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Press Releases
For more information:
Deborah Jones
Strategies
714-957-8880, ext.113
deborah@strategiesadpr.com
For Immediate Release
TECH COAST ANGELS FAST TRACKS
INVESTMENT IN MASHER MEDIA, NEW ONLINE VIRTUAL WORLD FOR CHILDREN
Cites Exceptional Executive Team and
Market Opportunity
IRVINE, Calif., August 10, 2009 — Tech Coast Angels (TCA),
the nation’s largest angel investment network, today
announced it has fast-tracked its investment in Masher Media, Inc., developers
of a unique new virtual world for children called www.MyMiniPeeps.com that will
give kids ages 6 to 13 an online experience as exciting as a video
game but with more social networking, multiplayer, and complete and
enriching real-world content. “Even in this difficult economy,
Masher Media is a good example of how a great new company with an
exceptional market opportunity can get investment money and
get it fast,” said Richard Sudek, president of TCA. Masher Media made
its first presentation to TCA on July 1 and received notice of its
investment of $300,000 on July 31. Due to the level of interest, this
round will be held open for a total of $500,000 of investment in the
next month.
According to Luis Villalobos, founder of TCA, “As
investors, first and foremost we bet on people, and Sherry Gunther,
the founder and creative genius behind Masher Media is one of the most
accomplished people in her industry. Moreover, Masher Media has a
terrific concept in a fast-growing market. This was an easy investment
decision.”
CEO Sherry Gunther has over 20 years experience in the entertainment
industry, producing such animated hits as The Simpsons,
Rugrats, Family Guy, PowerPuff Girls, and many others. She’s won
two Emmy Awards, a Cable Ace Award and many more. She’s also the
creator of ZooKazoo.com, a revolutionary social networking website for
children, so she and her team bring extensive experience in the online
world as well.
The children’s virtual world business
reached $1.2B in revenues in 2008 and the user base is expected to grow
from 186M in June 2009 to 640M by 2015. The virtual world, www.MyMiniPeeps.com, literally
leapfrogs the current children’s online experience, providing
a new level of sophisticated, MMORPG,
social, fully immersive content, 3D graphics and an interactive world
that allows children to role play, become involved in communities,
enjoy multiplayer gaming experiences, customize worlds, generate
content and generally be empowered for real-world interaction. The site
is also secure and parent-authorized.
Sherry Gunther, CEO, Masher Media, stated, “The kid’s
online space is at such an exciting stage with the audience
becoming more sophisticated and technology allowing us to reach
creative goals never possible before. There's a real opportunity for
us, the content drivers, and our young users to innovate together to
shape a new online experience.”
Additional information on Masher Media is available at www.mashermedia.com.
About Tech Coast Angels
Tech Coast Angels, www.techcoastangels.com,
is the largest angel investor group in the United
States. Its members provide funding and guidance to more early-stage,
high-growth companies in Southern California than any other
investment group. TCA members invest in companies in a wide range of
industries, including the life sciences, biotech, IT, services, retail,
Internet, financial, software, media, consumer products and tech
startups. TCA members give companies more than just capital; they
also provide counsel, mentoring and access to an extensive network of
potential investors, customers, strategic partners and management talent.
TCA has more than 250 members, including its venture capital
affiliates, in five networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego,
Westlake/Santa Barbara and the Inland Empire. More information on
investment with Tech Coast Angels can be found at www.techcoastangels.com or
at twitter.com/techcoastangels.
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