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MySpace Co-Founder’s Games Company Acquires Former Zynga Partner

Eric Johnson in News on June 13 at 12:21 pm PT

Mobile-social games company SGN, founded by MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe, has acquired another independent studio, Mob Science, the companies announced in a press release. Zynga had invested in Mob Science via its Partners program, and published its Facebook RPG Legends: Rise of a Hero. That game and the rest of Mob Science’s portfolio is included in the acquisition, but monetary terms of the deal were not disclosed.

News Byte

Social Gifting Startup Wrapp Raises $15 Million

Mike Isaac in Social on June 13 at 4:30 am PT

Wrapp, the mobile app that allows users to send and receive digital gift cards via their smartphones, announced on Thursday it had raised $15 million in its Series B venture round. Participation in the round included existing contributors Greylock Partners, Atomico and Creandum, as well as new investors American Express, Qualcomm Ventures and SEB Private Equity. Wrapp CEO Hjalmar Winbladh told AllThingsD that the company plans to use the new funds to continue expansion, including staffing up its San Francisco office.

News Byte

WhatsApp Hits Record High in Daily Message Volume

Mike Isaac in Mobile on June 12 at 10:17 pm PT

WhatsApp, the massively popular mobile messaging service, announced a new record on Wednesday for daily inbound and outbound messages sent in a single day. The company processed 27 billion messages in a 24-hour period, up from 20 billion processed in a day just two months before.

News Byte

Kamcord Adds Audio Commentary Feature to Mobile Gamecasting Offerings

Eric Johnson in News on June 6 at 4:37 am PT

Kamcord, a startup that enables the recording and sharing of game-play videos for mobile games, is rolling out a “voice overlay” feature to connected games, starting today. That means that players of one of the 100 or so games that use Kamcord will soon be able to record live audio commentary tracks as they play. Kamcord’s main competitor, Applifier’s Everyplay, also offers audio commentaries and is planning to roll out a video commentary feature in the near future.

News Byte

YPlan Raises $12M for Last-Minute VIP Tickets App

Liz Gannes in Mobile on June 4 at 4:00 pm PT

The “spontaneous going out app” YPlan has raised an awful lot of money based on some early traction in London. Invested in a $12 million Series A fund are General Catalyst Partners, Wellington Partners, Octopus Investments, A-Grade, SLOW Ventures Fund and Shakil Khan. The company’s app, which helps secure tickets to sold-out events, has been downloaded 200,000 times, which it estimates amounts to 10 percent of iPhones in London. It will launch in New York next.