Virtual Worlds News

Playfish Gets $1 Million from Accel Partners

Playfish's portfolio so far only includes social/casual games, but it describes itself as "working on combining the best elements of casual games, social networks, MMOGs and virtual worlds to create entirely new, more social ways of enjoying great games together." We may start to see more elements from the complicated systems of virtual worlds and MMOGs making their way in, then, with the recent investment of $1 million from Accel Partners reported by Venture Wire. Accel also helped launch the company with $4 million last year. [via DMW]

NTT Investing $15.7 Million in ngi group

In May, the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) announced that it would sign a business and capital tie-up deal with the ngi group, the Japanese start-up behind virtual world developer 3Di.jp and the open-source world JinSei. NTT formed a 10 billion yen investment partnership for the purchase and was set to purchase new shares from ngi  at the amount of 1.5 billion yen, for an 8% stake, and 200 million yen, for a 40% stake, from 3D--bringing the total investment to approximately $15.7 million. 

Metaverse Mod Squad Gets Over $200k from Angel Investors

Metaverse Mod Squad, an avatar staffing company for virtual world events and businesses, announced that, on June 6, it received over $200,000 from angel investors in a bridge loan that may later convert to equity in a regular Series A round. Investors include  Treb Ryan, CEO,  OpSource; Marv Tseu, Director and Chairman, Plantronics; Silicon Valley financial exec Carolyn Aver; and Peter E. Hilliard, an executive HR and management consultant at Hilliards Group.  As befitting an investment in a virtual company providing virtual services, the closing of the investment took place in the Mod Squad's virtual office in Second Life (video here).

"Virtual communities supported by real human interaction allows for a whole new experience for a set of users increasingly living online," Ryan said in a statement. "Metaverse Mod Squad’s experience, people and technology are perfectly positioned to benefit from this trend and actually accelerate the adoption of the next generation of virtual online communities."

Novint Gets $5.2MM Investment for 3D Peripherals

Novint Technologies, Inc., makers of 3D-focused, haptic Novint Falcon controller, announced yesterday the close of a $5.2 million round of unsecured debt financing at a 7% interest rate, convertible to Novint's common stock at a fixed conversion price of $1.00/share. Although there's been a fair amount of interest in using 3D touch devices like Novint's in virtual worlds like Second Life and Croquet, the money is targeted at adding big title video games to Novint's roster. There has been a rising interest in creating better interfaces for virtual worlds, but it looks like Novint, at least, is still seeing games and entertainment as the major revenue generators.

"We saw a lot of interest on this round given how compelling closing on AAA titles is, which is one of the primary uses of proceeds,"  Novint CEO Tom Anderson said in a statement. "Closing on AAA titles is the single most important key to our success right now, both in driving Falcon sales and in creating high-margin revenue on game sales, and Novint is excelling in that area."

Turbine Finishes $40M Investment Round

Turbine, creator of online worlds Lord of the Rings Online, Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny, and Dungeons and Dragons Online, had received $25 million of a Series C round by late April. Now it's finished the $40 million round, led by Time Warner Inc. and GGV Capital with participation from existing investors, Highland Capital Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Tudor Ventures and Columbia Capital. The announced plans for the money are to fuel company growth.

"The demand for massively multiplayer online worlds is exploding both geographically and in terms of platforms served," Hany Nada, managing partner, GGV Capital, said in a statement. "Turbine is a proven leader in massively interactive online entertainment and the incredible technology that supports it. We look forward to marrying our strengths both here and in Asia with Turbine's unique capabilities."

Grockit Gets $8M Series B for "Massively Multi Player Online Learning Game"

Grockit is decidedly stealthy. There's not much clear about what it's doing beyond working on a "Massively Multi Player Online Learning Game" that is about "students teaching students." They've generated enough interest, though, to get $2.7 million in a Series A round led by Benchmark Capital and angel investors back in July 2007 and now $8 million in a Series B round from Integral Capital and Benchmark.

