Inside Facebook

The virtual goods market within social applications and games continues to grow at a torrid pace. And as the market is growing, competition is only getting more fierce. Today, a new company focused on helping European app and game developers monetize through virtual currency is coming out of stealth mode: SponsorPay.

Backed by Team Europe Ventures and headed by Jan Beckers, Berlin-based SponsorPay bills itself as “Europe’s virtual currency monetization platform.” Like many of its North American counterparts, SponsorPay is focusing on helping developers monetize through advertiser-financed virtual currency transactions. Instead of buying virtual currency directly, players can participate in offers or surveys in exchange for in-game currency.

As you would expect, SponsorPay is making big localization efforts. The service is available in localized versions for 14 European countries, and the company has hired country managers focused on specific European markets. Initial customers include Frogster (Runes of Magic), Gamelabs (Gallendor), and Playa Games (Shakes & Fidget).

“There is no  other international industry that is comparable to the online game market. Our customers’ games are often played in more than 50 different countries. That is why we are focusing our technology and structure on growth right from the start. In the near future, we want to serve players in all of Europe and North America in their native languages,” Beckers says.

While major virtual currency players like Super Rewards and Offerpal have been increasingly focusing on localizing their services as well, SponsorPay isn’t the only Europe-focused virtual currency monetization platform we’ve profiled. In April, Tel Aviv-based SupersonicAds came out of stealth mode on Inside Facebook as well.

However, SponsorPay is in great position to pose a significant threat in Europe. With an experienced team, strong investors (Team Europe partners Lukasz Gadowski and Kolja Hebenstreit also backed StudiVZ), and local expertise, it will be very interesting to see how the company and market develop over the next year.