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Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT), the company reinventing endorsement and celebrity marketing, has acquired Fantapper, a leading celebrity mobile application company.
As part of the acquisition, BAT will integrate and expand Fantapper’s popular mobile applications, which provide deep engagement with celebrities, into BAT’s comprehensive family of celebrity-related offerings, and will market some of BAT’s existing netBAT (netBAT.com) digital media products and services under the “Fantapper” brand (fantapper.com). Currently, more than 1,000 websites have registered for netBAT services, reaching nearly 50 million unique visitors each month. On these news, entertainment, and sports properties, via the netBAT services, users viewing editorial content can engage in interactive experiences stocked with highly relevant multimedia apps. Under the newly broadened Fantapper brand, BAT will continue to offer advertisers access to a highly engaged audience, enable online publishers to tap into free celebrity content that keeps consumers on their sites longer, and give consumers the ability to enjoy more information and interaction with celebrities.
“Consumers have an insatiable appetite for celebrity, are continually looking for meaningful engagement, and spend time with content that interests them,” says Ryan Steelberg, president and CEO of Brand Affinity Technologies. “We’re building a business that capitalizes on what consumers want in a way that delivers value for marketers and media, and the Fantapper deal will further accelerate that effort.”
The Fantapper acquisition will also extend BAT’s patented endorsement technology infrastructure deeper into mobile, allowing BAT’s roster of 3,700+ celebrities to now review and accept endorsement deal offers directly via their mobile phone.
The strategic acquisition is the most recent extension of BAT’s business. In August, BAT raised $20 million in Series C funding, led by Miramar Venture Partners, to fuel continued aggressive growth of several products and services that monetize the power of celebrity. Since then, BAT has announced a new partnership with PepsiCo and the expansion of its endorsement Platform into music and other celebrity categories.
BAT was created by Ryan and Chad Steelberg, who together founded and operated three successful companies prior to BAT: dMarc (sold to Google in 2006), AdForce (sold to CMGi in 1999), and 2CAN Media (also sold to CMGi in 1999). Since 1996, the Steelbergs have raised more than $170 million in equity financing, managed more than 400 employees and created in excess of $3.0 billion in shareholder value through their previous ventures. BAT is poised to double year-over-year revenues in 2010.
Terms of the asset purchase transaction are not being disclosed. Bill Denk, Fantapper’s founder and CEO, has joined BAT’s management team.
About Brand Affinity Technologies
Founded in 2007, BAT (brandaffinity.net) unlocks the marketing power of celebrity through research, endorsements, and interactive experiences. BAT’s research engine provides daily analysis of more than 40,000 celebrities and athletes. Advertisers use this analysis on BAT’s Endorsement Platform to identify, license, and activate the most effective talent for their campaigns. Currently available endorsement talent includes more than 3,700 athletes and recording artists. BAT also leverages its research engine to engage consumers directly through netBAT (netbat.com), which brings interactivity, engagement, and sponsorship opportunities to online media. Learn more about BAT in Fortune Magazine at fortune.com/bat. Connect with BAT on Facebook: facebook.com/BrandAffinityTech and Twitter: @BATimpact.
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tricia.mckenna[.]warshawski.com 
