FreshPlanet: Fun Games for Smart People

Brothers Mathieu and Romain Nouzareth began their entrepreneurial journeys in their early 20s. In 1995, they founded WebConcept, one of the first e-business consulting companies in their native France. Four years later, WebConcept was acquired by Swedish IconMedialab; today, it is still one of the largest Internet consultancies in the world.

In 2001, the Nouzareths started digital game distribution company Boonty.com, which they eventually sold to France's Nexway in 2008. With operations in more than 30 countries including the United States, China, and Japan, Boonty.com is among the top game distribution platforms worldwide. The brothers also founded cafe.com, a social casual gaming website.

Currently, Mathieu and Romain are busy leading FreshPlanet in New York, which they established in 2009 after moving to the United States. Backed by SoftTech VC, Kima Ventures, and CapISF, among others, the young company aims to “make fun games for smart people.” Its most popular offering is SongPop, the “name that tune” music trivia game that counts Mark Zuckerberg as a fan. Since launching this past May, SongPop has amassed 25 million unique players around the globe, with 4 million logging on daily. Available on iOS, Android, and Facebook, the free game features thousands of tracks from the '50s to the present day, challenging players' musical knowledge.

When asked about the SongPop phenomenon, Mathieu says, “Honestly, you can't plan for success like this so while we were hoping for it, we tried not to have too many expectations.”

FreshPlanet is also the company behind Dreamland, a social board game inspired by dreams and nightmares, and Spa Life, a “business management” game where players run their own spa company. In 2010, FreshPlanet released the iPad-only children's educational app RedFish. The interactive game, which was a finalist in Appsfire's App Star Awards, invites kids to explore letters, numbers, music, colors, shapes, problem solving, and more.