Gamification

The next big enterprise acquisition target? Gamification startups

Gamification is thought of as a hyped buzzword by skeptics, but it’s increasingly being used by corporations to incentivize consumers and motivate employees. As enterprise adoption of gamification grows, that could make gamification startups the next hot acquisition target in the coming years.

Badgeville raises $25M, shows gamification has legs

While skeptics still scoff at the term gamification, Badgeville keeps gaining the trust of big companies and investors, who believe in its power. Badgeville announced Wednesday it raised $25 million led by Interwest Partners, bringing its total funding to $40 million to date.

Badgeville mobilizes gamification with mobile SDK

While early critics may have scoffed, gamification start-up Badgeville just kept growing adding more clients and evolving from a gamification provider to a broader behavior platform utilizing games, reputation and social networking. Now, it’s releasing what it says is the first mobile gamification SDK for developers.

Memrise raises $1.05M to make memorization a game

Memrise, a TechStars Boston graduate, has raised $1.05 million for its gamified approach to memorizing languages. The company supports six languages officially and has more than a million words created by its community. It’s now looking to expand beyond languages and will launch mobile apps soon.

Health 2.0 startup Keas gets $6.5 million in new funds

Keas, a San Francisco-based startup co-founded by veteran technologist Adam Bosworth has raised $6.5 million in new funds from existing investors Atlas Ventures and Ignition Parters. The company is finding success with focus on wellness as a social game and selling it to large companies.

Gamification of Work

How do you get a highly distracted customer or employee to complete paperwork, pay attention in meetings, or respond to surveys? Make…

Badgeville looks beyond gamification, launches a behavior platform

Badgeville has been synonymous with gamification, the idea of incorporating game mechanics to motivate business employees and consumers to do specific tasks. But the company says it’s not stopping with gamification. It wants to shape behavior through game mechanics, private social networks and reputation.

Bunchball raises $6.5M, doubles down on gamification

Bunchball, the social gaming software company, has raised $6.5 million in a new funding round. The San Jose, Calif.-based startup has recently received “knocks on the door” from potential acquirers, but opted to raise money instead to bet on growing more, CEO Jim Scullion told me.

PunchTab Wants to Be a Blogger’s Best Friend

Here on the internet, just because you build it, it doesn’t mean anyone will actually come. Or click on a link. Or leave a comment. Or become a Facebook fan.YouSendIt co-founder Ranjith Kumaran wants to change all that with his loyalty-marketing startup, PunchTab.

For Badgeville, Gamification Is Big Business

Gamification startup Badgeville expects to book $10 million in sales for 2011, its first year in business, according to CEO Kris Duggan. He claims that being the new kid on the gamification block is an asset. “We’ve built this over last year with modern approaches.”

For Startups, Timing Is Everything — Just Ask Bunchball

For Silicon Valley startups, good timing can be just as crucial as good technology. Just ask Bunchball, the six-year-old, San Jose, Calif.-based, social gaming, software startup. In 2005, when the company debuted its software platform, the current industry buzzword “gamification” hadn’t even been coined yet.

Apple Revamps Community Support Site, Adds Incentives

Apple launched a brand new site offering tech support for its products on Saturday, called Apple Support Communities. The new site represents an evolution of its support discussion forums, where users offer advice to one another regarding technical issues or other problems with Mac products.

Real Rewards Help Gamification Take Flight

Despite some bad examples of gamification, the concept of adding game mechanics to tasks has merit as I’ve said when done in a thoughtful way. And that takes offering real world rewards, said Irving Fain, CEO of New York start-up CrowdTwist.

Gamification Needs to Level Up — Here’s How

Gamification has been a buzzword for 2010, but there are many underlying issues plaguing the trend. The use of game mechanics can still have a bright future, but it needs to take the next step up. Here’s a look at what needs to happen.