TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dragonplay, a free-to-play social games developer for smartphones and social networks, has raised $14M in a Series A funding from leading global venture capital firm Accel Partners. Dragonplay specializes in multi-platform social game experiences in the cards & casino and board game category and is best known for Live Holdem Poker Pro, frequently the top ranked application on Android’s (Google Play) “Highest Grossing” chart with over 12 million installs and more than 2 million monthly active players. The company will use the investment from Accel to expand its existing portfolio of games on Android and Facebook, launch on new platforms including iOS, grow its team and game development capacity, and consider studio acquisitions.
The company was founded in 2010 by Sharon Tal with seed capital from funds represented by Entrée Capital. Dragonplay was an early-mover on Android and has quickly emerged as one of the top developers on Google Play. With three new applications launched in the last twelve months, namely Live BlackJack, Farm Slots and Sea Battle, the company wants to become a leading developer and publisher of free-to-play, cross-platform social games, using in-app purchases of virtual goods for monetization.
Accel has backed several gaming companies such as Playfish, Gameforge, Rovio (Angry Birds) and Mindcandy (Moshi Monsters) in addition to a number of leading Internet companies such as Facebook, Dropbox, Spotify, Wonga, Etsy and Groupon. “The Accel team has backed some of the most admired gaming companies in the world,” said Sharon Tal, founder and CEO of Dragonplay. “We are proud to be joining its portfolio and look forward to working with the team to make Dragonplay a truly global, cross-platform leader in our space.”
“Dragonplay benefits directly from the spectacular growth of Android (estimated at more than 800,000 new activations per day), the emergence of smartphones as a primary gaming platform and the impressive growth of the virtual goods market,” says Adam Valkin, partner at Accel Partners who has joined the board of Dragonplay. “This together with Dragonplay’s cross-platform approach and the team’s excellent performance to date suggests that the company is well positioned to continue its rapid growth.”
Investing alongside Accel Partners is Founder Collective and Entrée Capital. Founder Collective is a New York and Boston based early-stage fund. The investment in Dragonplay is led by David Frankel, Managing Partner of Founder Collective. Entrée Capital is a European multi-stage private fund based in London and Tel Aviv.
About Dragonplay
Dragonplay is a leading developer of free-to-play social games for smartphones and social networks. Dragonplay’s vision is to connect people through games and enable them to play with friends and others on multiple platforms. Dragonplay places a special emphasis on user experience with the aim of connecting and delighting users from all over the world. Dragonplay strives to maintain the highest security and privacy standards for its customers.
Dragonplay was one of the first social gaming companies to focus on Android as its primary distribution channel and has emerged as one of its leading developers with its chart-topping title Live Holdem Poker Pro. Dragonplay also launched Live BlackJack, Farm Slots and Sea Battle in 2011. Dragonplay was founded in 2010 by Sharon Tal with seed funding from private investors. The company has 23 employees and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information contact info@dragonplay.com or visit http://www.dragonplay.com
About Accel Partners
Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Accel today invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, California, New York City, London and Bangalore, as well as in China via its partnership with IDG-Accel. Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful companies, many of which have defined their categories, including Angry Birds (Rovio), ComScore, Facebook, Groupon, Kayak, Playfish, QlikTech, Spotify, and Wonga. For more information, visit the Accel Partners web site at www.accel.com find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/accel.
About Entrée Capital
Entrée Capital provides multi-stage funding for innovative seed, early stage and growth companies all over the world. Entrée Capital was founded by entrepreneurs with a track record of having successfully invested and exited over 20 businesses on five continents in the past 15 years. Entrée Capital is located in Tel Aviv and London and invests in a wide range of geographies. For more information contact info@entreecap.com.
About Founder Collective
Founder Collective is a New York and Boston based early stage fund started by a team of entrepreneurs that launched companies and led them through successful exits. These founders are focused on helping the next generation of great entrepreneurs build important and lasting businesses. The investment in Dragonplay was led by David Frankel who has previously invested in successful consumer Internet companies such as SeatGeek, SiteAdvisor and Coupang. David was the CEO and co-founder of Internet Solutions, the largest ISP in Africa (sold to NTT Didata).