This article was published on April 3, 2012

DragonPlay secures $14 million to expand mobile gaming portfolio


DragonPlay secures $14 million to expand mobile gaming portfolio

DragonPlay has locked in a massive $14 million series A funding round from Accel Partners, a venture firm that was a very early investor in Facebook.

Born in 2010, DragonPlay is a young company, but one that has made its mark on the mobile gaming space. It’s very popular Live Holdem Poker Pro has frequently commanded the top grossing slot on Android’s app store.

With success like that already in the bag, and big players spending heavily to consolidate, Accel’s bet is calculated: DragonPlay as a standalone play, if it can create new hits, is a profitable investment. And, of course, if one of the dominant gaming companies thinks that it is becoming a threat, it could be a juicy acquisition target.

Accel has gaming chops, having funded companies such as Rovio, of Angry Birds fame, and PlayFish. DragonPlay has long focused on the Android platform, which in the eyes of many is more ‘Wild West’ than Apple’s perhaps more sedate iOS walled garden.

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Also taking part in the round is Entrée Capital, who supplied DragonPlay with its initial seed capital, and Founder Collective. DragonPlay is located in the up and coming startup hub of Tel Aviv, Israel.

What will the firm do with the cash? Attack the iOS market, and expand its porfoilio on Facebook and Android.

DragonPlay wants to be everywhere at once, although, notably, plans to develop for Microsoft’s Windows Phone smartphone line are not mentioned in its announcement. The company did reveal, however, that it has hiring plans and may acquire smaller studios with its new cash hoard.

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