PlaySpan Founder and CEO Karl Mehta named Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Award finalist

Mumbai, May 11 (ANI/Business Wire India): PlaySpanT, the leader in monetization solutions for online games, virtual worlds, and social networks, today announced that Founder and CEO Karl Mehta is a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Award in the Northern California.

According to Ernst and Young LLP, the awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate extraordinary success in the areas of innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

Mehta was selected as a finalist from nearly 110 nominations by a panel of independent judges. Award recipients will be announced at a special gala event on June 13 at The San Jose Fairmont.

PlaySpan's patent-pending in-game virtual goods commerce and micropayment platform enables game publishers and developers to generate new revenues, acquire new users, and extend the loyalty of existing users.

PlaySpan also offers global payment solutions through its subsidiary PayByCash with 80 payment methods in 180 countries and ULTIMATE GAME CARD available for 300 games in over 21,000 retail locations across North America and thousands more in several key markets worldwide.

In recent weeks, PlaySpan acquired Spare Change, the leader in social network payment solutions, and formalized an agreement with hi5, the third largest social network, to power micropayment services for its 62 million-member community.

"It is a deeply gratifying experience to get selected for this honor, especially in Silicon Valley, which has a high concentration of brilliant entrepreneurs," said Karl Mehta, Founder and CEO of PlaySpan, Inc.

"PlaySpan is a very inspiring entrepreneurial story as we continue to democratize opportunities for thousands of developers and virtual world users to transact and monetize to become entrepreneurs," Mehta added.

The Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program celebrates its 23rd anniversary this year. The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in over 135 cities in 50 countries throughout the world.

Founded and produced by Ernst and Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year awards are pleased to have the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and SAP America as national sponsors.

In Northern California, sponsors include The Big Picture, Scherzer International, Smart Business and The Summit Group. (ANI)