Helsinki, FINLAND – February 21, 2018 – Small Giant Games, an independent Finnish mobile game developer, today announced the completion of a $41 million investment round. Part of the investment will be used to increase Small Giant Games’ reach internationally, expand its team of developers and graphic designers, and continue innovation on its Empires & Puzzles game and upcoming titles. With Small Giant Games already profitable, a large portion of the round was in secondaries. Lead investor in the round was the EQT Ventures fund (“EQT Ventures”), along with the company’s other existing investors Creandum, Spintop Ventures, and PROfounders.
Launched globally on Android and iOS in March 2017, Empires & Puzzles is an original IP match-3 role playing game (RPG) that involves base building, training and player versus player (PVP) battles. Built in less than a year with a team of just 12 developers, Empires & Puzzles is now one of the few new entrants in recent years to successfully break into the top 100 grossing gaming apps in key western markets. To date, the game has secured 10 million players worldwide and has a very active user base with a DAU/MAU ratio of 33 percent.1 Small Giant Games also reports $33 million of revenue for Empires & Puzzles in 2017 – just 10 months after its launch.
“When we set out to create Empires & Puzzles, we had a clear vision about the game we needed to build in order to succeed in a very competitive market,” said Timo Soininen, CEO, Small Giant Games. “We wanted to develop a role playing game that was easy to pick up and play, but also surprised players with a fresh take on familiar elements. At Small Giant Games, we believe that small, focused teams can achieve huge things. Our team didn’t only get into the top 100 grossing gaming apps, but successfully created a strong new brand with a loyal following. We’ve now got a proven, scalable game ready for the next phase of growth. This latest round of investment will enable us to continue innovation , actively target new markets and leverage the game’s successful framework for future games. The secondaries were also a way for us to reward the whole team and continue building a global success story.The extensive mobile gaming experience within the EQT Ventures team has been invaluable in terms of scaling Empires & Puzzles , as well as the company, and we’re looking forward to the next phase of the journey.”
“For EQT Ventures, Small Giant Games ticks all the boxes for the kind of companies the team wants to support,” said Lars Jörnow, Partner and investment advisor to EQT Ventures. “The strong, data-driven entrepreneurial team had a clear vision of what it wanted to achieve and it’s delivering on that. Small Giant Games has achieved great traction and is determined to become a global winner – this is exactly the kind of attitude the EQT Ventures looks for.”
Based in Helsinki, Small Giant Games now has 25 employees and is actively hiring more small giants to its team.
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