Ngmoco executive Oberfest leaves DeNA to start mobile health company

Another day, another DeNA departure.

Jason Oberfest, who was vice president of social applications for the mobile-gaming platform, has left to co-found a mobile health startup called Mango Health. Oberfest joined Ngmoco in September of 2009, just months before it was acquired by Japanese gaming giant DeNA in a deal worth up to $403 million. Now that the first date has just passed for the $100 million earnout, it looks like we might see more movement from employees of the U.S. subsidiary.

Ngmoco was acquired as a key part of DeNA’s foreign expansion plans. Flush with cash from the Japanese market, both DeNA and its rival GREE are looking to build out global mobile-gaming platforms that replicate their virtual currency-dependent model in Western markets. Ngmoco launched DeNA’s Mobage gaming platform formally last fall and has signed up prominent developers including Nimblebit, TinyCo and Glu Mobile.

Oberfest has not replied to requests for comment on what Mango Health is or what his next plans are. He’s entering a hot space: Massive Health raised $2.25 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures and others. Venture firms like Accel Partners and NEA are also contributing to a health startup incubator called Rock Health.

We’re also seeing departures from some of the other U.S. assets DeNA acquired the same year. Two co-founders from Gameview Studios, another startup DeNA acquired around the same time it did the Ngmoco deal, have also recently left the company. Gameview is behind Tap Fish, a virtual aquarium game that consistently ranks as one of the top-grossing Android apps. The third co-founder, Irfan Virk, stayed on to start a Canadian gaming studio in Vancouver for DeNA.

Inside Social Apps

Mediabistro Event

Facebook Joins Inside Social Apps Event

In the past few weeks, we’ve added industry insiders from Facebook, Chartboost, Tango, Tilting Point, PlayHaven, Paltalk, and more to the speaking roster of Inside Social Apps, June 6-7 in San Francisco. You’ll learn strategies for success with experts like Deb Liu, Product Manager at Facebook. Register now and save $200. 

Leave a Reply

3 Responses to “Ngmoco executive Oberfest leaves DeNA to start mobile health company”

  1. This week’s headlines from across Inside Network says:

    [...] Ngmoco executive Oberfest leaves DeNA to start mobile health company [...]

  2. Ngmoco’s chief publishing officer resigns says:

    [...] profile loss for Ngmoco this year. In February Ngmoco’s vice president of social applications Jason Oberfest left the company to co-found a mobile health startup called Mango [...]

  3. Ngmoco co-founders Neil Young, Bob Stevenson depart, Downie steps up as CEO says:

    [...] new projects. After Ngmoco passed its own earnout date its vice president of social applications Jason Oberfest left to co-found a mobile health startup, followed shortly afterwards by Ngmoco’s chief [...]

interested in advertising with inside mobile apps?

Social Media Jobs
of the Day

Ruby Web Engineer

CrowdFlower
San Francisco, CA

Social Media Community Manager

Trent & Company, Inc. Marketing Communications
New York, NY

Social Media Specialist

Norma Kamali Inc.
New York, NY

Featured Company

Join leading companies like this one and recruit from the nation's top media job seekers on the Mediabistro Job Board. Every job post comes with our satisfaction guarantee. Learn More
 

Our Sponsors

Also from Inside Network:   AppData - Facebook & iOS Application Stats   PageData - Engagement Data on Facebook Pages   Facebook Marketing Bible   Inside Network Research
WebMediaBrands
Mediabistro | SemanticWeb | Inside Network
Jobs | Education | Research | Events | News
Advertise | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Copyright 2012 WebMediaBrands Inc. All rights reserved.