Social multi-player gamers named as UK technology's hottest prospect

Mind Candy is one of the leading developers of social multi-player games and is most recognised for helping children around the world to play and connect via its Moshi Monsters game, which now has almost 30 million users registered worldwide.

TMI showcases outstanding technology and media companies in the UK, with around 30 presentations from young, fast growing companies, and is sponsored by PwC and Kemp Little.

Brian Henderson, director at PwC, and one of the judges, said: "Mind Candy impressed us with the innovative technology behind Moshi Monsters and both the rapid rate of growth in the business and the diversification of revenue streams into merchandise and physical products. This is helping to cement the position of Moshi Monsters as a highly recognised brand in its target market."

The PwC Hottest Prospect award focuses on those companies showing promise to be the next big thing in a digital world where new apps and technologies are changing on an almost daily basis. Those shortlisted were selected for their high growth potential, based on their submissions, presentations and in depth interviews throughout the summer.

Other hottest prospects

This year's other Hottest Prospect Award nominees were Audioboo, Getjar, Livebookings and Tweetdeck.

Barry Murphy, UK technology leader, PwC, said: "At TMI this year I witnessed some fantastic innovation, and was reminded that the entrepreneurial spirit in the UK is alive and kicking. The companies shortlisted were picked for their innovation and creativity over the past year in areas as diverse as flirting services, games and music recognition. In these tough times we all need to play our part supporting the companies of tomorrow. It is vital we encourage the investment incentives and fiscal system needed to retain and grow talent in the UK."

Commenting on the success, Michael Smith, CEO of Mind Candy, said: "We're delighted and very proud to be recognised for this award. Mind Candy is growing rapidly and we've got a lot of ambitious plans to dramatically expand the business in 2011. We want to show that London is just as capable of producing world class start-ups as Silicon Valley."

PwC will provide free professional advice to the winner of both this award and the Kemp Little Innovation award winner, Cortexica.

About Mind Candy

Mind Candy is one of the world's fastest growing social online gaming companies and the global developer, operator and publisher of Moshi Monsters. The company was founded in 2004 by Michael Acton Smith, a UK-based entrepreneur who previously founded Firebox.com.

About Moshi Monsters

Moshi Monsters is the world of adoptable monsters, combining adorable virtual pets with social online gameplay and educational puzzles for children. The puzzles test a variety of skills including basic maths, spatial awareness, logic, counting, anagrams and vocabulary. Over 29 million monsters have been created to date and over two million new players joining each month making Moshi Monsters one of the world's fastest growing children's sites with one new player joining every second! To date, hundreds of millions of educational puzzles have been played and millions of virtual items sold each day! For more information on Moshi Monsters visit www.moshimonsters.com