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Dutch Startups IRL Connect And Mobypicture Win Red Herring's 100 Europe 2009 April 02, 2009

Company: IRL Industry: Geocoding, Geographic Data, Internet/Web Mapping/Web Services, Internet Portals Location: Berlin, Germany DUTCH STARTUPS IRL CONNECT AND MOBYPICTURE WIN RED HERRING’S 100 EUROPE 2009 BERLIN, April 2, 2009 – At this week’s Red Herring 100 Europe 2009 conference in Berlin, Red Herring announced that Amsterdam-based IRL Connect and Mobypicture are winners of the Red Herring 100 Europe, an award given to the top 100 private technology companies based in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region each year. The two companies were selected from a group of 210 finalists after CEOs Frank Schuil of IRL and Mathys van Abbe of Mobypicture presented their company strategies and vision to venture investors at the conference. IRL Connect – Sense your friends on the world’s first visual social network Currently in private beta, IRL Connect will launch publicly in April 2009 with simultaneous virtual and real-life launch parties in a secret location. Visit www.irlconnect.com and follow @IRLConnect on Twitter for clues to the party venue and to find out how to win a prize for correctly guessing the location. All visitors are also welcome to experience IRL Connect now with private beta invite key: redherring. IRL Connect adds presence to social networking by allowing users to visualize their friends on Google Maps™, as well as see what they are saying and doing. Users can also integrate their Facebook and Twitter accounts to make status updates and connect with friends from multiple networks on the IRL Connect platform. Mobypicture – Shoot and share all media from your phone on social networks Mobypicture lets users instantly share their adventures with friends by sending photos, text, video and audio from their mobile phone directly to all of the popular microblogs, blog platforms, social networks and media sites. Mobypicture currently supports services that include Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Wordpress blogs, Tumblr blogs, Blogspots, LiveJournal, Hyves, Brightkite and more. Users can sign up at www.mobypicture.com or use their Twitter credentials to sign in. Mobypicture is also available as a free app for the iPhone and several mobile applications. “The selection of IRL Connect and Mobypicture for the Red Herring 100 Europe is a testament to the innovation and entrepreneurship that is alive and well in the Netherlands,” said Ari Wegter, a Dutch entrepreneur and founder of LoveFilm and GlibHippo. “The Dutch economic climate has allowed these two companies to develop business models that take advantage of the hot social networking market. With this recognition by Red Herring, we are excited about their futures as two of the most promising technology companies.” The Red Herring 100 Europe award is given to the top 100 private technology companies based in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region each year. Red Herring’s lists of top private companies are an important part of the publication’s tradition of identifying new and innovative technology companies and entrepreneurs. Past winners include Google, eBay and Skype. About In Real Life In Real Life (IRL), www.irlcorporate.com, is the company behind the first visual social network that adds presence to social networks and social media. IRL Connect allows users to take their friends from any social network and visualize them on the map to find, meet and communicate. IRL Connect takes the communications features of social networking sites and makes the user’s location the most important part of the information they broadcast. The privately funded company is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with an office in China. About Mobypicture Mobypicture (http://www.mobypicture.com) helps users share adventures in real time with friends. In one simple action, all social Web sites are updated with text, audio, photos or video files. Mobypicture helps companies market their events and spread the content of the attendees throughout the social Web. For events, these are aggregated based on geo location. Clients use Mobypicture to send mobile digital content which is aggregated, enriched and distributed using APIs of all important social sites and services. About Red Herring Red Herring is a global media company which unites the world’s best high technology innovators, venture investors and business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider’s access to the global innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy. More information about Red Herring is available on the Internet at www.redherring.com. # # # Media contacts: Jennifer Hicks CMO, IRL Connect Jennifer@irlconnect.com +31 611278358 Twitter @jennalee Alex Crabb ink Communications for IRL Connect alex@theinkstudio.com +1 617 477-6885 ext. 1 Twitter @alexcrabb Alex Crabb (alex@theinkstudio.com) Phone: 6179562214