IGA Worldwide wins $25 million in funding
NEW YORK, July 12 (Reuters) - IGA Worldwide Inc, which provides advertising within video games, on Thursday said it raised $25 million in funding, tapping venture capital firms including one run by General Electric Co (GE.N) and its NBC/Universal unit.
In-game advertising is emerging as a popular new area of marketing, as companies such as Burger King (BKC.N), Subway, Coca-Cola Co. (KO.N) and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (7267.T) have already jumped into the space.
Some analysts forecast that the market could top $1 billion in revenue by 2010 as advertisers chase key youth and young adult audiences that are spending less time on television and more time with games and the Internet.
New York-based IGA Worldwide's campaigns includes those for brands such as News Corp's 20th Century Fox NWSa.N , Hawaiian Airlines and Viacom's MTV (VIA.N) .
For GE/NBC Universal, it marks another investment by its Peacock Equity fund in the video game sector. Last week, it was part of a group that invested $30 million in Trion World Network Inc, a video game publisher and developer.
"IGA Worldwide is an important investment for Peacock Equity," Thomas Byrne, managing director and group head, Peacock Equity, said in a statement. "The gaming industry is one of the major focuses for our Fund and has high growth potential that can shape the future of the new media advertising industry."
Other participants in the IGA funding included KTB Ventures Easton Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, Intel Capital and DN Capital. (Reporting by Paul Thomasch)
