Flirtomatic targets international expansion with £2million VC funding

"Having already proven our business proposition in the UK, international expansion is top of the list for the year ahead"

Handmade Mobile Entertainment Ltd, which devised and launched Flirtomatic, the cross-platform flirting service, has closed a £2 million Series B Round of financing from both existing and new investors at Seraphim Capital, the venture capital fund.  Flirtomatic is the UK's first online flirting service, offering an integrated service across both the web and mobile.

Mark Curtis, CEO, Flirtomatic comments: "The VC funding will speed up our international expansion over the next 12 months, launching localised services across selected territories.  Having already proven our business proposition in the UK, international expansion is top of the list for the year ahead, and already we have seen clear evidence of this demand internationally, from users and mobile operators."

Key Facts

Flirtomatic awarded £2 million funding

• Flirtomatic has closed a £2 million Series B Round of financing
• New investors at Seraphim Capital, the venture capital fund
• Flirtomatic now boasts 100 million page views per month
• Across both the web and WAP and Flirtomatic has total registration base of 380,000
• First company to launch gender based targeting on WAP

In the UK alone Flirtomatic now boasts 100 million page views per month across both the web and WAP and a total registration base of 380,000.

Mark Boggett, Investment director, Seraphim Capital comments: "Our research demonstrated that, based on current monthly page impressions, Flirtomatic is already one of the top ten mobile internet sites in the UK."   

Usage levels are currently four to five times higher than industry norms, with mobile users visiting the site on average more than 8 times a day, and web users spending longer on Flirtomatic than main stream social networking sites such as Facebook.

Curtis continues: "The financial investment will also enable the brand to further develop our ability to offer targeted advertising opportunities on both the web and WAP." 

Flirtomatic has also recently been the first company to launch gender based targeting on WAP, providing advertisers with a new and more accurate way to reach audiences.

Flirtomatic is continually exploring new avenues to diversify revenue streams across its member network and recently completed trials of a range of premium content services on both the web and WAP. Premium content services have opened up an extremely powerful advertising medium to brands, with sponsorship of relevant gifts and features enabling intimate engagement with consumers as they communicate with each other.  The success of the trial has resulted in this becoming a permanent feature across the network. 

Notes to Editor 

About Handmade Mobile Entertainment ...

The company was formed in June 2004 by Avi Azulai, co-founder of iTouch, and Mark Curtis, a former Managing Partner in Fjord and Razorfish.

Its first product is Flirtomatic. Launched in 2006, this has quickly developed flirting as a new entertainment category.  Operating an uninterrupted service across the web and mobile, Flirtomatic enables users to flirt, meet new people and have fun online.

The addictive nature of the service generates high levels of interaction, with usage of over 100 million page views per month across both web and WAP.  Flirtomatic offers brands a range of marketing opportunities to tap into this intimacy with their customer base.

www.flirtomatic.com

Contact:

Charley Hayes
immediate future Ltd 
T: 0845 408 2031
Email Charley at the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

About Seraphim Capital ...

Seraphim is a consortium of Business Angel networks and corporate venturers across the UK, led by GLE, which have joined forces to raise £10m of private investment, with £20m of UK Government backing, to manage one of the UK's new Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF). The ECF programme is a new multi-million pound scheme set up by the UK Government to boost investment in fast growing small and medium-sized businesses in the UK. Seraphim was the first ECF to launch in September 2006.

Seraphim's partners include Business Angel networks from across the country including London Business Angels, Pi Capital, Advantage Business Angels, Entrust and Archangels. The corporate venturers involved are General Capital Venture Finance, The Summit Group and GLE. An exciting dimension to the Fund consortium is the addition of funding from Focus Enterprises a US investment bank and New Vantage Group one of the leading US Angel Groups.

Seraphim won the Most Exciting New Entrant to The Market Award at the 2006 British Business Angel Association's Awards.

www.seraphimcapital.co.uk