TVHead–an interactive TV games company which was founded in May, 2003 by a husband-and-wife team, Rob Craig and Sangita Verma (note: Craig was, among other things, the number three hire at Sony Computer Entertainment and helped launch that company’s PlayStation platform, while Verma was previously general manager of the Handheld Business Unit and director of worldwide syndication at Midway Games), has raised $11.5 million in Series B funding. The new funding round was led by Bay Partners, with participation from Mitsui Incubase and funds advised by TVHead’s Series A investor, Apax Partners. TVHead says that it will use the funding to expand consumer trials and to deploy to initial target markets in late 2006. "TVHead has figured out how to offer the cable and IPTV industries a compelling interactive games channel on TV without any new investments in technology," Chris Noble, general partner at Bay Partners, said in a prepared statement. "For operators, who are constantly seeking additional revenue streams, TVHead’s offering is a no-brainer: it allows operators to participate in the lucrative games industry by delivering entertaining, family-friendly games and content to millions of homes."
Earlier this year, TVHead announced that it was now offering a games- on-demand TV "network" for cable and IPTV providers. The company said that the network, dubbed simply "TVHead," was the culmination of 18 months of stealth development. According to TVHead, the TVHead network integrates seamlessly into operators’ existing VOD infrastructure, and its games can be accessed by end-users with low-end set-top boxes. TVHead’s games include puzzle, arcade, card, word, trivia, sports and children’s games: current offerings include "Space Invaders," "Bejeweled," "Diner Dash," "Zuma," "Texas Hold’em," "Solitaire," and "Backgammon." The service also offers various community features, such as leaderboards and multiplayer functionality. In addition, it allows end-users to use the Internet and wireless devices to check their statistics and interact with their opponents. The service is designed to enable a two-tier business model: it provides a basic, free, ad-supported offering that generates revenues through targeted advertising, and a premium offering that provides multiplayer functionality and other advanced community features, as well as special brand-name games. The service also features an impulse-subscription application that allows end-users to upgrade to the premium version using their remote controls.
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