d/s Is After A Multi-Billion Dollar Market
d/s or DesignStory pitches itself as an "online community for design loving people". DesignStory is going after the huge private sales market that has emerged globally in the recent years. DesignStory is a US-Finland based company. The main company is in the US, while a sister company, has been established in Finland. Currently there are quite a few people working with the company, but the founders Mia Lewin and Inka Mero, are the driving forces behind the company.
Apaja Founder Looking For New Challenges
Asmo Halinen, one of the original three Apaja founders, has just announced through Jaiku that he is looking for new challenges. In other words, he has (or will resign soon) from Apaja's services.
Apaja Online Entertainment is focused on creating community gaming websites under the name of Playray. The Finnish service is called Aapeli and is one of the most popular entertainment sites in Finland.
Apaja has recently gone through quite a bit of transition in its managerial positions. Inka Mero was the CEO for some time, before she left for maternity leave. Tiina Zilliacus took over after Inka as Apaja continued to expand its services abroad to Turkey and Hungary, to name a few countries. A year ago, 1.75 million euros were invested into Apaja by Martin Trigon Venture Partners.
We'll see if we can get a word from Asmo on the reasons behind the decision and what those new challenges might be for this online game & community services heavyweight.
Apaja changes executives and expands to Turkey
Apaja Online Entertainment has done some changes in their management while expanding the casual gaming service to Turkey, according to a press release sent out earlier today. Inka Mero, the CEO of Apaja, is on a maternity leave and Tiina Zilliacus has joined the company as an acting CEO, Executive Vice President. Tiina Zilliacus has previously worked with Nokia Online Shops and Sonera Zed -service, according to the information on the management.
Also reported in the press release is the expansion of Playray gaming service to Turkey, the 15th country where the service is available. No date for the launch of Turkey is given in the press release. Playray now attracts 2.5M unique visitors on a monthly basis.
Disclosure: I am a former employee of Apaja Online Entertainment.
Apaja closes 1.75 MEUR Round A financing
The Finnish Apaja Online Entertainment has closed a 1.75 million euro round A financing with Martinson Trigon Venture Partners. Apaja's main product is the online gaming community known in Finland by Aapeli and the international brand of Playray.
Discussions on the round were started during early summer and continued to closer discussions with MTVP during the autumn. According to Inka Mero, the CEO of Apaja, negotions were continued with MTVP as they have a strong understanding of the Eastern-European markets as well as Central European markets.
The investment is used for growth and internationalisation of the brand.
Disclaimer: The writer of this post has previously worked at Apaja Online Entertainment.
