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Craig Allen Joins Funk Ventures as Venture Partner

Canoga Park, CA (PRWEB) November 12, 2004

Private equity and venture capital firm Funk Ventures today announced that Craig Allen has joined the firm’s venture capital business unit, Funk Ventures Capital Partners (“FVCP”), as Venture Partner. The announcement was made this morning by Funk Ventures CEO and Chairman Andy J. Funk.

Allen will provide advice and strategic insights into the interactive gaming market, which is the focus of a new FVCP venture fund, which the firm is currently establishing. Allen will work closely with Managing Partners Andy Funk and John Waller and assist with the fund’s interactive gaming portfolio companies.

“Craig is a key addition to our team and will provide the firm significant domain experience in an industry that we have been monitoring for years”, says Andy Funk. “His input on our portfolio investments will prove invaluable for our fund”.

Allen, who will continue to serve as CEO of Spark Unlimited, is known by his peers as one of the most dynamic and open-minded visionaries in the field. He currently manages a development crew of 65 individuals who have primarily developed game titles in the award winning Medal of Honor™ series. Spark has a multi-year, multi-title production deal to develop console games with video game Publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) and is on schedule to release Call of Duty: Finest Hour™ this coming Thanksgiving. Call of Duty: Finest Hour is the latest installment in this award winning series which will be available for XBOX and Playstation 2 and is highly anticipated to be one of the top-selling games in 2005.

Allen was formerly the Executive Vice President of Jim Henson Interactive, where he was the primary creative architect behind The Jim Henson Company’s expanded digital media activities. He also spent six years at Disney Interactive focusing primarily on video games based on the company’s popular film and television properties and contributed to global corporate strategy as it related to the game industry.

About Funk Ventures

Funk Ventures is a multi-faceted private equity firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The firm’s business segments span from venture capital and investment banking to real estate and business services. The firm’s venture capital arm, which makes value-add investments in promising companies in the technology, interactive gaming and wellness markets, is complemented by an investment banking unit which provides access to outside capital to private and emerging companies. Funk Ventures also develops and invests in real estate and runs a business services unit that provides professional and advisory services to its clientele and portfolio companies.

For more information, visit http://www.funkventures.com or call (818) 716-0413. Funk Ventures is a registered trademark of Funk Ventures, Inc.

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