GameDuell raises €10.8 million in series B

Berlin-based game site GameDuell has raised €10.8 million in a second round of funding. The self-claimed largest game community of Germany received their first round from Holtzbrinck Ventures and Burda Digital Ventures in 2004 and now acquired new capital in series B – led by Wellington Partners.

The numbers of GameDuell are pretty impressive: the community has 10 million registered members who together play 200,000 games on a daily basis. Founders Boris Wasmuth, Kai Bolik, and Michael Kalkowski (see picture) claim to have more than 200 media partners – which rates them as the no. 3 online advertiser in Germany. The workforce of 80 employees is supposed to double before the end of this year.

So why is GameDuell so popular? Simple: users play against each other and have the chance to win serious cash prizes. The games are skill-focused – think Darts, Pool, Sudoku, Solitaire, and Mahjong -, so some governments don’t consider the games as gambling. For most people from countries where online gambling is forbidden, GameDuell offers a good alternative – since they can still win prizes. GameDuell offers localized site for visitors from US, UK, Spain, France, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.