Another Finnish studio raises millions to make mobile games

Helsinki-based mobile game studio Small Giant Games, which is due to launch its first title next year, has managed to raise $3.1 million in investments during its most recent round of funding. Helsinki continues to be a hotspot for game company startups -- the area already hosts a handful of well-funded free-to-play and mobile developers, including Grand Cru, Rovio and Supercell. Earlier this year Helsinki-based Next Games raised $6 million from investors to make free-to-play mobile games, and last month a group of ex-Rovio and Guerrilla Games developers banded together to launch "mid-core mobile" studio Helsinki GameWorks. Small Giant Games intends to use its funding to launch the studio's first title, Oddwings Escape, in 2015 and fund development of future projects. Leading investors in the studio's most recent funding round include private firms like Creandum, PROfounders, Capital A Partners and Spintop Ventures as well as a coterie of private investors. Small Giant was founded late last year, and among its founding team are two former executives from Sulake, the Finnish social game company best known for the Habbo Hotel virtual world.