Fantastically exciting news from here at MoneyScience Central!
After several months of discussions and negotiations, MoneyScience has been partly acquired by Thematic Capital Partners LLC, a venture firm operating at the intersection of finance and social web technology.
As many users will know, MoneyScience has gone through several iterations since the original launch in 2004. Our upgrade from the tikiwiki platform in 2007, brought with it a host of new opportunities and a brand new look, but by 2009 it became clear that in order to grow and compete in the social web environment, we were going to need to significantly upgrade our technology and offering.
Cut to 2010 and Thematic Capital brings with them all the technical and sector expertise we need to take the company forward and vastly improve our offering for friends, users, advertisers, bloggers and other content providers.
Over the next 6 months we will be migrating MoneyScience on to Thematic Capital's Hedgehogs social platform, and simultaneously engaging in a development program that will make full use of Hedgehogs innovative technology for content licensing, data management and eCommerce. To quote Thematic Capital's Ken Yeadon:
"Traditionally, online publishing titles have been funded by advertising, sponsorship and events-based revenue. However, as specialist collaborative communities gain wider traction within professional niches, and the "real-time web" changes the boundaries of what can be delivered over the internet, site owners and their users are looking for alternative ways in which to add value and license and monetize content. We see established niche communities as powerful tools for the ingestion, distribution and commercial exchange of interactive user-contributed applications, services and content.
"The ability to leverage the natural synergies between Hedgehogs.net and MoneyScience unites two intersecting specialist financial services communities and provides clear mutual benefits for both parties – in terms of both content and publishing and technological expertise."
Further information: Hedgehogs Curls up with MoneyScience - Jean-Paul Carbonnier at Inside Market Data
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Full Press Release below.
THEMATIC CAPITAL ACQUIRES MAJORITY STAKE IN QUANT FINANCE PORTAL, MONEYSCIENCE
Investment in MoneyScience provides fresh opportunities for innovation and revenue growth
4th May 2010, London – Thematic Capital Partners LLP has acquired a majority stake in MoneyScience, the niche finance portal, for an undisclosed sum.
Complementing Thematic’s development of Hedgehogs.net, the online platform for the investment management community, this initiative extends the reach of the technology, leverages the content development and publishing expertise of MoneyScience, and provides a raft of new development and revenue opportunities for both parties.
The deal provides MoneyScience with the ability to tap into the wealth of technological experience and expertise that sits behind the Hedgehogs.net platform and heralds a novel approach to the monetization of niche online publishing in finance.
With a highly targeted demographic amongst the Quantitative Finance community that includes prominent academics, market practitioners, service providers and vendors, MoneyScience provides targeted content to an established and diverse digital community. The current publishing platform attracts over 40,000 visits every month and is constantly updated through an established network of blogging affiliates and content partners.
"Since its launch in 2004, MoneyScience has developed a solid reputation for publishing timely, relevant content, attracting a loyal following in the financial practitioner and academic spheres" said Jacob Bettany, Managing Director, MoneyScience.
"However, as site numbers continue to grow, it has become increasingly apparent that in order to meet the needs of our community we needed to further develop the technological infrastructure underpinning the site, add more collaborative features, and expand our existing commercial proposition. With a rapidly growing reputation for commercial and technological innovation and expertise in financial publishing, Hedgehogs.net stands out as an industry participant that is doing something very different, and Thematic has demonstrated consistent thought-leadership around social media technologies and their application to Finance. We look forward to working closely with the team."
Ken Yeadon, Managing Partner of Thematic Capital, and CEO of Hedgehogs.net, added, "Traditionally, online publishing titles have been funded by advertising, sponsorship and events-based revenue. However, as specialist collaborative communities gain wider traction within professional niches, and the "real-time web" changes the boundaries of what can be delivered over the internet, site owners and their users are looking for alternative ways in which to add value and license and monetize content. We see established niche communities as powerful tools for the ingestion, distribution and commercial exchange of interactive user-contributed applications, services and content.
"The ability to leverage the natural synergies between Hedgehogs.net and MoneyScience unites two intersecting specialist financial services communities and provides clear mutual benefits for both parties – in terms of both content and publishing and technological expertise."
- Ends -
For further information, please contact:
Adam Barber / Roland Godfrey-Davies
adam@hellochalk.com / roland@hellochalk.com
020 7440 9831 / 020 7440 9832
About MoneyScience
MoneyScience, the niche finance portal, brings together news, events, articles, weblinks, research, companies and products across key channels in financial services including Software and Technology, Hedge Fund Services, Financial Education, Training and Recruitment.
Now with nearly 2000 companies listed, the MoneyScience Financial Services Directory is one of web's leading international finance directories, consistently ranking highly in Google Searches and offering a range of listing types with varying levels of coverage.
About Hedgehogs.net
Powered by Elgg, the leading open source social engine technology, Hedgehogs.net provides a online collaboration framework for the investment community, including a "social marketplace" where participants can use, build, commission and trade content, analytics and applications built for market participants by market participants. The platform democratizes access to investment resources, supports the provision of niche solutions for any specialization, and empowers the investment community to address their own needs.
Join the array. Register for free at www.hedgehogs.net.
About Thematic Capital
Thematic Capital is an investment partnership focused on bridging the gap between financial markets, social media technologies and trading infrastructure. A private equity and venture capital fund, Thematic Capital invests selectively in new and emerging enterprises that apply themselves to the development of the financial markets. http://thematiccapital.com/
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