Mobile gaming startup Moonfrog raises $15M from Tiger Global & Sequoia

Bangalore-based Moonfrog Labs Pvt Ltd which owns and operates mobile phone games developer moonfroglabs.com, has raised $15 million (Rs 92 crore) from Tiger Global and existing investor Sequoia Capital.

It had previously raised $1 million from Sequoia a year ago.

Moonfrog is behind games such as Teen Patti Gold and Bingo Club. The fresh money raised will be used for team expansion and developing games in new genres such as action and role-playing, the company said in a statement.

The firm was found in 2013 by Tanay Tayal, Ankit Jain, Kumar Puspesh, Oliver Jones and Dimpalkumar Maisuriya. All of them are basically game developers who are making mobile-first games for masses.

Before starting Moonfrog, Tayal was working as an executive producer with Zynga. Jain on the other hand is a software engineer from Georgia Institute of Technology and was associated with Microsoft and Google in the past.

"There is a huge gap in local content available to Indian gamers. Our aim is to bridge this gap and provide exciting, engaging experiences for India's growing mobile player base. This round of funding is a vote of confidence in our ability and will help us grow our team and redefine mobile entertainment in the country," said Tanay Tayal, co-founder of Moonfrog.

"The team at Moonfrog has exceptional global experience and track record of execution. We are excited to support the company as it develops and expands its game offerings for the Indian audience," said Lee Fixel, partner at Tiger Global Management.

For Sequoia this marks the second such investment after it reportedly backed another mobile game developer Octro with $15 million in December 2014.Octro is the creator of popular games like Teen Patti and Rummy.

In the past Sequoia has also invested in Nazara, one of the top-tier game developers in the country.

A bunch of other mobile game developers has raised funding over the last one year. Bangalore-based mobile social gaming startup PlaySimple Games secured an undisclosed sum in funding from IDG Ventures. The round also saw participation from Yezdi Lashkari, an angel investor and former general manager at Zynga.

Another city-based social gaming startup HashCube Technologies Pvt Ltd raised Rs 4.2 crore (about $700,000) in funding, led by Mumbai-based gaming company Nazara Technologies in November.

Ahmedabad-based Mech Mocha Game Studios Pvt Ltd, had last year raised an undisclosed amount in funding from IIM-A's tech incubator CIIE (Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship), and a group of angel investors, including Devendra Parulekar, partner at Ernst & Young; Sanjay Mehta, member of both Indian Angel Network and Mumbai Angels; Ravi Trivedi, founder of Srijan Capital; and another unnamed individual.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)