Yodo1, a China-based publisher of games for local iPhone and Android smartphones, has raised $5m in its series A round from a consortium led by SingTel Innov8, the corporate venturing unit of the eponymous Singapore-based phone operator.
The other named investor in the round was Chang You Fund, which had seeded the company and is angel fund of Zhi Tan the former chief executive of Focus Media, a Nasdaq-listed company expected to go private at its extraordinary general meeting next week.
William Bao Bean, managing director of SingTel Innov8, said: “Gaming is one of the fastest growing segments in the smartphone ecosystem, and Yodo1 has cracked the code on how to publish international smartphone games in China, one of the most difficult markets in the world.”
Founded in 2011 with its first game released in June last year, Yodo1 said it had 25 million active Chinese players of its mobile phone games, such as Defiant Development’s Ski Safari, XMG’s Powder Monkeys, HandyGames’ Clouds & Sheep, and Robot Entertainment’s Hero Academy.
Henry Fong, chief executive of Yodo1, said: “With close to one billion mobile subscribers migrating from feature phones to smartphone handsets over the next 2 years, the SingTel Group is a perfect partner for Yodo1, with over 450 million mobile subscribers across south-east Asia and other high growth emerging markets.”