Startup name
Friendbase AB
Web address
Founding date
March 2013
Incorporation
Yes
Total team member
6
Startup stage
Users
Category
Consumer
Sector
Gaming, Social media, Education
Product usage or interact
Desktop, Mobile/Tablet (iOS), Mobile/Tablet (Android)
City
Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
Elevator pitch
Welcome to Friendbase - a fun packed, activity driven virtual world where young people from all over the world play games, create content and meet new people in a fun and friendly place. Friendbase vision is to become the global platform for young teenagers all over the world.
Our core values are: Entertainment, Cultural Globalization, Education and Safety
Team
Deborah Lygonis
With knowledge in starting and managing several startups in the digital world as well as food industry, my current focus is on Friendbase AB as founder and CEO. Am coach and mentor at incubator Innovatum, the ESA-BIC Incubator and Founders Institute (Gothenburg Chapter).
Business model
Target customer
Target customers are teens age 13-16 across the globe.Customer acquisition strategy
Viral functionality, ads on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.Revenue model
Our business model is based on two well-proven revenue streams:Sales to our members through monthly VIP membership subscription, sale of virtual items such as clothes, looks, emojis, pets, furniture etc.
B2B sales such as advertisements, product placement, sponsorships, events and licensing fees.
Market info
Market size
$ 46,100,000,000Competitors
- Habbo - www.habbo.com
- Star Stable - www.starstable.com
Competition
The social gaming space has many competitors. In a broad sense, every social platform or game that attracts our users attention are competitors. However we have identified one that we see as a clear competitor, Habbo. Our main differences are our message of friendship and strict safety guidelines, our games especially the quiz function aiming for education and that Friendbase is completely cross platform - across iOS, Android and web.KPI's
- 6,000 Daily Average Users
- 22,000 Sessions
Startup traction
Our daily average users vary with more activity on weekends than weekdays. It is growing by 15% per month. The amount of sessions per day exceed 20 000 meaning that the users are online several times per day.
Other information
Swedish winner of Startup Tel Aviv Innovation contest
Awarded research grant $35 000 from Vinnova to explore a eHealth version of Friendbase (Vinnova is a Swedish government organisation)
Selected and took part in TINC, a four week acceleration program in Silicon Valley, USA managed by Nordic Innovation House.
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Friendbase has members in 200 countries, the largest being Brazil (28%), Turkey (8%) followed by Philippines, USA and India. This has been achieved with minimal marketing spend and a very bootstrapped model. We are now going to focus on our largest markets, aiming to grow them to be THE place to go for young people. In our team we have members that are fluent in many languages, Brazilian Portuguese and Turkish to name a few.
We have a very exciting plan for new features that will lead to increased activity as well as rapid growth in members and revenue. New versions will also add AR and VR elements. The funds we are raising now will take us to the next level and will be used to add content and scale through smart marketing campaigns.
Publication date: 21 March 2018