Finland-based mobile game developer Next Games has raised $10m in a series B round co-led by IDG Ventures, a corporate venturing affiliate of IT and media conglomerate International Data Group.
Angel investor Jari Ovaskainen co-led the round, which included cable TV network AMC Networks, film production company Lionsgate, IDG Capital, which operates as the China-based branch of the IDG Ventures family of funds, and venture capital firm Lowercase Capital.
The funding will be used to grow Next Games’s existing games – Compass Point: West and The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land – and to advance a third title currently in development.
The round followed a $6m series A round in March 2014 also co-led by IDG Ventures and Ovaskainen, and a strategic investment from Lionsgate four months later, and brings the total equity raised by Next Games to $18m.
Next Games’ debut title, Compass Point: West, will be expanded to Android devices in March this year while The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land, based on the AMC TV series, is set for a content update as season six of the TV show hits screens later this month.
Next Games CEO Teemu Huuhtanen said: “2015 was a banner year. We succeeded in attracting senior international talent, growing from 45 to 70 employees. We are thrilled to see our existing investors fully committed to supporting Next Games’ ambitious expansion plans for 2016 and beyond.”