Tokyo, January 16, 2012 – Cinemacraft, a Tokyo/Singapore-based Interactive media platform startup, today announced investment from 500 Startups, a global business accelerator and related investment fund. This latest injection, within months from earlier investments from promoters of Singapore based Jungle Ventures and other notable angels, brings the total investment in Cinemacraft to US$900,000. The Company is also recipient of a research and development grant from Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (iDA) spread over 2 years.

Cinemacraft is a pioneering provider of consumer focused Content, Community, Commerce, & Context-driven new media applications, enabled and deployed via its proprietary Interactive Media Platform

“It’s heartening to be included among some of the world’s brightest emerging companies. This vote of confidence from 500 Startups will help us further streamline our product and strengthen the roll-out efforts in our core markets of Japan, US, India and Indonesia,” said Sandeep Casi, CEO & Founder of Cinemacraft.

“Our solution enables us to deploy interactive media applications on low bandwidth, high latency networks in emerging markets as well as leverage the robust connectivity of developed mobile markets. We’re excited to be working with content partners, ad agencies, and the entire mobile ecosystem to effectively deliver on the increasing demand for video on the go,” Sandeep Casi added.

“The mobile video consumption continues to increase in Japan, US, & Southeast Asia as smart phones and tablets penetrate at a rapid pace. Most videos today on mobile are delivered for passive viewing. Cinemacraft with its disruptive media delivery platform is poised to be a leader in interactive consumption of videos and a new breed of interactive video intensive apps ,” said Dave McClure, Founding partner at 500 Startups.

The investment will be used to deploy a radically efficient Interactive video ad network in Japan, US, India, & Indonesia and its first consumer video applications.

About Cinemacraft

Cinemacraft is a developer of visionary and path breaking Interactive media platform provider. Cinemacraft flagship product is a proprietary, cloud based Interactive Media Platform (and Player) that enables content owners to mobile enable consistent high quality interactive delivery across a multitude of mobile devices and networks. The breadth and scope of media delivered includes Interactive ads, Movies, Music, Japanese Anime, Japanese Comics, and User generated content. The company also provides Platform API to third parties to deploy their own innovative media solutions from Cinemacraft’s cloud. The Company has an exciting range of interactive media technologies and applications in further development. For more information, please visit www.cinemacraft.tv.

About 500 Startups

500 Startups provides early-stage companies with funding up to $250K via seed investments, our startup accelerator program, and new micro-fund models like the Twilio Fund. With over 160 experienced startup mentors around the world, creative work space in the heart of Silicon Valley, and a vibrant community of startup founders, we help our companies succeed in ways other venture firms do not. For more information, please visit 500.co

Rice Communications