WoA buys 50% of FSMS

Technology investment company World of Avatar has bought a 50% stake in South Africa’s only free two-way SMS service, FSMS. The success of FSMS which launched in June 2010 and already receives two million page views a month, captured the attention of World of Avatar (WoA) which is headed up by Alan Knott-Craig Jr. Buying into FSMS is a perfect match for WoA, which develops applications to help Africans make money via their mobile phones and the Internet. SMS boasts over 35 000 users who send and receive text messages at no cost from their PCs and cell phones. Over 1 million SMSs have been sent since inception with an average of 25 000 SMSs sent daily. The service is in the process of rolling out mobile applications, starting with the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry platforms. The service is sponsored by advertising, both on the website and short demographically targeted ads on the bottom of the SMSes. The company’s vision is to expand beyond South Africa’s borders and to provide its free service to the rest of the African continent. 21-year-old chemical engineering student Daniel Schwartzkopff and his business partner, software engineer and architect Jörg Wunderlich lead SMS. The project was initially funded by partner Johnny Graaff.