addition, the user features and anti-cheat systems they have built for devotii™ - which they will now bring to EnemyDownTM - are leading-edge technology; ahead of anything currently available. The scalability of their platform makes them very interesting to games publishers who want to access a fast-growing global gaming community.
Paul Sulyok, CEO of TNWA, said: “Creative Ventures has brought more than capital to TNWA. From due diligence, they've been very directly involved in supporting the business with professional and strategic management support. Decision-making is effective and has already enabled swift action as we have done on EnemyDownTM.
“Their innovative model of supporting small media, tech sector companies fills an underserved gap beyond family and friends, by combining capital with their industry expertise.” Spyro Korsanos added: “We are delighted to support a management team that pursues technological and business excellence at these pioneering frontiers.”
The Creative Ventures Group provides capital as well as corporate management and strategic advisory support primarily to entrepreneurs in the media, information, communications and technology segment, focussing on companies with capital requirements below £2 million.
Creative Ventures was founded in 2006 in recognition of the different requirements at the microcap level to maximise the value generated in an increasingly fragmented media and technology world. Strategic and management input is often as important as financial support. Creative Ventures uses an innovative co-investment structure designed to optimise success and performance in this sector, by aligning interests with investors, drawing on a team of specialist professionals to assist smaller enterprises and securing tax benefits for investors.
About The New World Assembly:
The New World Assembly (TNWA) is a pioneering developer of online PC videogame environments, systems and software. The company is internationally recognised for innovations such as devotii™, the community gaming arena, andPrizefight,the first gaming for cash prizes service, which are contributing to the global growth in subscription-based and online multiplayer games. TNWA has also developed ground-breaking anti-cheat software,online team management software and a scaleable online tournament system, all of whichareincorporated exclusively in the company’s own products. For more information about TNWA, its products and services please visit www.TNWAGroup.com.
Creative Ventures Group TM is a group of members affiliated to Creative Venture Investments LLP and Creative Venture Partners LLP, limited liability partnership registered under the laws of England and Wales and having LLP Numbers respectively OC315900 and OC326260.