It's not clear if it's going to be a virtual world-style environment--Tech Crunch cites Grokit's previous products as a WebEx GMAT prep courses and, based on the MMOLG, a fax machine-based game--but it sure sounds like an option. As it preps to launch in the fall, Grockit may be one to keep an eye on, if nothing else. [via TechCrunch]

Turbine Gets $25M of $40M Series C Investment

Turbine, creator of online worlds Lord of the Rings Online, Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny, and Dungeons and Dragons Online, has received $25 million of a secured $40 million Series C round of investment according to filings discovered by peHUB.  Granite Global Ventures led the round with additional backing from previous investors including Highland Capital Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Tudor Ventures and Columbia Capital. Granite managing partner Hani Nada will take a seat on Turbine's board as part of the deal. This brings Turbine's total financing to over $90 million. [via peHUB]

tech|ticker on Virtual Worlds Investment: VCs Are Hot, But It's Hard to Predict for Success

In an interview on Yahoo's tech|ticker, host Sarah Lacy takes a look at our round-up of Q1 investment in the virtual worlds space ($184M) and, it seems, our numbers on the growth of youth-oriented worlds. She sums it up pretty well:  "The first quarter was crazy." All in all, it makes for a nice fit in a segment on "VCs Top Bets in 2008."

Perfect World Invests $3M in Virtual World Developer Seasky

Online game developer and operator Perfect World announced today that it would make a strategic investment of $3 million to acquire a minority stake in Chengdu Seasky Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. Seasky previously developed MMOGs, including the 2D turn-based Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre, and has worked in Java R&D. "I believe Seasky will be a great partner due to its research and development capabilities and solid future potential,"  Mr. Michael Chi, Chairman and CEO of Perfect World, said in a statement. "Pursuing strategic partnerships and alliances has always been one of our core strategies. We are committed to effectively executing this strategy and to delivering solid results for our shareholders."

Nurien Gets $15M in Series A for 3D Social Networking

Korea-based Nurien Software has received $15 million from both American and Chinese investors, including Northern Light Venture Capital, Globespan Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and QiMing Venture Partners. The financing will be used to launch Nurien's social networking platform and online games (mostly casual from the looks of it) beginning with a closed beta this month in Korea and ending with a full Chinese and Korean launch at the end of 2008 with a U.S. launch following in early 2009.

Virtual Worlds Management Report: Over $184 million Invested in 23 Virtual Worlds-Related Companies in Q1 2008

Virtual Worlds Management (publisher of VirtualWorldsNews.com) released a new report today rounding up the investment from Q1 2008. $184,180,000 was invested in 23 virtual worlds-related companies throughout the first quarter (complete list here) with participation from many more VC firms and angel investors. As we've already noted, the youth market is heating up, and the investments show the same theme: 8 investments were made in youth-oriented virtual worlds for a total of over $16 million. Mirror worlds and mixed realities also saw a significant, though more concentrated, interest with three investments totaling over $15 million. 

GoFish Gets $1.5M in Private Placement Financing

GoFish, the recently launched youth entertainment and media network, announced today that it has has completed a $1.5 Million private placement financing. Unsecured convertible original issue discount notes which will mature on June 8, 2010, were sold to unnamed investors and affiliates of GoFish. MTV has already invested in the network in return for placement, and virtual worlds like Cookie Jar's Magi-Nation, Urbaniacs, Whyville and ROCKETON have also signed on. The only mention of a reasoning behind the financing was that, as President Tabreez Verjee, said, it would "allow us to continue to implement our sales and marketing strategy."

Numedeon Closing $1M Series B Round

In March, Numedeon, the makers of Whyville and now SportsBlox, said that it planned on raising $1-$2 million in a Series B round of financing led by its first institutional investor. In April, the company announced that Bankinter, which has had a presence in Whyville since October, had made the investment as part of the plan to open Whyworld in Spain. Though the round is still closing, COO Jay Goss explained that Bankinter was the lead investor, with the rest of the financing coming from new and existing angel investors. Also, the round will be closer to the $1 million than $2 million mark. "In the end, the amount we raised was suitable, and will fund our growth (remember, we are a 9 1/2 year old company that *is* generating revenue also) for the rest of 2008," Goss said via email.

