Singapore-based venture capital fund Play Ventures has closed its fund at $40m having raised money from limited partners including game developer Rovio, Tech in Asia reported yesterday.
Play Ventures invests in game and game service developers in Asia, Europe or North America at early-stage, providing between $500,000 and $1m per first investment and following on if necessary. It intends to participate in six to eight rounds each year and maintains an office in Finland where Rovio is based.
Rovio, the game developer best known for mobile game Angry Birds, provided $3m of capital for the fund in March this year. It had initially targeted a $30m close but has lifted that amount due to the level of interest from LPs, which include Anton Gauffin, CEO of social game publisher Huuuge Games.
The Rovio investment came three months after the firm launched with a commitment of undisclosed size by Modern Times Group, the investment holding company formed out of the entertainment holdings of investment firm Kinnevik, which increased the fund’s size to $22.4m.
Play Ventures has nine companies in its portfolio, two of which have not been announced. Its notable deals include participation in an $11.4m round for Redhill Games last month and a $1.5m pre-seed round for fellow game studio Reworks in March.
