The Game of Cricket is About to Change Forever

Interactive Australian media company iPowow has just signed a significant contract with Channel Nine Australia, Cricket Australia and Vodafone.

The game of cricket is about to change forever as ipowow uses its mobile web platform to allow broadcasters to interact instantly with their viewers via smartphone technology.

Via iPowow technology, broadcasters can ask an audience a question and they can use their 3G mobile phones or laptops to respond instantly.

iPowow's global, cloud-hosted platform collects and combines the audiences responses and then delivers the digital results directly, second by second, which is displayed onscreen, in real-time, as a moving graphic –  similar to ‘the worm' used in political campaigns.

iPowow will debut for the first time on Australian television this Sunday the 25th of September at 10AM on Channel Nine's Wide World of Sports.

iPowow products are Twitter and Facebook connected, engaging millions of viewers outside of a TV show's normal audience. The iPowow scoring screens also gives viewers the ability to send Tweets and Facebook posts during the event, showing scores and the current leader board places.

The patented technology that sits at the heart of iPowow, is on the leading edge of a global shift towards participation television and second-screen content. iPowow gives broadcasters, television producers and advertisers the power to create a new breed of participation television.

iPowow Social also brings real-time audience feedback to social networking. The company has recently launched a campaign for basketball legend, Shaquille O'Neal.

"The product gives sports stars and celebrities the power to ask all of their Twitter followers and Facebook friends a question and receive the answer, instantly," says iPowow CEO, Ettienne Fourie.

iPowow has signed UFC, Cirque Du Soleil, The American Music Awards, ABC Australia, Top Rank, and ‘The 2011 MISS USA® Pageant'.

To date the company has raised $3.5mil in private equity funds and are located in the USA and Australia.

iPowow is a client of boutique private equity firm Alchemy Equities which raises capital for high growth early stage businesses and is located in Sydney Australia www.alchemyequities.com.au and www.assob.com.au/wow

The writer:  Dan Liszka is the Managing Director of Alchemy Equities.  Active in the commercialisation space for most of his career, Dan is responsible for client development and investment strategy.  An entrepreneur in his own right, Dan's early career utilised his Bachelor of Science degree, to develop and raise private equity capital for aquaculture opportunities in Australia and Latin America. Dan went on to consult to government and was invited to establish the Hunter Innovation Advisory Service at Newcastle University.  He established Alchemy in 2004 with a focus on early stage commercialisation.  Recognising the challenges to attract early private equity funds - Alchemy became one of the early sponsoring members of the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board.

About the Author

For more information on capital raising, funds for small business and venture capital australia. Please visit our site: http://www.alchemyequities.com.au/

Angel Investors in Australia and the US

In his article – ‘The Top 10 Angel Investor Groups' Jason Fell looks at the largest groups that fund startups, ranked by number of investors.

In the United States, the Angel Capital Association is the "trade association" of investment groups.  Angel investing in Australia are represented through the Australasian Angel Investors Association.

It is useful as an Australian startup, to assess if there is value in establishing early, a US presence for your company and attracting Angel support there. Some Angel groups syndicate support across 2 or 3 groups, capitalizing on the other group's research and due diligence processes.  Jason Fell lists the following groups as the largest in the US to support startups:

Ohio TechAngel Funds, Columbus, Ohio
Number of angels: 282
Who it helps: Supports early-stage Ohio-based information technology, advanced materials, and medical technology companies.

Tech Coast Angels, Los Angeles
Number of angels: 263
Who it helps: Provides connections, knowledge, mentoring and operational assistance to early-stage entrepreneurs in the tech, biotech, consumer products, Internet, information technology, life sciences, media, software and environmental markets.

Investors' Circle, San Francisco
Number of angels: 225
Who it helps: Uses private capital to promote businesses that address social and environmental issues. The group has invested almost $150 million in 225 companies, it says.

Golden Seeds LLC, New York City
Number of angels: 190
Who it helps: Members invest directly, or through a managed fund, in companies that are founded by or led by women. Sectors include consumer products, technology, software and life sciences.

North Coast Angel Fund, Cleveland, Ohio
Number of angels: 180
Who it helps: Invests in Ohio-based technology startups.

Band of Angels, Menlo Park, Calif.
Number of angels: 136
Who it helps: Group of former and current high-tech executives that has invested almost $200 million in early-stage technology companies.

Hyde Park Angel Network, Chicago
Number of angels: 133
Who it helps: Members invest in seed and early stage businesses, primarily located in the Midwest. Industries include: information technology, business services, industrial technology, financial services, consumer or industrial products and healthcare services.

Alliance of Angels, Seattle
Number of angels: 100
Who it helps: Early-stage investors in startups based in the Northwest region of the country.

Pasadena Angels, Altadena, Calif.
Number of angels: 100
Who it helps: Provides up to $750,000 in early-stage and seed financing to startups in southern California.

New York Angels Inc, New York City
Number of angels: 99
Who it helps: Made up of entrepreneurs, CEOs, venture capitalists and other business leaders, the group invests between $250,000 and $750,000 in early-stage technology companies generally located in the Northeast.

About the Author

Kate Ingham is a partner at Alchemy Equities, a boutique corporate advisory firm that specializes in private equity capital raising for growth companies in Australia. For more information on venture capital australia please visit: http://alchemyequities.com.au/