Session 8: Entertainment for All Ages

Video

Presenting Companies

FlowPlay

Location: Seattle, WA
Funding: Angel Round, $500,000
CEO: Derrick Morton
Watch FlowPlay's presentation

FlowPlay is a virtual world community built around browser-based casual games. Users get to play the best casual games as their own created anime-like avatar. When they play games they earn stuff for their virtual life like clothing, refrigerators and other virtual store items. The site wants to provide the option to play casual games or interact with people in the virtual world (or both).

According to John Cook, CEO Derrick Morton said he is basing FlowPlay on the success of ClubPenguin, a virtual world for kids between the ages of eight to 14. As a business model, FlowPlay is exploring the possibility of selling virtual homes for one-time fees. The virtual homes could be used as a place for users to store their casual gaming earnings. They also plan on allowing people to purchase virtual store items using PayPal or credit cards.

FlowPlay plans to aggregate the best casual games and provide them for play in the site's virtual world. Morton says this will be quite different than most casual gaming sites that only offer links to popular games.

Learn more about FlowPlay

Metaplace (Areae)

Location: San Diego, CA
Watch Metaplace (Areae)'s presentation

Areae's Metaplace platform wants to revolutionize the virtual worlds space. Their platform will provide an open, easy-to-use interface which will allow users to create virtual worlds that can run anywhere. Metaplace-created virtual worlds will be robust with users being able to play games, socialize, create content and conduct commerce.

Most virtual worlds are walled gardens making it hard to get data in and out of the worlds. Metaplace-created virtual worlds can be embedded into your Facebook page, MySpace page, or your own blog via a flash-based client widget. Every world is indexed, tagged and rated by users on the Metaplace portal, so virtual worlds in the Metaplace network can be easily linked together.

Learn more about Metaplace (Areae)

WooMe

Location: San Francisco, CA
Funding: Series A, $1.90M
CEO: Stephen Stokols
Watch WooMe's presentation

WooMe brings the speed dating craze online and extends it to let users meet new people live in speed sessions that are fast, fun and free. There are no long forms or lengthy profile descriptions, simply find a session that interests you and meet five people in five minutes. Or, create your own session based on your interests and invite people you want to get a know or friends. Online speed-dating sessions use WooMe's in-browser video and voice capabilities to deliver great, live interactive experiences.

Learn more about WooMe

Zivity

Location: San Francisco, CA
Funding: Seed Round, $1M
CEO: Jeffrey Wescott
Watch Zivity's presentation

Zivity offers a social networking platform for sexy models and beautiful photography while its members get to vote for models and photos they find appealing. Powered by Zivity's patent-pending voting system, Zivity is the only media company that lets its members distribute royalties. With a $10 subscription, members receive five votes that they can cast for models and photography they find appealing. The more votes cast, the more models and photographers make. It is the members who decide what content is published and to whom royalties are distributed. Zivity pays its contributors. Eighty cents of every dollar vote cast is distributed to the model and photographer. There is no limit on the amount of money that a photographer or model can make. As long as a photo remains popular, models and photographers will share in ongoing royalties.

Learn more about Zivity