Realtime Worlds gets $50M in Series B

Realtime Worlds made its name  with Crackdown an open-ended sandbox super-hero game for the Xbox 360. It's new project, though, is the massively multiplayer online game All Points Bulletin. With a target release date in 2008, the switch from open-ended game to virtual world has generated quite a bit of interest and, it seems, helped with cash. Realtime announced today that it had received $50 million in a round of Series B funding led by Maverick Capital with participation from previous investor New Enterprise Associates and new investor WPP. Realtime says the funding is aimed generally at new properties and specifically at  online experiences.  “Securing funding of this size from partners that are leading the financial and marketing communications industries further affirms Realtime Worlds’ position as one of the most creative, respected and successful game development companies in the world,”  David Jones, founder and CEO, Realtime Worlds, said in a statement.  “Since our founding, we have been fortunate to have some of the gaming industry’s top creative talent crafting amazing, groundbreaking interactive entertainment products.  With this new infusion of capital, Realtime Worlds is poised to deliver new original experiences to gamers around the globe and to push the boundaries of online gaming.”

FIX8 Announces $2M in Series A from SK Telecom; Contract to Develop Avatars for SKT's Users

FIX8, an avatar chat tool that animates expression based on webcam input, announced today that it had received $2 million in Series A financing from SK Telecom. In October last year, FIX8  $3 million in Series 1A financing from the Vickers Financial Group, now closing the initial round of funding with over $5 million. Additionally, SKT has contracted FIX8 yo develop 3D avatar animation technology aimed at mobile and online users. "Not only did SKT invest in FIX8, but we contracted the company to develop our interactive avatar technology. FIX8 is a true innovator in the Web 2.0 and now 3.0 space. The technology will be central to social interactivity and media-enhanced communication for our users," the project manager of SKT's 3D avatar animation project said in a statement.

Metaversum Takes Multi-Million-Euro Investment from Balderton Capital

Metaversum, the company currently developing mirror world Twinity, has received "a significant multi-million-Euro investment" from Balderton Capital, formerly known as Benchmark Capital Europe. Klaus Hommels from Balderton will take a spot on the Metaversum board, though a commenter on TechCrunch notes that "Hommels is no longer a partner at Balderton? He got out, the exact reasons unknown, but they let him keep his board seats while paying him some management fee."

Simmersion Holdings Gets $1.9M Investment from Blue Cove Ventures

Simmersion Holdings, the software company behind SimUrban, has received $1.9 million in an investment from Blue Cove Ventures, which is backed by Japanese firm Hikari Asset Management. The money will towards developing Simmersion's new virtual world, Mycosm, into the private beta mode set to begin in April.  "We are tackling the core problems with virtual worlds: low fidelity, too technical, no control, no fun and no friends," Bob Quodling, CEO, Simmersion Holdings, said in a statement. "Mycosm brings the power of a compelling virtual world platform to everyday users for free."

Handipoints Receives $800k from Charles Rivers and Angels

Handipoints, the virtual world based on encouraging good real-world behavior that we noted earlier this month, has received $800,000 in investment from Charles River Ventures ($250k) and various angel investors, including Keith Rabois, Georges Harik, Gady Nemirovsky, Robert Fanini, and Aydin Senkut. TechCrunch also notes that the world, in beta since November, has seen 150k users so far, averaging 3.5 users per family. The company is also looking at selling virtual goods to parents, who, in turn, can give them to children as rewards. [via TechCrunch]

Numedeon Looks to Raise $1-$2M in Series B

Numedeon, the company behind kids world Whyville, opened up SportsBLOX, an adult, sports-themed world last week. Also, the company has taken money from an institutional investor in a round of Series B financing, reports CNET. Numedeon plans to raise between $1 and $2 million in this round, announcing the investor on April 2. With plans for expansion, Numedeon is eying the purchase of another virtual world this year as well as the launch of several internally developed worlds. All in all, the company expects to be operating at least 5 virtual worlds by the end of the year, including an international Whyville aimed at Europe, another world targeted at older Americans, and enthusiast sites directed at music, politics, or entertainment niches. Most recently, Numedeon received an investment from Pat Sajak. [via CNET]

9You Gets $100M Investment Led By Temasek Holdings

9You, which last month launched the virtual world GTown, has received $100 million in a round of investment led by Temasek Holdings, reports Redline China. The company intends to use the money to continue forming an virtual entertainment community, a project began when it integrated its existing casual games, like Audition, into the GTown environment. It looks like, based on a translated release, that Temasek has previously restricted its investment to fields like finance, aviation, and real estate, with 9You tempting Temasek into its first foray into the Internet and consumer services business. I think the release is claiming that this is the largest domestic investment in the IT and Internet industry, though it might simply be the largest first investment in the space. 9You is already planning an IPO for later this year.

