Social entertainment company Milyoni has raised $11 million in a Series B round led by Oak Investment Partners. Previous investors ATA Ventures and Thomvest Ventures also participated in the round. The money will be used for further development as well as to open offices in Los Angeles and New York.

PRESS RELEASE

Milyoni, the leader in social entertainment, today announced that it has

secured $11 million in Series B financing led by Oak Investment Partners.

Previous investors ATA Ventures and Thomvest Ventures also participated

in the round. Milyoni will use the funding to further extend its product

portfolio in bringing social entertainment experiences to fans on

Facebook. The company will also expand its U.S. presence, with offices

opening in Los Angeles and New York City.

 

“With more than 800 million users and growing, Facebook has established

itself as a go-to platform for the discovery and consumption of content

today,” said John Corpus, founder and CEO. “In 2012, we anticipate an

even greater shift in behavior, with more entertainment companies putting

the marketing muscle behind their Facebook presence to further expand

their selections of movies, music and other content on the platform. The

way we see it, we’re only in the first of a nine inning game.”

 

Milyoni provides a new way for entertainment companies to take their

Facebook presence to the next level by providing a fun, unique, shared

and social experience to users. Using Social Cinema and Social Live, fans

can easily view, like and comment during particular points within a

movie, TV show, sporting event or concert and chat with friends while

watching. Over the last year, Milyoni has powered some of the biggest

social entertainment campaigns on Facebook and has stamped a number of

innovative firsts, including the first PPV movie on Facebook, the first

live PPV concert on Facebook, the first socially interactive movie and

the first day-and-date movie release on Facebook.

 

“Oak Investment Partners is excited to join the Milyoni team to further

extend their stronghold in the social entertainment arena,” said Fred

Harman, Managing Partner at Oak Investment Partners. “The company has

shown tremendous traction and growth over the last year, hosting more

than 100 titles on Facebook today. The audience for Milyoni’s technology

continues to expand along with Facebook’s growth. We’re confident that

the Milyoni team has both the passion and experience to propel the

company forward.”

 

“We’ve believed in Milyoni from the beginning and have seen the company’s

growth mirror that of the entertainment industry’s needs,” said Hatch

Graham, Managing Director, ATA Ventures. “Milyoni’s technology has

evolved into the powerhouse social entertainment platform it is today,

and the company is poised to continue its leadership in the space. ATA

Ventures is thrilled to be a supporting partner.”

 

Milyoni is primed for an impressive 2012 with 15 current studio

partnerships and dozens more in the pipeline. The company has more than

3,000 Social Cinema titles and over 50 Social Live events slated by

year’s end. Milyoni will continue to enrich studio interaction,

administration and analytics functionality bringing unprecedented insight

and engagement to the entertainment experience.

 

For more information, visit http://www.milyoni.com.

 

About Milyoni

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Milyoni, Inc. is the

leader in social entertainment. The company’s technology provides

entertainment companies with a way to connect and engage with Facebook

fans, and turn them into customers. Whether it’s watching a live concert,

movie or sporting event or shopping your favorite brands, Milyoni enables

companies to monetize fans pages through a unique level of engagement and

a shared, social experience. Milyoni’s services reach over 150 million

fans from industry leading customers, including Universal Pictures,

Lionsgate, Paramount Studios, Big Air Studios, Austin City Limits Live,

Turner Broadcasting, University of Oklahoma and The NBA to bring a

variety of digital content and physical goods to fans on Facebook. For

more information, visit www.milyoni.com.

 

About Oak Investment Partners

Oak Investment Partners is a multistage

venture capital firm and a lead investor in the next generation of

enduring growth companies. Since 1978 the firm has invested $9 billion in

nearly 500 companies around the world, earning the trust of entrepreneurs

with a senior team that delivers steady guidance, deep domain expertise

and a consistent investment philosophy. Its current portfolio includes

Bleacher Report, Demand Media, Federated Media, Good Technology, KAYAK

Software, MobiTV, Rearden Commerce, and Wonga. Oak Investment Partners is

also known for its historical investments in aQuantive, Allyes,

AthenaHealth, Gmarket, HuffingtonPost, Inktomi, Netspend, Polycom,

Seagate, and TeleAtlas.

 

About ATA Ventures

ATA Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on

seeking out early stage private companies that appear to offer above

average prospects for capital growth. With over $450 Million of capital

under management, ATA Ventures focuses on Information Technology (IT) and

provides seed capital and early stages of financing to these companies.

For more information, visit http://ataventures.com.

 

About Thomvest Ventures

Thomvest Ventures is an early-stage venture

capital firm committed to the success of our entrepreneur partners. We

primarily focus on investments in areas where we have deep expertise and

experience, including software, technology-enabled services, and hardware

businesses. The capital we invest is our own, enabling us to be more

creative, flexible and patient than many venture investors. More than

two-thirds of the companies we have funded in the last decade have either

gone public, been acquired, or continue to grow as independent

businesses.