GENGREEN LLC AND 3RD WHALE MEDIA ANNOUNCE MERGER
2009-09-29
Leading Green directory and Green mobile players plan to combine operations to form new digital media company
(September, 29, 2009) - Vancouver, BC-based 3rdWhale Media (www.3rdwhale.com) and Ft. Collins, CO-based GenGreen LLC (www.GenGreenLife.com) announced today that they have reached an agreement to combine all operations and form a new company to be called GenGreen Digital Media. The deal is expected to close in October, 2009.
"When you line up the respective assets of the two companies, the synergies are evident," GenGreen founder & CEO Charisse McAuliffe said. "This is an amazing opportunity to create a world class team and combine a portfolio of leading web and mobile technologies in the green space."
"It is amazing that just a few short months ago we were viewing GenGreen as one of our toughest competitors, " said 3rdWhale founder & CEO Boyd Cohen. "Together we are positioned to play a leading role in the transition towards a healthier, greener economy."
McAuliffe will stay on as CEO of the new company, with Cohen assuming the role of President and 3rdWhale President Ron Williams becoming Chairman of the Board.
The mobile division will remain in Vancouver, under Cohen's leadership, while the headquarters for the combined entity's operations will be in Colorado.
GenGreen, founded in 2007, is the owner of the largest database of green and healthy living businesses in North America, which it delivers via web, mobile and licensed API agreements to such clients as National Geographic and Gannett. The company has strategic partnerships with Green America, Live Earth and Ecobroker.
3rdWhale Media, founded in 2008, is the leading provider of mobile solutions in the LOHAS space. It introduced the leading green LBS (location based service) iPhone app, 3rdWhale mobile, in January of 2009. The company has also built mobile applications for iPhone, Android and Blackberry for such clients as Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace France, 350.org and Brave New Films.
"GenGreen Digital Media will have a remarkable mix of tools to grow its values-driven 'Green Yelp' strategy across web and mobile platforms, with coupon delivery as a major near term objective." said Williams. "We will also expand the North American database internationally with the goal of creating the largest such resource in the world."
According to McAuliffe, a new initiative of GenGreen Digital will be the introduction of GenGreen Local, a network of hyperlocal web sites offering communities a powerful new grassroots resource to share information and help build their local green economies. The GenGreen Life web site is a popular destination for LOHAS consumers. Beyond the comprehensive green directory, the site features blogs, tips, articles and events.
"Good integration will be critical now to capture the full value of this merger," Williams said. "We are all passionate about this work and excited about the opportunities ahead."
For more information contact Charisse McAuliffe, GenGreen CEO at 970-488 3636, charisse@gengreenlife.com; or Boyd Cohen, 3rdWhale CEO at 778 384 0733, boyd@3rdwhale.com
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Backgrounder: From Radical Collaboration to Outright Merger
After meeting at the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) conference in Boulder Colorado in June of this year, executives from GenGreen and 3rdWhale Mobile quickly realized they were better friends than enemies.
GenGreen had been quietly assembling the largest database in North America for healthy and green businesses. 3rdWhale was actively building its own database in what amounted to an arms' race. Meanwhile, 3rdWhale was building the most advanced and wide reaching location-based mobile apps to allow consumers to find these green businesses while on the go. GenGreen was also working on an iPhone app to get their database into the hands of mobile consumers.
GenGreen and 3rdWhale decided to avoid the head on collision and begin by engaging in a "Radical Collaboration", which they celebrated at an event in San Francisco in August. 3rdWhale agreed to give their growing database of 25,000 green business listings to GenGreen, who then combined it with their existing database to create a combined proprietary database of 60,000 listings. Meanwhile 3rdWhale created a private label version of its leading iPhone app for GenGreen in a revenue share arrangement.
Since then the executives of both companies have been exploring ways to make their collaboration even more radical. That led to a different kind of collaboration - the merger of GenGreen and 3rdWhale into one synergistic organization which now combines the leading database of green businesses in North America with the leading location based services for green businesses across three key mobile platforms including the iPhone, Android and Blackberry.
The merger will make it easier to grow the reach and size of the combined database and monetize it leveraging both web and mobile platforms.
The goal is simply "To Find the Green in Everything."
A recent Time Magazine article reported that approximately 38% of the American adult population 18 and over (i.e. 86 million people) are responsible consumers concerned with the environmental and social impacts of their buying decisions. The new GenGreen will make it easier for these consumers to buy responsibly, to connect with others who share their values, and to help stimulate the green economy in communities across North America (and beyond).
GenGreen will continue to be based in Ft. Collins, Colorado but will maintain mobile development activities in Vancouver, Canada.