Avatar Company Gizmoz Gets $6.5M from DoCoMo and ngi group

Gizmoz, a platform that lets users take their Flash-based avatars into social networks, instant messaging tools, and videos, has received $6.5 million in a round of Series B funding. The round was led by DoCoMo Capital, Inc., a subsidiary of Japan's largest cell phone service provider, with additional funding from ngi capital, inc., a subsidiary of the ngi group, inc. The latter, it's worth noting, operates mixi, a social network service in Japan, as well as an open-source virtual world, a virtual world development house, and a Web interface for Second Life. The company has also invested in HiPiHi.

Fluid Entertainment Gets $3.2M From Trinity Ventures

We reported Monday that Fluid Entertainment had received some sort of funding from Trinity Ventures, and now the full information has come out. Trinity  brought $3.2 million to Fluid's round of Series A financing to build towards its eco-friendly kids world with a launch date set for later this year.  “The company has been in business since the late 90s, and is widely known for developing well regarded games for children," said Tim McAdam, general partner at Trinity Ventures.  "With three other gaming investments in our current portfolio, we were looking for the right play in the children’s MMO area, which is an open canvas with only a few incumbents. Fluid has a veteran team, a great history, and a clear and progressive vision that positions the company to become a leader in this arena.”

Trinity Ventures Invests in Fluid Entertainment for Eco World

Trinity Ventures has invested in Fluid Entertainment, reports GigaOM. We first reported on Fluid Entertainment in February when the company announced that it was building "an online world that encourages kids to explore their creativity, initiative and imagination, within an ecologically themed narrative." Previously Fluid Entertainment created online and offline games for  brands like Disney Princess, Pokemon, and Harry Potter.

Three Rings Took $3.5 Million in Financing Over the Summer

Last summer casual games and virtual worlds maker Three Rings took in $3.5 million in a VC-backed round of funding. $3 million came from True Ventures with another chunk coming from Chance Technologies and existing investors like Amicus Capital, Mercury Capital Partners and angel investors. Three Rings premiere title, Puzzle Pirates, brought in $1 million from subscriptions in 2007 and $3 million from virtual item sales spread out over an estimated 3 million users. Three Rings is currently working on irtua , a Web-based social world where users can create their own content and games. [via Venture Beat]

French Virtual World Company Chapatiz Gets $530k Investment

Chapatiz SA, a French company making virtual worlds for pre-teens, has received its first burst of VC funding. François Véron (founder of Newfund), Dusan Stojanovic (Business Angel), Jean Bégo (Business Angel) and several IT experts contributed €350,000 to become shareholders. The company was founded in 2005 by François Barbut, Stéphan Twarog and Arno Guensherian and now boasts almost 780,000 users with 12,638 active in the last day on the French browser-based world. The English version has 11,144 users with 992 active in the last day. The world is free and has Google ads running on the side. Users can also use Chips, the virtual currency, for premium virtual goods. 

Carbon Project Gets $100k National Science Foundation Grant for Geosocial Networking

Carbon Project, a company working on geosocial networking software, has received a $100,000 National Science Foundation grant and is eligible for a total of $1.1 million in future grants. Carbon Project's tool, ((Echo))MyPlace, lets users share location-based information over CarbonCloud, a p2p social networking app. It looks like all of that can be tied into the Gaia 3 viewer, which access map data from Microsoft Virtual Earth, Yahoo! Maps, Google Earth KML/KMZ, OGC GML, ESRI Shapefiles, OGC WMS, WFS, WCS services and more. CEO Jeff Harrison says the company plans to raise $3 million in VC from New England investors in addition to the funding it has already received from individual investors. The Microsoft Live Earth blog says the company is looking to launch with a wide release in the summer. [via Mass HighTech]

