Mobile game publisher ‘Firefly Games’ has secured $10 million in its second round of funding, and is now valued at a whopping $100 million. The company plans to publish additional titles moving into 2017. It also aims to scale its executive management and staff on both sides of the Pacific to meet projected goals.
Led by China Construction Bank International Holdings(a division of one of the big our banks of China), the round also saw participation of China Credit Limited Holdings.
Its vision is to expand its efforts to make games based on Hollywood intellectual properties. And, it has already formed its first development team to begin production of the same.
Founded in early 2015 by Michael Zhang and Justin K.J., Firefly Games has a subsidiary in Shanghai and has 35 employees. It was launched by the game entrepreneurs as a business aiming at bridging East and West in mobile games. Prior to this, it had raised $8 million from Skyocean International Holdings, Ceyuan Ventures, and GuangZhou WinHi.
Firefly has been developing a publishing infrastructure and bringing high-potential mobile titles from Asia to the West. Former titles include Rush of Heroes, (previously known as I am MT2 in China) and Dungeon Crash.
We see an expansion opportunity to diversify and leverage our current strengths into Hollywood IP, VR, and e-sports.
said Zhang in a statement.
According to market researcher Newzoo, mobile gaming has become a $36 billion market globally. But fundings are rare for mobile game companies because of the cut-throat competition and dominance of bigger firms. This funding round will surely give the Los Angeles startup a great boost to its growth story.
Firefly is also looking to establish a China-based VR publishing arm, bringing the best of VR content around the world to the East, while continuing development on their esports social streaming app. The board of directors is joined by the members of CCB International, China Credit, Firefly Games’ Chief Strategy Officer Justin K.J. Lin, and Firefly China CEO Qinyan Hu.
