Angels support Santa Claus by investing $755 K in UGroupMedia
(Montréal, November 20th, 2013) – Portable North Pole, the popular web and mobile application developed and marketed by UGroupMedia, fulfilled the wishes of Anges Québec investors and the Anges Québec Capital Fund, who decided to invest $755 K to support its deployment. The Fund allocated $375 K, while $380 K comes from 12 private member investors of Anges Québec, including angel Jean-Luc Sansregret who led this investment project with drums beating.
Portable North Pole for everyone!
Times have changed and Santa Claus has adapted by jumping on the 3.0 technology sled. In order to communicate with his admirers around the world throughout the year, he can count on the U virtual personalisation platform developed by Montreal company UGroupMedia. Since its creation in 2008, PNP-Portable North Pole (www.perenoelportable.com), which is used to create, view and download personalized video messages from Santa Claus, has been an unparalleled success around the world with near 80 million videos watched. With the help of PNP, anyone can send photos and information that is automatically integrated in a video where Santa Claus gives personalized wishes to a loved one, direct from the North Pole.
A sound investment
“We are very pleased with this financing, which consolidates our working capital, supports development of the U platform and a new mobile game, in addition to allowing us to hire key personnel to allow Santa Claus to continue his mission around the world,” said Alexandre Bérard, President and founder of UGroupMedia and PNP designer. Indeed, angel Jean-Luc Sansregret warmed up to this project immediately: “As an investor, I appreciated that UGroupMedia already has significant revenues on sales of a concrete product, rather than just forecasts related to advertising revenues, as is often the case on the Web. I would also be astonished if Santa Claus was a passing fad. This is a sound investment that is here to stay and the angels are happy to help!”
About Jean-Luc Sansregret
Jean-Luc Sansregret co-founded Biogénie, a company dedicated to cleaning up contaminated land, where he was chief operating officer. He subsequently co-founded Biopharmacopae, a company specialized in the discovery and design of cosmetic active ingredients and natural health products derived from plants. Today Jean-Luc works in real estate and is an investor in private companies.
About Anges Québec
Anges Québec is a network of 140 private investors that identifies, finances and coaches innovative Quebec enterprises with high growth potential. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of key Québec organizations interested in the development and growth of technological innovations. So far, Anges Québec members have invested and reinvested in 33 promising businesses in the seed and startup phases.
About the Anges Québec Capital Fund
Created in 2012 with a $20 million investment from the government of Quebec, through Investissement Québec, and $10M from the angels, the Anges Québec Capital Fund is dedicated to innovative Quebec businesses in the startup phase. The fund gives them a more substantial financial foundation by adding to the investments made by Anges Québec members.
For more information about the Anges Québec network, go to www.angesquebec.com
To keep track of news and activities, join Anges Québec on LinkedIn.com
Source :
Anges Québec
François Gilbert
Président-directeur général
418-261-0011