Kiip entices more game developers into its mobile-rewards network

Rewards-network Kiip is about to kick off a big effort to get more game developers to use its mobile program. The company is announcing a new $100,000 independent-developer fund to get companies to use Kiip’s rewards in their games.

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With Kiip, mobile-game users will see some kind of real-world reward, like a Starbucks coupon, whenever they hit a milestone, such as getting to a high level. Brian Wong, chief executive and co-founder of the company, said that the point is to capture the moment when a user is happy, and to hit them with a positive brand message at the same moment. To date, more than half a billion such “moments” have happened in the network, and the company is serving four rewards per second in the U.S.

In addition to the indie fund, Kiip is opening its rewards network to any developer so they can instantly begin rewarding their players with a self-serve program. By making its system self-serve, Kiip can get an unlimited number of mobile-game developers in its fold. Those developers will be able to see improvements in the form of better user acquisition, engagement, and monetization.

Participating brands include Carl’s Jr., Sears, Popchips, Intuit, Kodak, Disney, Pepsi, and more.

Graeme Devine, game designer and owner of GRL Games, said, “One of the first things I noticed using Kiip’s SDK is that players kept coming back to my game because of the rewards. My players are also getting a huge win out of it while I still get to make a great game. I’m blown away by the quality of the rewards too; they are from great brands and people love earning them. Their SDK really was a breeze to integrate – most companies claim ease of integration, but Kiip’s is really the first where it was extremely smooth. Any question I had was answered in no time by their team. It’s been fantastic to work with Kiip.”

The so-called Build fund is for smaller developers who are introducing Kiip-based games. Kiip will dole out about $5,000 each to 20 different game companies.

San Francisco-based Kiip was founded in September 2010 by Wong, Courtney Guertin, and Amadeus Demarzi. The company has raised money from Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, True Ventures, and Crosslink Capital. San Francisco-based GameSalad was founded in 2007. Kiip has 20 employees.