WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IAC Consumer Applications & Portals, Inc. (IAC CAP), makers of Zwinky - one of the worldâs largest teen-oriented virtual worlds - today announced the acquisition of Israeli-based StarNet Interactive, producers of GirlSense.com, a virtual community that offers teen girls a place to develop social networks around fashion.
IAC CAP is one of the fastest growing divisions of IAC/InterActiveCorp. The IAC CAP product portfolio centers on properties that enhance online communication and social networking through self-expression. The company features such successful teen-targeted properties as Zwinky, a virtual world with more than 6 million unique users in March according to ComScore, SmileyCentral and Webfetti, a social network profile customizer that attracted more than 5.2 million users in March. With the addition of the GirlSense site, IAC CAP will expand its focus on the teen girl market around the world.
"Part of our growth strategy includes acquisition of products and companies that complement our core competencies," said John Park, president and CEO of IAC Consumer Applications & Portals, Inc. "Adding Girlsense.com to our existing teen targeted product portfolio provides us with broader teen mindshare, and access to the coveted tween demographic."
GirlSense offers highly customizable tools that allow girls to create their own virtual fashion boutiques. Since its inception, GirlSense primarily grew its user base through word of mouth and viral networking to 13 Million registered users. The site was spun-off from Gteko in November 2006 after the company was acquired by Microsoft Corp. " We are excited to join IAC CAP, a leader in Internet products and services, and to mutually benefit from the synergies of being a part of their consumer platform" said Cathy Glazer, CEO and Founder of GirlSense. "We believe that the experience, scale and market share IAC brings will help expand and enrich the GirlSense community."
GirlSense(R)
With nearly 13 million registered users, GirlSense.com is an ingenious fashion community for tween and teen girls that blends social networking with an artistic, inspired, virtual fashion world. GirlSense offers girls a place to develop a social network around a common interest, fashion. Members can design their own fashions, sell them in their own virtual boutique that they have created, advertise them throughout the site, and schedule them for live auctions. Bidders have an opportunity to see the virtual fashions up for auction, view current bids and place their own, chat safely with other bidders in the auction room and see when the item has been sold.
About IAC Consumer Applications & Portals, Inc. ("IAC CAP")
IAC CAP, a wholly owned business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq: IACI), is a leading web developer of consumer applications and portals, which enable users to creatively and visually express themselves online. IAC CAP brands include Zwinky(TM), which s one of the largest teen-focused virtual worlds on the Internet with approximately 15 Million registered members; 6 Million monthly unique visitors and a 70 percent female user-base. Webfetti is social network profile customizer that attracted more than 5.2 million users in March. Additional properties include Smiley Central(R), Webfetti(TM), IWON(R), Popular Screensavers(TM), MyFunCards(TM), Cursor Mania(TM), as well as the Excite(R) and MyWay(TM) portals.
About StarNet Interactive:
StarNet Interactive produces GirlSense and strives to provide members with on-line experiences that are safe, unique, innovative and fun. GirlSense is COPPA compliant (COPPA compliance) requiring site operators to maintain the confidentiality, security and integrity of all membersâ personal information 12-years-old or younger.
StarNet Interactive was spun off from Gteko Ltd., which was acquired by Microsoft Corp. in November 2006, with funding led by Leo Capital holdings, LLC and additional funding by such investors as Pitango Venture Capital.
