New Games Publisher Formed By Industry Veterans

Neonga AG secures two million Euros in Series A funding: The successful first round of financing of the new online game publisher Neonga begins a new era in the online games market. Neonga will launch its first titles in downloadable, browser-based, Facebook and mobile games at the start of 2011.

A consortium of private and strategic investors, including the High-Tech Gründerfonds [a German venture capital company investing in high-tech companies at seed stage] and the VC Fonds Kreativwirtschaft Berlin [VC Fund Creative Industries Berlin], are investing around two million euros in the newly founded Neonga. The management of Neonga consists of the three games industry veterans Rolf Klöppel (CEO), Benjamin Kaiser (CTO) and Stefan Hinz (CMO), who previously had leading positions in Gamigo, Frogster and Ascaron.

Rolf Klöppel, CEO of Neonga AG, says, “With the proceeds of this round of financing we will be able to develop the infrastructure, staff, range of titles and marketing power to play a significant role in the booming online gaming market.”

“Neonga is a major addition to our portfolio of investments in the games industry,” comments Holger Heinen, Senior Investment Manager of High Tech Gründerfonds. “With their very experienced team and their convincing strategy, we see excellent prospects of valuable synergies within our portfolio.” Mischa Wetzel, Investment Manager in IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Berlin, adds, “We are delighted to be able to support this very promising company with its unique setup in Berlin, through our financial investment and our contact network.”

Neonga AG just recently moved into its offices in Berlin Mitte [Berlin’s central district] and will be announcing its first game in the coming weeks.

About Neonga AG:
Neongas AG is a publisher of online games – in particular the so-called free-to-play Massively Multiplayer Online Games. These are offered free as PC downloads, browser games, in Facebook or to be played on mobile handsets. The games are associated with “Item Shops”, where players can acquire specific premium goods. The company was founded in Berlin in July 2010. The Board consists of Rolf Klöppel (CEO), Benjamin Kaiser (CTO) and Stefan Hinz (CMO).

Contact:
Neonga AG
Rolf Klöppel
Rosenthaler Str. 38
10178 Berlin
pr@neonga.com

About IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft
IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft (www.ibb-bet.de) provides equity financing to innovative Berlin-based companies. The firm is the regional market leader in venture capital in Berlin. IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft was founded in 1997 as a fully owned subsidiary of Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB). The funds provided are to be used for the development and launch of innovative products and services or creative business concepts. IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft manages the “VC Fonds Technologie Berlin” fund (€ 52m) and the “VC Fonds Kreativwirtschaft Berlin” fund (€ 30m). Both funds were started as joint initiatives of IBB and the State of Berlin. They are cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The track record of IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft includes successful IPOs and a large number of trade sales to strategic partners.

Contact:
IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH
Mischa Wetzel
Bundesallee 171
10715 Berlin, Germany
FON: +49 (0)30 2125-3201
FAX: +49 (0)30 2125-3202
venture@ibb-bet.de
www.ibb-bet.de

About High-Tech Gruenderfonds
High-Tech Gruenderfonds invests venture capital into young, high-potential technology companies that convert promising research results into successful businesses. The seed financing provided aims to enable start-ups to take their R&D propositions to the development of a prototype, proof of concept and possibly market launch. High-Tech Gruenderfonds initially invests an amount of EUR 500,000 and can invest up to a combined total of two million Euros per company in subsequent financing rounds. Investors in this public/private partnership are the German Federal Ministry for Business and Technology (BMWi), the KfW Banking Group as well as the six industrial companies BASF, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Daimler and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gründerfonds has approximately 272 million Euro under management.

Contact:
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Holger Heinen
Senior Investment Manager
Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2
53175 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 82300-100
Fax: +49 228 82300-050
info@high-tech-gruenderfonds.de
www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de