Just a few weeks ago, Berlin-based startup HitFox kickstarted (PDF) a vertical incubator for game distribution business models dubbed HitFox Game Ventures.
Today, the incubator is announcing its first two investments, having invested a “7-digit” euros sum in mobile game discovery and marketing companies AppLift and HitFox App Discovery GmbH (Game Finder).
Former HitFox managers Kaya Taner and Xavier Rezgui co-founded the businesses and will run them as managing directors, so in my mind they’re more like HitFox spin-offs than anything else.
Anyhoo. AppLift will operate a global affiliate network focused exclusively on mobile games from publishers like Gameloft, Kabam, TinyCo and 6waves.
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HitFox App Discovery GmbH will cover the user side of the equation with Game Finder. The app will essentially serve as a sort of ‘quality filter’ so users can find the best games among the tens of thousands you can currently find on Apple’s App Store and other mobile app stores.
HitFox (the startup, not the incubator) was originally founded in May 2011 by serial entrepreneurs Jan Beckers, Dr. Hanno Fichtner, Tim Koschella and Ruben Haas in cooperation with Team Europe. Other investors include Holtzbrinck Ventures, Hasso Plattner Ventures and Kite Ventures.
In February 2012, the company acquired Chili Entertainment (PDF, in German), Germany’s largest advertising network for online games.
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