PlayMob secures $787,000 for in-game fundraising technology

PlayMob, which develops the GiverBoard technology enabling developers to raise money for charities through microtransactions in their online games, has secured a £500,000 ($787,000) investment. The company will use this new financing to grow its staff from 8 workers to 13, to automate GiverBoard so that it will have a larger reach, and to develop a variety of add-ons designed to help generate further revenue. Through GiverBoard, PlayMob works with developers internationally to design charitable campaigns for their games. Those studios drop virtual goods in their titles, and donate up to 80 percent of proceeds from their sales to charities. PlayMob has already helped raise thousands of dollars with several GiverBoard campaigns, including one with Parallel Kingdom in which users could buy virtual soup to provide a meal to a homeless person via the HELP USA charity. Participants in this round of funding include British endowment group NESTA, Midven, and a number of angel investors -- game industry veteran Ian Livingstone was one of those backers, and is now chairman for PlayMob's board.