Propeller Accelerator startup Fantom Closes $600,000 in funding
Fantom completes $600K Seed Investment
(Dublin, Ireland, 15th December 2011)

Dublin-based start-up Fantom (www.fantom.me), which is set to launch its digital trading cards game for kids, has concluded its $600K Seed Investment Round today. The AIB Seed Capital Fund, managed by Dublin BIC has led the $600k investment round joined by Bloom Equity, private investor Kevin Neary and Enterprise Ireland.

Fantom CEO Paul Healy commented, “we’re a digital trading cards company, and we feel we have swapped cards with a clever group of investors who bring added value to the business beyond the investment.”

Fantom is taking the energy of the classic school yard trading game on-line. Aimed at tweens, teens and young adults Fantom will offer decks of digital collectibles in music, sport, TV, fashion and film among others, to collect on-line. Behind each collectible lies social media and licensed content making the card interactive. Fantom Fans can buy, trade and win rewards or simply enjoy the experience of owning the cards they have collected.

The game goes live before Christmas and looks set to capture children’s imaginations.

The launch version of Fantom is web-based, with the application running in the Microsoft Azure cloud, but the company has ambitious plans to take the game onto the cellphone, and have kids of all ages swapping cards phone to phone.

Fantom emerged as one of the first graduates of the DCU Ryan Academy Propeller Accelerator initiative in May of this year. DCURA is an existing investor in the company.

Commenting on the announcement, Alex Hobbs, Director, DBIC said: “We are delighted to see AIB Seed Capital provide investment in a company like Fantom with experienced entrepreneurs who have developed an exciting new games development targeting international growth."

Welcoming the announcement Greg Treston, Head of the High Potential Start-ups team at Enterprise Ireland said: “Enterprise Ireland is working closely with Fantom and is delighted to have supported this highly innovative company. The games sector is a growing market space with major potential for ambitious Irish companies like Fantom. We look forward to continuing to work with them as they develop this very exciting project.”
Investor Kevin Neary said, “it is clear the momentum in computer games is moving on-line and on to phones. I understand how on-line games has disrupted traditional channels and this is the opportunity I see in Fantom.”

Speaking on behalf of Bloom Equity, Conor Stanley commented, “we tracked Fantom early on and have been impressed by what the team has achieved in a few short months. We feel they are now at the right stage to benefit from the investment and the experience of the investor group to accelerate their growth.”

[ENDS]

For further information contact:

Fantom Paul Healy paul.healy@fantom.ie +353 87 205 4405
DBIC Alex Hobbs aibseedcapitalfund@dbic.ieBloom Equity Eva Sheehan eva@hban.org
Enterprise Ireland www.enterprise-ireland.comDCURA Terence Bowden terence.Bowden@ryanacademy.dcu.ie

About the Dublin Business Innovation Centre www.dbic.ie
Dublin Business Innovation Centre, Fund Manager of the AIB Seed Capital Fund, has extensive expertise in supporting seed and early stage investments. The AIB Seed Capital Fund is the leading seed capital fund in the Irish market, established in 2007 under the Enterprise Ireland Seed and Venture Capital Programme 2007-2012 and has a total of €53m under management to provide seed and early stage capital for innovative companies throughout the Republic of Ireland. More information on The AIB Seed Capital Fund is available at www.dbic.ie/services/access-to-finance/10-aib-seed-capital-fund.

About Enterprise Ireland www.enterprise-ireland.com
Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government agency responsible for the development and growth of Irish industry, is actively involved in supporting early stage high potential start-ups. With over 80 new direct equity investments annually in these businesses, and through its investment in 41 seed and venture capital funds, Enterprise Ireland is now the largest early stage VC investor in Europe in terms of the number of investments made. In addition, through its network of 31 international offices, Enterprise Ireland actively supports Irish companies to grow their export markets and create valuable jobs in Ireland.

About Bloom Equity www.bloomequity.com
Bloom Equity specializes in early stage investment in technology companies in SaaS, Software Distribution, Enterprise Software, Internet and Telecoms, working with companies to accelerate their growth.

About Kevin Neary
Kevin Neary is the founder and former managing director of GameStop Group, Ireland’s largest video games retailer. Neary has been an early stage investor in a number of successful on-line games companies.