Akamon raises 2.8m in first funding round
Spanish and LatAm-facing social operator projects full-year revenues of $16m
Akamon Entertainment has completed its initial funding round, raising 2.8m from Axon Partners Group and Bonsai Venture Capital to close one of the largest-ever first rounds for a Spanish internet business.
As a result of their investments, Axon and Bonsai have become shareholders in the social gaming business alongside Grupo ITNet, Exelweiss and founders Carlos Blanco and Vicenç MartÃ, with Blanco retaining majority control.
The additional capital will see investment ramped up across the compay, including customer acquisition and expansion into new markets. The money will also be invested into the development of new mobile games, research and development and new products, as well as recruiting the talent to facilitate these plans.
Akamon’s team, based in its offices in Barcelona and Valencia, has grown to 70 employees after launching a recruitment drive led by HR manager Alaitz Blanquer, and the operator expects to add 20 additional members of staff this year. Chief executive Vicenç Martà said he was “delighted” to have Axon and Bonsai on board as investors. He praised Axon’s “profound knowledge of the Latin American market” and Bonsai’s “unparalleled track record of success with internet companies”.
In an interview with Social Casino Intelligence in earlier this year Martà said that 2013 was “the right time to bring in external investors”. He explained that the business needed to “strike the right balance between Spanish-based venture capital, which will bring us the right connections “¦ and also [a Latin American firm], because our markets are southern Europe and LatAm”.
“We need to strike that balance, and hopefully we can achieve that goal,” he added.
Having posted full-year revenues of US$8.5m and a positive EBITDA for its first full year since launching, Akamon has projected this almost doubling to $16m in 2013. The operator said the growth will be a result of the launch of its first mobile products, entry into new markets including Colombia and Mexico, and establishing white label agreements with international partners.