TopLine Game Labs™ Enters The Fantasy Sports And Social Gaming Marketplace With $25 Million Investment

LOS ANGELES, June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TopLine Game Labs™ entered the fast-growing fantasy sports and social gaming market today under the leadership of long-time digital media and technology executive David Geller, former Global Head of Fantasy Sports at Yahoo! Sports, with a $25 million investment from Cantor Ventures. 

Mr. Geller, CEO of TopLine Game Labs™, said: "The launch of TopLine Game Labs™ marks a new era in next-generation fantasy sports and social gaming. We are architecting a robust platform to power exciting new sports and entertainment based social games. With our initial focus on the innovative and fast growing short-duration fantasy sports marketplace, combined with our 'mobile-first' philosophy, we are superbly poised to expand into other categories, delivering a one-stop online and mobile gaming solution." 

Along with a growing team of Los Angeles-based media and technology experts, Mr. Geller is building an innovative fantasy sports and social gaming portfolio of products focused on mobile devices, which also will be available on desktop and other platforms. "While mobile is wildly proliferating, we are committed to building a platform agnostic architecture that provides our customers with outstanding short-term fantasy sports games and entertainment-based social applications available whenever and however they want to play," he said.

Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. and General Partner of Cantor Ventures, said: "The substantial investment from Cantor Ventures combined with David's extraordinary track record and experience including eight years at Yahoo! Inc. clearly jumpstarts TopLine Game Labs™ as a powerful front-runner in short-term fantasy sports and social gaming."

"As part of the Cantor Ventures investment, our growth strategy capitalizes on existing assets, including the best attributes of the previous Cantor Fantasy Sports™ offering, such as daily fantasy sports play unencumbered by season-long restrictions. In addition, we plan to leverage Cantor's deep experience from ownership in the popular Hollywood Stock Exchange®, the leading virtual entertainment stock market, which offers tremendous growth opportunities alongside the spectacularly growing fantasy sports market," Mr. Geller said. 

Mr. Lutnick said, "David has earned a distinguished reputation as an industry innovator. His record of creativity and leadership, and his passion for this exciting enterprise, represent an enormous pioneering opportunity to create an outstanding leadership position in the daily fantasy sports and social gaming marketplace."

Mr. Geller added, "I'm thrilled to launch TopLine Game Labs™ as we execute a new vision in this dynamic industry.  I look forward to growing the team, launching innovative new products and applications, and developing an outstanding business that leads the way in mobile-first fantasy sports and social gaming, at a time when consumer appetite for these products is at an all-time high and continues to grow."

Mr. Geller's deep experience encompasses business strategy, product development, marketing, and operations over 15 years of building successful online and mobile products and platforms. He most recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Dreamworks Animation Investments, Inc, a technology incubator of consumer products, mobile applications and platforms.  Earlier, he was Global Head of Fantasy Sports for Yahoo! Sports, the industry-leading fantasy sports division of Yahoo! Inc. He led product development, marketing and financial management, managed relationships with professional sports leagues, and drove video integration, original programming, live streaming of games, and development of cross-platform experiences across smartphones and Connected TV.  He has also served in leadership positions at Yahoo! Music, Overture, Inc., and RioPort, Inc.

About Cantor Ventures
Cantor Ventures, the venture capital and enterprise development arm of Cantor Fitzgerald, invests in companies focused on the development of innovative, technology-centric products, services and marketplaces that are at the forefront of change in their respective sectors. Cantor Ventures takes an active role in developing early stage businesses into successful companies, from inception to maturity, bringing to bear Cantor's decades of experience in spawning new businesses and technologies.

About Cantor Fitzgerald
Cantor Fitzgerald, a leading global financial services firm at the forefront of financial and technological innovation, has been a proven and resilient leader for over 65 years. Cantor is a preeminent capital markets investment bank serving more than 5,000 institutional clients around the world, and is recognized for its strengths in institutional equity and fixed income sales and trading and for serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage, and commercial real estate financing.

Cantor Fitzgerald also is a leader in entrepreneurial and innovative new businesses in gaming and gaming technology, e-commerce, and other ventures and initiatives.

SOURCE Cantor Ventures