Venture Update: Investors scoring big in social gaming
The social gaming community continues to grow
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Walt Disney’s acquisition of social gaming company Playdom Inc. provided a quick and profitable exit for Bessemer Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, New World Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Disney affiliate Steamboat Ventures. These firms reportedly contributed to the $76 million the start-up raised since October 2009. Now, they’ve cashed out with in a deal worth $563 million up front with another $200 million in milestone payments possible.
Kongregate Inc. will be acquired by retail gaming giant GameStop Corp. The price wasn’t disclosed. Kongregate raised about $9 million from Greylock along with Bezos Expeditions and angels including Reid Hoffman, Jeff Clavier, Joe Kraus and Richard Wolpert.
Google also has joined in the social gaming craze and is in talks with several online game makers as it seeks to develop a social-networking service to compete with Facebook. Potenial allies include Playdom, Electronic Arts Inc.’s Playfish, and Zynga Game Network.
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