PrePlay, Inc. raises $4.7 million in Series B

NEW YORK, April 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of PrePlay, Inc.'s (www.preplaysports.com) Opening Day re-launch of MLB PrePlay v2.0 for iOS and Android, the company is announcing the closing of a $4.7M Series B Financing. Lead investor Trilogy Equity Partners, LLC was joined by RSE Ventures, the venture capital fund founded by Miami Dolphins' owner Stephen Ross and Matt Higgins.

PrePlay is a New York based mobile games company that has found early success among sports fans and gamers with its baseball, hockey, and football titles. The company also has coveted commercial partnerships with Major League Baseball Advanced Media and the National Hockey League.

PrePlay's core competency is creating apps that enable fans to do what they already do  – make and share simple predictions for every play of every game they watch. Add the right mixture of game mechanics and social hooks, and you've got a winning suite of evergreen game titles. Through cross-marketing and PrePlay credentials supported platform-wide, the games are able to support and reinforce each other as a network in spite of the seasonality of sports.

The company measures its success based on how many predictions fans make each day on the platform. On Baseball's Opening Day (April 1^st), users made over 200,000 play-by-play predictions on the platform, doubling the company's single-day record to that point.

PrePlay CEO Andrew Daines – recently named one of Forbes' 30 Under 30 - says, "We think the whole social TV, second-screen business is upside down. It's currently dominated by generic one-size-fits-all check-in apps and by TV programmers who want you to watch their shows, but have no feeling for games, no feeling for great mobile product. We fit into the category of 'second-screen', but we're tackling the problem of engagement from a mobile-first, gaming perspective. We care deeply about creating rich, high-quality game experiences, and believe TV tune-in and engagement with content and brands flow naturally from there."

The company will use the new funds to grow its Ruby on Rails and native iOS and Android teams in an effort to add more sports and grow its advertising, in-app purchase, and platform licensing businesses.

Methuselah Advisors acted as Financial Advisor and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton represented the company in the transaction.

QUICK FACT SHEET

• Founded in 2010 by undergraduate student at Cornell
• Announced its' 100,000^th registered user yesterday
• Now receiving 1 Million fan predictions on the platform per week
• 30,000 social media messages + chats made per day
• 8 million predictions made on the platform all-time
• Grown from 12 to 20 employees in past 6 months
• Commercial partner of MLBAM and NHL
• Offices in NYC & Paris, France
• Top 25 on Apple App Store Sports, Top 25 on Google Play Sports
• Industry-leading average engagement of 50 minutes per user session

TRILOGY EQUITY PARTNERS, LLC

Established by a team of Seattle wireless and technology entrepreneurs, including John Stanton, Trilogy Equity Partners, LLC invests private capital in areas where in-house expertise and market growth promise superior financial returns. The firm's partners have long been at the center of the global wireless revolution as founders of Voicestream (T-Mobile) and Western Wireless in addition to previously holding pivotal roles at McCaw Cellular (AT&T).

RSE VENTURES

Stephen M. Ross and Matt Higgins co-founded RSE Ventures in 2012. The firm builds and invests directly in companies specializing in audience engagement, combining in-venue content, curated events, and strategic partnerships to build the best possible fan experience.

SOURCE PrePlay, Inc.