Sparkplay Gets $4.25M in Series A

Sparkplay Media announced today that it had received $4.25 million in a Series A round of financing from Redpoint Ventures and Prism Ventureworks. Started by Iron Realms principals, the company plans to use the money to continue development of its browser-based MMO platform and first game, Earth Eternal.  "We've been self-financing, and thus bootstrapping, for two years now and are incredibly excited about the chance to expand and accelerate our plans. We're developing a different kind of game: one that combines compelling traditional MMO gameplay with new experiences that can be shared with friends on social networks and beyond," said Matt Mihaly, CEO of Sparkplay Media. "We're also very happy to have the great people at Redpoint and Prism backing us up. It's gratifying that they share our vision of where MMOs and virtual worlds are heading and are willing to give us the chance to prove that vision to the market."

ROCKETON Draws $5M for Parallel Virtual World

ROCKETON, currently in closed alpha, announced today that it has drawn $5 million in funding in Series B financing from the D. E. Shaw Group, for a total of close to $5.8 million in financing. The company says it is working on a Web-based virtual world that transcends the single site approach and creates a parallel, avatar-based experience on almost every website available. The team has been working on the project since May 2007. "What caught our attention about ROCKETON is the potential for a new, real-time social interaction between people online," says Michael Banks, a senior vice president of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. "We asked ourselves, what if you took the next logical step beyond Facebook or Second Life? How would that look? The result is a new way of experiencing the Web."

Dizzywood Gets $1M in Series A from Shelby Bonnie and CRV

Dizzywood, a kids-oriented virtual world, has received $1 million in Series A financing from Shelby Bonnie, co-founder of C-Net, and Charles Rivers Ventures. Dizzywood opened in November with the aim of providing "an environment that would open up kids' imaginations and inspire them to create." While many other worlds have shifted towards ad-supported or virtual goods business models,  which Charles Rivers Ventures' Susan Wu is a big proponent of, Dizzywood is free to use, but will offer a subscription for premium content in the future.  The company, led by founders Scott Arpajian, former SVP of CNET Download.com, Sean Kelly, who previously co-founded Wallop, and Ken Marden, a game designer and children's book author, plans on using the investment to fund development of additional content and services in the world.

iOpener Gets $6M Funding for Mixed Reality Racing

This isn't strictly a virtual world since it seems to be totally focused on the gameplay of racing,  but it's a pretty interesting application of mixed realities nonetheless. iOpener, assisted as an "incubate" of the ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands, has received $6 million in financing from German Venture Capitalist Triangle. iOpener is developing a technology using ESA satellites designed to map real world competitions, like F1 racing, and pipe the data into a virtual environment, allowing users to participate in real time. "Our product enables gamers to race live against professionals – they don't have to be a 'Schumacher' to enjoy it,"  Andy Lürling, CEO and co-founder of iOpener, said in a statement. "It is a total immersion experience." Well, except for the fact that if a user crashes, they only restart. When the racer crashes, there's fire. [via Spacemart]

Casual Game World FlowPlay Nets $3.7M in First Funding

FlowPlay, described by Founder Derrick Morton as a "virtual world platform powered by casual gaming," has received $3.7 million in its first round of funding led by Intel Capital and Ambient Sound Investments. It previously took in about $500,000 in angel financing to launch the company, which we reported on in March. The world, it seems, is an avatar-based, shardless environment focused on bringing teens together in casual games. The first product, "a place where playing games gets you clothing, furniture, pets and everything else you need for your virtual life," won't launch until sometime in spring 2008. Once it is launched, the company plans on a subscription fee of $5.99/month for total access.

CDC Games Increases Investment in Mobile Content Provider

CDC Games has announced that it has increased its investment in BBMF Group Inc, a 3G content provider in Japan, up to $10 million for approximately 20% of the company. The latest investment comes as part of CDC's goal to "deliver future online mobile games via 3G networks and expand its geographic reach." In December 2007, mobile multiplayer games paying subscribers grew  to approximately 107,000, more than 400 percent from the previous year. "We believe that online games will increasingly be delivered in broadband wireless as well as wired environments,"  Jeff Longoria, president of CDC Games International, said said in a statement. "This investment provides CDC with a beachhead in the mobile market, a proven 3G mobile platform, and access to one of the world’s largest online games markets, Japan. As part of this investment, CDC Games plans to use BBMF’s 3G mobile platform to launch future online games targeted for the 3G mobile markets in Japan and China."

