Berlin-based games performance marketing company crobo has strengthened its activities in Hamburg with the acquisition of rival TrafficCaptain, which is based in the port city. In a statement, crobo said the deal – for an unspecified amount – would see its workforce rise to 50, and would give it the “ability to have a strong, personal relationship with the countless online and mobile game developers in the German games hub that is Hamburg.”
As well as looking north, crobo is also hoping the deal can open up new possibilities in Latin America and Asia in terms of acquisition of new users for free-to-play games for mobile and browsers.
Put simply, crobo links up games makers with media partners in with aim of attracting as many high-value users as possible. It has developed technology, dubbed crobo intelligence, to automate and optimise the business processes for both publishers and advertisers. Reporting tools allow a campaign to be tracked.
Matthias Lesch, CEO of crobo, said: “By acquiring TrafficCaptain, we can welcome an experienced and passionate team of international marketing experts into the crobo family. We can also further strengthen our relationships and contact with the numerous game developers and publishers with the office in the games hub Hamburg. Of course, our new employees will continue to offer complete service and work with their international customers.”
Sandra Fisher, the former TrafficCaptain COO, will continue to lead the Hamburg office and will ensure the seamless integration of the teams and new processes. TrafficCaptain was founded in 2012 from the Hamburg-based games investment specialist iVentureCapital, and represents its first successful exit of a self-founded company.
Michael Reul, iVentureCapital CEO, said: “iVentureCapital sees itself as a middle to long-term investor. In the last two years, TrafficCaptain has developed quite well as our first self-produced project in the games branch and we feel that it is now the perfect point in time to move on with new projects.”
The newly-enlarged company still faces significant opposition from the likes of AppLift and GameGenetics, both fellow Berlin startups.