CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Media Chaperone, developer of a first of its kind Facebook application that helps parents manage their children’s Internet gaming use, today announced that it closed $1 million in its first venture capital funding effort. Led by Leo Capital Holdings a respected, early-stage investor with deep experience in the child-internet market place, this new funding enables the company to expand services and features of its rapidly -growing, free Facebook application for parents—Piggyback™.
Media Chaperone’s Piggyback application provides parents with important information, parental controls and protection for their child’s online learning and play. Parents can obtain, in real-time, an overview (through a parent’s Facebook account) of how their children are navigating the web within online gaming environments, social networks, and virtual worlds—and can easily manage entertainment expenditures, add monies for tokens, credit for continued gaming, or even monitor online behavior.
Randy Rissman Managing Director of Leo Capital led the financing. Rissman is the founder of Tiger Electronics, one of the industry’s largest privately held toy company prior to their acquisition by Hasbro in 1998. Rissman and Doug Moneison from Hyde Park Angels will join Media Chaperone’s board of directors. "Leo Capital is excited to support Media Chaperone in their efforts. As tweens spend more and more time online, Piggyback fills a void that allows parents to create a deep level of interaction with their children in the internet space,” said Rissman.
Recent research indicates that children aged 8-12 influence US $150 billion in parental spending each year. Those 20 million tweens across the US exert immense spending sway—predominantly through online venues including gaming environments and virtual worlds, as well as for related products and services. Piggyback provides an online bridge between parents and tweens assisting parents in monitoring behavior while driving commerce by tapping into Facebook Credits as a payment mechanism for virtual goods and game currency. Rissman goes on to say, "Piggyback has driven incremental revenue to its partners by allowing them to offer microtransactions in the form of virtual goods and currency. We're confident that the Media Chaperone management team has both the passion and experience needed to continue to propel Piggyback into market leadership.”
Piggyback simplifies the ability for parents to follow along with their children’s online social and gaming activities and learning success—and has already been integrated within several popular online gaming environments, social networks and virtual worlds including Whyville.net, Planet Cazmo, Woozworld, Everloop and Webosaurs, among others.
"With this round of funding from Leo Capital and Hyde Park Angels, we will make Piggyback even more compelling for parents while offering content developers a laser-focused vehicle aimed at engaging parents and protecting children in an elegant way," said Ed Lewis, co-founder and CEO at Media Chaperone. "At the same time, we plan to expand our infrastructure to support the innovations and features demanded by our rapidly growing subscriber base and partners."
About Media Chaperone
Founded in 2009, Media Chaperone develops ‘parent-friendly’ applications to manage their children’s Internet use. Piggyback™ is Media Chaperone’s core application integrated within Facebook which delivers real-time reports, social controls, and rewards within popular online games, virtual worlds and social networks. Based in Chicago, IL, Media Chaperone is privately held and backed by angel investors including Leo Capital Holdings and Hyde Park Angels. For more information, visit www.MediaChaperone.com.
About Leo Capital Holdings
Leo Capital Holdings, LLC is an Illinois-based privately-funded venture investor of early and later stage private companies focused predominantly on consumer-oriented technology and applications. The company’s portfolio includes mobile entertainment developer FunMobility as well as GrubHub, an online at-home food delivery service, and was founded by former Tiger Electronics CEO and founder, Randy Rissman. For more information, visit www.leocapholdings.com.
About Hyde Park Angels
Hyde Park Angels (HPA) is a Chicago-based angel investor network that makes seed and early-stage investments in businesses, primarily in the Midwest, in a wide variety of industry sectors. These include technology, healthcare, business and financial services, and consumer and industrial products. HPA’s members include current and former corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists who offer domain expertise, strategic advice and coaching to HPA’s portfolio companies. HPA is affiliated with the Polsky Center of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. HPA has invested over $3.5 million since its formation in 2007. For more information, visit: www.hydeparkangels.org.
Piggyback and Media Chaperone are registered trademarks of Media Chaperone.