Funcom Secures Additional Funding

Check it out:

Funcom secures ?4.5 million in financing from Northzone Ventures, Teknoinvest and Stelt Holding

Funcom NV, a leading developer and publisher of computer and console games, announced today that it has secured a ?4.5 million equity investment from a consortium of Northzone Ventures (?3.5 million) and existing investors Teknoinvest and Stelt Holding.

Oslo, Norway – 27 April, 2004 ? Funcom NV, a leading developer and publisher of computer and console games, announced today that it has secured a ?4.5 million equity investment from a consortium of Northzone Ventures (?3.5 million) and existing investors Teknoinvest and Stelt Holding. The investment enables Funcom to further increase the scope and quality of their future Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG), while expanding Funcom’s sales and marketing capabilities globally.

“We have already proven that we are a world leading MMOG developer with Anarchy Online” says Funcom’s CEO and President Trond Arne Aas, and continues “Anarchy Online is today a highly profitable game. The financing from Stelt, Northzone and Teknoinvest will enable us to further increase our investment in the development of the next generation online games and to become even better at what we excel at; creating unique and immersive virtual worlds for a global market of consumers”.

Torleif Ahlsand, Partner in Northzone Ventures and new Chairman of the Board of Directors, said,: “The MMOG genre is currently the fastest growing segment within the expanding gaming industry, and offers several attractive attributes, including the monthly subscription revenue model, a global market potential, expanding demographics and low risk of piracy. We are impressed by the high calibre of the Funcom team, and feel confident in their ability to develop new world-class games”.

Funcom is now developing three MMOGs, one of them being the successful Anarchy Online which is the subject of ongoing development.

Funcom Portfolio highlights:

Anarchy Online ? Shadowlands , PC (2003) “Expansion pack of the year 2003”, IGN.com “Outstanding achievement in Art Direction”, RPGvault.com

Anarchy Online ? Notum Wars , PC (2002) “Expansion pack of the year 2002”, Computer Gaming World

Anarchy Online , PC (2001) “Online Game of the year 2001”, PC gamer US “Best Online game E3 2001” “Best Online Game ECTS 2001”

The Longest Journey , PC (2000) “Adventure game of the year 2000” PC gamer US, IGN.com, Gamespot.com, Gamespy.com, Gamers.com

Championship Motocross 2001, Playstation (2001) – Championship Motocross, Playstation (1999) – Speed Freaks, Playstation (1999) – NBA Hangtime, Super Nintendo/Sega MD (1996) – Pocahontas, Sega Genesis (1996) – Casper – the friendly ghost, Playstation (1995)

About Northzone Ventures
Northzone Ventures is a leading Nordic venture capital fund dedicated to investments in early stage technology companies. Northzone seeks top entrepreneurial teams, and plays an active role in developing Nordic ventures with unique technology into global companies. Northzone has offices in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, and manages ?150 million from leading Nordic and international institutional investors. Northzone’s investments in the software sector include Trolltech, Envox, Pricerunner, Cryptico and Colibria. To learn more about Northzone Ventures, please visit: www.northzone.com

About Teknoinvest
Teknoinvest Management AS was founded in 1984 and is the Nordic venture capital firm with the longest track record of investing in technology start-ups. Teknoinvest is an active investor seeking to assist outstanding teams in building global companies based on innovative technologies. Teknoinvest invests in the ITC and Life Science sectors in the Nordic countries and the USA, and currently has ?125 million under management. Teknoinvest’s investments in the ITC sector include Opera Software, Trolltech and Optinel. To learn more about Teknoinvest, please visit www.teknoinvest.com

About Funcom
Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of computer and console games, and is worldwide known for its high quality games. With a main focus on subscription based online games, Funcom continues to expand its impressive track-record of more than 23 games to date. For corporate information please visit www.funcom.com