Next Games, a Finland-based mobile gaming startup, has obtained $6 million in its latest funding round, VentureBeat reported.
The financing came from IDG Ventures and original backer Jari Ovaskainen. Lowercase Capital, IDG Capital, AMC Networks Ventures and freshly-launched venture capital firm York Ventures based in Los Angeles also participated. There were also individual investors who joined the round. They were Mich Mathews, the former Chief Marketing Officer of Microsoft, Ken Lamb of Initial Capital and eOne CEO Darren Throop. It was Striker Entertainment's Russell Binder who made the deal between AMC and Next Games possible, the report said.
Finland has produced successful titles in the mobile gaming space. Rovio had Angry Birds while Supercell came up with Clash of Clans. In its bid to become the next Finnish startup to make it big in the world of mobile gaming, Next Games intends to create a mobile version of the well-known TV show "The Walking Dead." In addition, it also has another as-yet secret mobile gaming title that it is working on, the report said.
Founders of Next Games are game veterans coming from such illustrious firms as Rovio, Disney and Supercell. In an interview, Next Games Chief Executive Officer Teemu Huuhtanen told VentureBeat that they intend to come up with games that will be a hit with users worldwide. "The Walking Dead" will be launched globally and will be available in Android and iOS. It could also be available in other platforms. According to Huuhtanen, the game is already in the production stage and they will be giving more details about it later on, report said.
Huuhatanen added that Next Games was able to secure funding easily because Finnish firms like Rovio and Supercell already set an impressive track record. He also said that the capital raised will enable Next Games to fund user acquisitions and allow them to develop games on their own, the report said.
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