Google Ventures, the corporate venturing unit belonging to the US-based search engine, is among the investors in US-based social gaming start-up Airy Labs’s $1.5m seed round.
Airy Labs joins a stable of web-based companies in Google Ventures’ portfolio, including cloud-based language learning company English Central and massively multiplayer game developer Kabam.
Started by teenage science prodigy Andrew Hsu, Airy is aiming to develop online games which introduce social learning concepts to children. The games will range from tablet and mobile based games to browser-based social network and massively multiplayer online (MMO) games.
The round was led by US-based investment firm Foundation Capital, while Rick Thompson, the co-founder of online games developer Playdom, is among the angel investors participating.
Thompson said: "There is a huge opportunity here to really develop games for social good and individual development. Bringing financial success and a great social mission together is particularly satisfying in business, and I’m ecstatic to be involved."