Mondelez International Announces Acquisition of its Start-Up Betabox by VaynerMedia

Born out of the Mobile Futures initiative, Betabox will power VaynerMedia's new sampling division

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Feb 25, 2015, 09:00 ET

DEERFIELD, Ill., Feb 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Mondelez International, the world's pre-eminent maker of biscuits, chocolate, gum and candy, today announced the acquisition of Betabox, LLC by VaynerMedia, LLC, a leading social media and digital marketing agency led by renowned entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk.

Born out of Mondelez International's Mobile Futures initiative, which aimed to create and incubate new mobile ventures in 90 days, Betabox was developed in partnership with Prehype, a venture development firm. Mondelez International employees generated the original idea for Betabox and further developed and incubated it in collaboration with venture developers at Prehype, who helped build and launch the product.

"As part of the Mobile Futures program, we empowered our employees to be more entrepreneurial and provided them with a unique opportunity to launch their own start-up," said Bonin Bough, Vice President of Global Media and E-Commerce at Mondelez International. "The fact that our start-up piqued the interest of a leading marketing agency such as VaynerMedia is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit we were able to spark within our organization."

"I'm delighted that Betabox has found a new home with VaynerMedia," said Hadley Schafer, Senior Associate Brand Manager, Mondelez International, who participated in the idea generation. "Their entrepreneurial spirit and growth outlook made them a natural fit."

Betabox enables brands to target product samples at specific consumers by distributing through reputable e-commerce partners. It engages sample recipients with a mobile platform that brands can customize to promote content, special offers and social sharing incentives. The digital platform also enables brands to measure the effectiveness of their product sampling campaign.

"As a retailer at heart, sampling has always been an area of interest to me, and Betabox is a great platform for us to leverage so we can expand our sampling capabilities," said Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia. "With our winning digital and social media work, our agency has demonstrated it has the intelligence, agility and speed to find the fastest and most effective ways of getting products in front of consumers who'll become the next wave of brand loyalists, all in ways that are native and natural to them."

Financial terms were not disclosed. As a result of the transaction, VaynerMedia will be the sole owner of the Betabox assets. Sonny Byrd, the founder and CEO of Betabox, joined VaynerMedia as the head of this new business division.

About Prehype
Prehype is a venture development firm with offices in London, Copenhagen and New York. Their group of successful entrepreneurs helps established companies and venture capitalists facilitate spin-outs, incubation and venture partnerships. They run programs for companies ranging from NewsCorp, to Lego and Verizon. They also built companies in partnership with leading venture capital firms. Recent financed companies include Barkbox, Basno and Managed by Q. Visit www.prehype.com.

About VaynerMedia
VaynerMedia is a social-first digital agency that focuses on storytelling across platforms. We build creative campaigns that drive actual business results from insights gained through micro-content we produce. With offices in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, we live and breathe emerging technology, and are always growing.

About Mondelez International
Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a global snacking powerhouse, with 2014 revenue of $34 billion. Creating delicious moments of joy in 165 countries, Mondelez International is a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy, coffee and powdered beverages, with billion-dollar brands such as Oreo, LU and Nabisco biscuits; Cadbury, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; Trident gum; Jacobs coffee and Tang powdered beverages. Mondelez International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor's 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDLZ.