Angel Academe, a new angel investment network led by women, has made its first investment, TechCrunch reported.
The investment network comprised of high net worth individuals, the majority of whom are women, has backed Buddybounce with an undisclosed investment for its seed funding round. Angel Academe seeks to support startups led by women. Proceeds from Angel Academe's investment will be deployed by Buddybounce for its growth plans as well as for the introduction for a new iOS app geared for fans, the report said.
As part of the deal, Hannah O'Shaunessy, the lead investor, will become part of the Board of Directors of Buddybounce. The startup's other bacers are Skimlinks CEO Alicia Navarro and Activision Europe and NCsoft Europe Founder and the former Chairman of Climax Geoff Heath OBE, the report said.
UK-based Buddybounce basically helps artists and those that handle them the ability to determine who their superfans are, connect with them and give them rewards. Giving them rewards stem from the fact that artists do have "super fans" who promote them heavily through social media. Despite the power that these "super fans" hold, their efforts are unpaid. Rewarding these fans for their genuine dedication, however, can be difficult for artists and their management because these devoted fans are difficult to identify from the throng, the report said.
It is this difficulty that Buddybounce intends to address. Co-Founder Emma Obanye told TechCrunch in an interview, "When artists start having fans across various social media platforms, managing their relationship with them becomes tricky. We are here to help to provide them with a solution."
Among the prizes that artists can give to their "super fans" through Buddybounce are Meet & Greets, gig tickets, calls through Skype and autographed merchandise. Established only in April last year by Obanye and Giulia Piu, Buddybounce has already attracted 25,000 registered users to its beta site, the report said.
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