51 Show

LOCATION Beijing, China

URL www.51show.com

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 2004

CEO Joe Xie

EMPLOYEES 35

FUNDING $1.5 million, 1 round

KEY INVESTORS iD TechVentures, Ceyuan Ventures

Unlike community video destinations such as YouTube, Beijing-based 51 Show wants to license user-generated content to radio and TV stations, as well as wireless operators. The company employs “content hatchers” and producers to massage users’ music and video for commercial distribution. Customers include China Mobile, Sina, and Tencent. User-generated content for mobile phones is an emerging area that currently accounts for 20 percent of company income. In the face of competition from Toodou (see p. 51), Wretch, and the well-funded Oak Pacific (see p. 47), 51 Show is now looking to raise a second round of funding to amp up its leadership team and partnership deals.

Aigo

LOCATION Beijing, China

URL www.aigo.com

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 1993

CEO Jun Feng

EMPLOYEES 1,800

FUNDING N/A

KEY INVESTORS N/A

Is Apple’s iPod unbeatable? Aigo’s digital music player has won about 24 percent of market share in China—and it’s planning to storm the United States later this year. Gadget review web sites rave about Aigo’s products, giving this established company an edge over upstarts. International success for its music players could turn the electronics maker into the long-sought “Sony of China.” But plenty of candidates have run the iPod-killer race—giants Microsoft and SanDisk are the latest entrants—and no one’s ever come close to unseating Apple.

Chipnuts Technology

LOCATION Shanghai, China

URL www.chipnuts.com

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 2003

CEO David Hu

EMPLOYEES 205

FUNDING $16.3 million, 3 rounds

KEY INVESTORS iDTech Ventures, CID Group, Ceyuan Ventures, Warburg Pincus

Consumers’ growing appetite for watching videos and listening to music on portable electronic gadgets is a boon for chip companies like Chipnuts Technology. The startup has developed an audio chip and two multimedia co-processors for cell phones and other portable devices that help bring crisp sound and images to those devices. Chipnuts, which began generating revenue in 2005, declines to name its customers. The company’s location in China gives it access to a giant consumer electronics market. But it also has lots of competition from the likes of Sunplus Technology in Taiwan and Broadcom in the United States.

GoPets

LOCATION Seoul, South Korea

URL www.gopets.net

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 2004

CEO Erik Bethke

EMPLOYEES 52

FUNDING $2.8 million, 2 rounds

KEY INVESTORS Nexon, Tencent Technology, private investors

Think MySpace meets Tamagotchi. GoPets is a PC application that allows users to care for and customize digital pets. The company gives its software away for free, but revenue comes from the sale of items like clothing for pets and decorations for their homes. A key differentiator between GoPets and competitors like NeoPets is GoPets’ social networking element. GoPets can traverse the Internet and visit the computers of other users around the world, helping their owners make new friends. But the company best work hard to keep ahead of NeoPets, whose more than 70 million digital pet owners make it a force to be reckoned with.

Imagis

LOCATION Seongnam, South Korea

URL www.imagis.co.kr

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 2004

CEO Jeong Cheol

EMPLOYEES 17

FUNDING $1.46 million, 2 rounds

KEY INVESTORS JAFCO, self-funded

Imagis develops low-power video chips that bring bright images to monitors, projectors, televisions, and handheld devices. The company is eyeing the young mobile TV market, where mobile operators aim to make money by providing TV programming to their subscribers. Not surprisingly, Imagis counts handset makers Samsung and LG among its customers. In the future, the startup plans to add audio features to its chips, a smart move that will make it more competitive against the bevy of multimedia processor companies worldwide, including Texas Instruments and Broadcom.

Madhouse

LOCATION Shanghai, China

URL www.madhouse.cn

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 2006

CEO Joshua Maa

EMPLOYEES 50

FUNDING $3.6 million, 1 round

KEY INVESTORS Gobi Partners, Jafco Asia

Madhouse brings advertisers and mobile web site publishers together via the company’s MadServing system, which lets advertisers target niche markets with focused campaigns based on factors like city, time, handset model, and carrier. But the mobile ad market is still a miniscule speck on the advertising landscape, meaning Madhouse will need to work hard to educate potential advertisers about mobile marketing. The company also needs to stay on top of the proliferation of different devices and carrier strategies, but an experienced team of executives stands prepared to do just that.

Pentamicro

LOCATIONSeoul, South Korea

URL www.pentamicro.com

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 2000

CEO Jeong Seijin

EMPLOYEES 28

FUNDING $5.1 million, 4 rounds

KEY INVESTORS STIC Investments, KDB Capital, IBK Capital, JAFCO, Industrial Bank of Korea

These days, vivid still and moving images are must-have features when consumers go to shop for a variety of electronic devices. Making sure that’s the case is Pentamicro’s specialty. The chip startup has developed two lines of chips to process video images for surveillance systems and digital video recorders The company has done well in the surveillance market and is already making a profit. Its customers include Samsung, LG, and JVC. Now, Pentamicro is looking to enter the consumer electronics market, a tough one to crack, particularly given that its South Korean customers also use other domestic video chip suppliers for consumer devices, including Imagis.

Toonz Animation

LOCATIONTrivandrum, India

URL www.toonzanimationindia.com

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 1999

CEO Jayakumar Prabhakaran

EMPLOYEES 400

FUNDING $15 million, 3 rounds

KEY INVESTORS Comcraft Group

Chances are good that Toonz Animation created some of the animated films that you’ve seen. The company is an animation studio that develops content for film, television, DVDs, the Internet, and other interactive platforms worldwide. Toonz was India’s first cutting-edge studio and also the creator of India’s first animated TV series. Toonz’ animated creations are adopted from Western themes as well as the folklore of India. The company provides content to DisneySingapore, the BBC, and Marvel Studios. But this animation pioneer must contend with competitors: Animation studios abound in India and Toonz will have to maintain a strong focus on quality to compete.

Zio Interactive

LOCATIONSeoul, South Korea

URL www.clubzio.com

SECTOR Entertainment/Media

FOUNDED 1997

CEO Peter Byungki Kim

EMPLOYEES 35

FUNDING $7.28 million, 1 round

KEY INVESTORS Prime Entertainment, IntelCapital, Hansol Venture Investment, KTB Network

The market for mobile games continues to expand, and a number of South Korean companies are working hard to become worldwide leaders in the space. Partnering with Microsoft for games on Windows CE, Zio Interactive’s mix of licensed and original titles and partnerships puts it in a strong position to grow in the United States and other markets. The company admits that its biggest challenge will be building a more diverse user base and broadening offerings beyond the hyper-competitive game space. One way could be by including mobile TV and compatibility with wireless broadband (WiBro), options it is actively pursuing.