Skype billionaire Niklas Zennstrom’s Atomico backs Bossa Studios with $10m ahead of Worlds Adrift launch
Atomico is at it again, splashing the cash from its huge new fund, this time on a London games developer.
The venture capital firm has led a $10m series A round in Bossa Studios, which is set to launch Worlds Adrift, the first built using the virtual reality platform created by fellow UK tech startup Improbable.
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Existing investor London Venture Partners also participated in the round.
Investments by Atomico, set up by Skype founder Nikolas Zennstrom, include AI chipmaker Graphcore, flying car maker Lilium and digital mortgage advisor Habito in recent weeks and months. It raised a new $765m fund in February, the largest ever raised in Europe.
Previously Atomico has backed big names in gaming, including Clash of Clans creator Supercell and Angry birds maker Rovio which is soon to IPO.
With the new funding Bafta-winning Bossa will hire more talent and focus on developing artificial intelligence and user generated content.
“Together we’re able to accelerate Bossa’s strategy of creating a new breed of multiplayer games based on crowdsourced content, AI-directed procedural generation, and an open development ethos bringing the community into the fabric of everything we do,” said co-founder and chief executive Henrique Olifiers.
“There has never been a more exciting time to create games thanks to emerging technologies and platforms, and Bossa intends to be at the very heart of the action, creating popular titles that will capture players’ imaginations for years to come”.
According to recent research from Atomico, the gaming industry is now worth $100bn in terms of revenue with partner and co-founder Mattias Ljungman pointing to a return to PC gaming after the rise of mobile gaming.
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“Henrique and Imre [Jele, founders] have enormous experience in the sector, having previously been integral to the success of Runescape, one of the most popular MMO [massive multiplayer online] games in history,” he said.
London Venture Partners general partner David Lau-Kee said Bossa stood out from the “many hundreds of game companies” it sees every year.
Watch: Bossa Studios’ Worlds Adrift