Funcom Announces New Venture Capital Financing

Norwegian-headquartered MMO creator Funcom, developer of titles including Anarchy Online and the forthcoming PC MMO Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures, has announced that it has secured a €5 million ($6.1 million) equity investment from venture capiral firm Nordic Venture Partners (NVP). The company had already previously announced €4.5 million ($5.4m) of new investment from a consortium of Northzone Ventures (€3.5 million) and existing investors Teknoinvest and Stelt Holding back in April 2004, and has also recently signed up the Massive Inc. in-game advertising network to provide advertisements for the free version of its Anarchy Online MMO. Claus Højbjerg Andersen, Partner in NVP and new board member of Funcom, commented in relation to the investment: “Our aim is to improve the business side of Funcom even further, thus supporting the company in realizing their creative visions. The goal is to turn Funcom into a global powerhouse for subscription-based online games, and our investment will aid the company in evolving to the next level.” Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom, also released a public statement hinting that Funcom MMO products will likely be coming to next-gen consoles with help from this investment, commenting: “With the support of NVP and our other investors, we have the potential of taking a leading role in the content and technology-development in the next generation of online games. This investment also aids us in preparing even better for launching exciting new content on the upcoming consoles and Windows Vista.”