Mediastay is a French company that kind of stands out from the rest – and not just because it was founded by a group of teenagers back in 2000 (co-founder Eric Bennepthali started back when he was 16). Today, the 60-person company specializing in online gaming payment solutions is announcing that it has closed a €15 million ($21.5 million) round of funding for further international development. The money comes from Iris Capital and IdInvest Partners (formerly AGF Private Equity).
MediaStay publishes a number of games, including sweepstakes like Kingoloto, Grattage and Lucksurf. In 2010, the MediaStay also entered casual gaming with the launch of DiamondsQuest – before launching its OfferMatch virtual payment solution later in the year. This Tapjoy-like virtual currency platform is used by MediaStay to fuel its own games – which count over 15 million players in 14 different countries – in addition to third-party partner sites and Facebook applications. Users are able to acquire virtual currency by signing up for various offers. OfferMatch is used in Kobojo‘s social games, Feerik‘s OhMyDollz and Prizee to name a few.
MediaStay is also currently the only French company accredited by Facebook to provide advertising solutions to app developers.
This round of funding will allow the company to launch additional sites and applications, and to develop its international audience. The 60-person team currently has offices in Paris, Brussels and San Francisco and is considering additional international offices at the moment. While no announcements have been made, the company did launch Kingoloto in Brazil last week – so I wouldn’t be too surprised to find an office there shortly. MediaStay has also made some small acquisitions in the past, including LuckySurf in 2008 – and Bennepthali definitely hinted at potential acquisitions to come…