Polish SpeedUp Group announces its investment of over 130,000 Euro in Poznan-based Fanpoint, a service for developing apps for Facebook. The service, which was launched in 2010, offers pre-made Facebook apps that can be installed by people who have no programming skills and who would like to offer a sleek page for their business. I got into contact with the team behind Fanpoint and they offered me insight into their service, traction, plans, and more.
An aspect of the Fanpoint service is 30 ready-made templates for customers to use in building their apps. Although apps are pre-made, users can still customize them by uploading their own photos and edit CSS styles. Although the service is largely web-based, some apps have mobile versions. Prices for the service range from 10 to 160 Euro, depending on the needs of the customer and the timeframe for developing the app.
According to the company, SpeedUp Group becomes the first and only investor to back them with more than 130,000 Euro. They report 9,800 users and tell us that they have received more than 600 orders for Facebook-based apps. They boast almost 52,000 fans on Facebook, so they have certainly had success in getting their name out there since the service launched in December 2010. Notable clients of Fanpoint include IKEA, HBO, Yamaha, Elle, and TUI AG, among others. The company tells me that they primarily cater social-media agencies, but they remain an option for individuals without large budgets or who lack programming skills.
Fanpoint is regarded as the Polish leader in the market for firms offering tools to develop Facebook apps, but international rivals include Hike, North Social, Pagemodo, and Woobox. One CEE competitor which comes to mind is Tabfoundry, which is based in the Czech Republic.
Bartek Gola, CEO of SpeedUp Group, says that they opted to invest in Fanpoint because they believe that social-media marketing is still largely in its infancy and that Fanpoint offers sophisticated tools that social-media marketers seek as they move from simple Facebook pages to more complex apps. He added that Fanpoint operates in a huge market and offers a top-product, so they believed that backing them financially was ‘a no-brainer’.
In February, we reported that SpeedUp Group was raising a new fund (6,79 million Euro), so it would not be surprising to receive more investment news from them in the near future. With regards to the new funding, according to Fanpoint, they are planning to use the money to develop mechanisms which will allow users to manage promotion of their social businesses and that they are planning to expand into various European markets.