CITA Gestion invests in YOOWALK for 3D Web

YOOWALK, a new start-up out of France aimed at creating a 3D Web, announced that it has closed a round of funding from CITA Gestion and angel investors, including Alexis Caude, founder and president of the Newsweb Group. The goals of the company are to create a 3D Internet, "organized by villages, grouping websites and brands by areas of interest." Users can create their own rooms and upload images, videos, sound, and text or simply link to content from the Web. It looks like YOOWALK is creating content or "walksites" for some major websites, but businesses can also create their own content. "This first round of funding provides us with the necessary means to launch, as early as next spring, the beta version of our community 3D platform,"  Xavier Marvaldi, president and founder of YOOWALK, said in a statement. "With this timing, YOOWALK will be the first to offer this kind of service, benefiting from a first-mover advantage. Our 3-year target is to become the leader of virtual worlds in Europe with 10 million unique visitors."

C3L3B Digital Gets $3M from BlueRun Ventures

C3L3B Digital has raised $3 million of a $4 million Series A round from BlueRun Ventures. We first saw C3L3B when we noted that Michael Steele had left Emergent Game Technologies where he was Vice President & General Manager of Live Game Services to found the new company focused on "web 2.0 & casual MMO & VW destinations for the mass market." PE hub observes that other executives and board members include former TV talent like CEO  Joey Carson (former CEO of Bunim Murray Productions, which was behind The Real World and Road Rules),  Seth Bedell (a TV Guide Network talent producer) and board member Melissa Rivers. All of that leads Video Game Venture Capitalist to posit that the company is aiming at "a mass casual MMO based on reality TV concepts that play well to the teen and early 20s demographics."

IGA Gets (Almost) $5M from Asian Investors

IGA Worldwide announced today that it had received funding from Translink Capital, Presidio STX, LLC (a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation), and ITOCHU Corporation. With the previous  $25 million from Peacock Equity and KTB Ventures, IGA says it has received a total of closet to $30 million in Series B funding. When we previously spoke with IGA CEO Justin Townsend, he explained that the company wouldn't be going into virtual worlds soon. However, he noted that "Virtual worlds within Asia are obviously very popular, so we’ll certainly be exploring opportunities." KTB Ventures was based out of Korea, and now with additional Asian investment in the in-game advertising network, could the company move in a new direction?  "We are very pleased to have Translink Capital, Presidio STX and ITOCHU Corporation among our investors,"  Townsend said in a statement. "This investment is an exceptional endorsement for the market and it will allow IGA to further expand its global in-game advertising footprint to the most technologically-savvy populations of gaming enthusiasts in the world."

Unisfair Gets $10M in Series B Financing

Unisfair, a virtual events provider, has received $10 million in a round of Series B financing led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from Sequoia Capital. Sequoia provided all of Unisfair's first round of $5 million and has also invested in the kids world Stardoll. Unisfair has seen strong interest from companies like Cisco, which used the platform to create an ongoing environment for its Industry Solutions Partner Network. When we spoke with Unisfair in September, VP of Marketing Brent Arslaner said that virtual events attracted an average of 1,587 attendees and delivered 348 qualified leads per each event sponsor. [via VentureBeat]

Investors in Ansche Chung Invest in Facebook

The Samwer Brothers, a German family who sold a German auction site to eBay, have agreed to invest between $10 and $15 million in Facebook. That follows $240 million from Microsoft $60 million from Li Ka-shing, chairman of the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoam. While the Microsoft investment reportedly put Facebook at a $15 million valuation, commenters suggest that the Samwer Brothers got a discount for helping Facebook enter the German market.  Facebook is already looking like a more and more significant venue to both market and distribute virtual worlds, but the investment has other relevance. The Samwer Brothers took a ten percent stake in Anshe Chung Studios at the beginning of 2007, making them one of the early investors in the contemporary virtual worlds space. [via Out to Pasture]