Finnish Gaming Startup Supercell Bags $12M from Accel, Others
Kevin Comolli, Accel
(Reuters) – Finnish online startup Supercell, which merges social games with elements from traditional console titles, has raised $12 million from venture capital firm Accel Partners and others.
The 11-month old company — which released its first offering, Gunshine.net, to the public this week — builds free games which can be played directly from an internet browser without additional downloads.
“The investment will help Supercell accelerate its growth, expand its team and also release new games and target new platforms,” it said on Wednesday.
Founders include Ilkka Paananen, a longtime director at mobile gaming firm Digital Chocolate, and former staff from established gaming companies like Remedy and Sulake.
“This is a phenomenal team. We agree with their vision of next-generation gaming,” Accel Partner Kevin Comolli said.
Supercell hopes to find a niche developing titles for gamers who want online browser-based games that are more advanced than most social games but less involved than multiplayer games.
SOCIAL GAMING BOOM
Venture capital and technology companies looking for growth have taken increasing notice of fast-paced growth in online social gaming.
Electronic Arts bought Playfish in a deal valued at up to $400 million in late 2009. Walt Disney bought Playdom for over $563 million.
Zynga, a social gaming phenomenon behind a series of popular games on Facebook, may value itself at over $10 billion when it files for an IPO as early as this week, tech blog AllThingsDigital reported on Tuesday.
Research firm eMarketer estimated that overall revenue from social games could hit $1.09 billion this year, up from $856 million in 2010.
Accel is an investor in Angry Birds’ developer Rovio Mobile, and has invested into social gaming firm Playfish, German browser-game firm Gameforge and kids gaming platform Mind Candy.
Klaas Kersting, founder of Gameforge, also took part in the investment round. Supercell investors include also London Venture Partners, Initial Capital LLP, Cerval Investments and Lifeline Ventures who invested into the firm in late 2010.
–By Tarmo Virki, European Technology Correspondent, Reuters
Related posts:
John Sparks said on May 26, 2011
I can see Gunshine will be a hit!