Download bp Interactive Technologies Raises $XM from Lightspeed – Gemini

bp Interactive Technologies Closes Investment from the
Lightspeed – Gemini Internet Lab
Company Develops Online Entertainment Applications
Hod Hasharon, Israel - November 1, 2006: bp Interactive Technologies (bp InTech), an
Internet start-up developing on-line entertainment applications, announced today that it has
received an investment from the Lightspeed-Gemini Internet Lab (LGiLab). As part of the
investment round, Gemini’s Tali Aben joins the Board of bp InTech and both Dan Ciporin and
Ouriel Ohayon of the LGiLab join the Advisory Board. bp InTech is the first investment of the
LGiLab.
bp InTech was founded by Tal Ben-Simon and Tomer Pascal with the goal of delivering
innovative, powerful, yet simple to use online entertainment applications and building
interactive communities. The company's first project, currently known as "playSPEX- The
Sports Exchange", will revolutionize the way sports fans and fantasy sports players from
around the world enjoy the exciting feeling of being "part of the game".
Fantasy sports is the term used for a popular pastime where pretend “owners” of a sports
team compete against others on the basis of statistics generated by individual players of a
real professional sport. It is estimated by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association that 16 million
adults in the U.S., age 18 to 55, play fantasy sports. Fantasy sports are also popular
throughout the world with leagues for soccer, cricket and other non-U.S. based sports.
The "playSPEX" project sets new game rules for the fantasy sports market, using the latest
web technologies and creating a strong community of sports fans and fantasy sports players
from around the world, with the ultimate goal of becoming a major global online sports center.
The patent-pending system is expected to launch in 2007.
Tal Ben-Simon, Founder, CEO & Product Manager, said, "Fantasy Sports is a big part of
American culture, and growing rapidly in Europe and in the entire world. The Fantasy Sports
market holds great opportunity now, particularly after recent developments in online gaming
and considering that Fantasy Sports games have not been dramatically changed since their
arrival on the Internet gaming scene a number of years ago.” He continued, “We're proud to
be the first investment of the LGiLab. During the investment process we've found experienced
people who make decisions faster than the speed of the web, which is a crucial factor when it
comes to Internet investments."
Tomer Pascal, Founder, VP Research & Marketing, said, "When sports & online entertainment
come together, the combination yields a sizeable market of users who are looking for ways to
share, discuss and even argue their sports knowledge and compete with others. ‘playSPEX’
will utilize its unique platform and the community's generated content in order to become the
first real online sports center."
Tali Aben, Gemini Partner at Gemini said, “Building Internet companies is about combining
unique platforms for community building and information exchange with strong technology that
offers unique value to the communities they serve. What Tal and Tomer are building is an
online sports arena offering superior technological and interactive features that are not
currently available anywhere on the web.”
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About bp Interactive Technologies
bp InTech was founded by Tal Ben-Simon and Tomer Pascal with the goal of delivering
innovative, powerful, yet simple to use online entertainment applications and building
interactive communities. The company's first project, currently known as "playSPEX", will
revolutionize the way sports fans and fantasy sports players from around the world enjoy the
exciting feeling of being "part of the game".
More information is available at
www.bpintech.com.
About the Lightspeed-Gemini Internet Lab (LGiLab)
The LGiLab is an initiative formed by Gemini and Lightspeed, two top-tier VCs, to jointly fund
approximately 10 Israeli seed-stage companies in the areas of Internet and Mobile Internet.
The Lightspeed-Gemini Internet Lab funds companies that are at the earliest stages,
supporting market validation studies and prototype development for Internet technologies.
Both Funds will also invest considerable time in opening doors for the entrepreneurs to the
Internet community in Silicon Valley. Ouriel Ohayon, General Manager and Dan Ciporin,
Chairman, lead the initiative in coordination with Gemini’s Danny Cohen and Tali Aben and
Lightspeed’s Yoni Cheifetz, Jake Seid and Ravi Mhatre. Additional information is available at
www.LGiLab.com.