A Cornish gaming studio is set to create 24 jobs over the next three years after raising £475,000 in its latest funding round.
Falmouth-based Trueplayers specialises in developing games for mobile devices, such as smartphones, which it says are designed to capture the PC and console gaming experience.
The business is readying its first release - UnderKnight, an adventure role-playing game which will be launched on Android and Apple IOS next year.
Founders Adrian Ruiz-Langan and Rob Raoul Boone have profitable divisions within other larger companies, while several games they have produced have hit more than a million downloads.
Trueplayers said that it has “a strong place in the gaming sector” where it had identified a market gap for gamers who want a “little more out of their mobile experience, without being overwhelmed with complexity or a need to play for long periods”.
During the round the firm attracted a £225,000 equity investment from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF), along with match-funding from London-based Concept Ventures and a number of private investors.
The company said the new roles it will create will be across its the tech development and sales departments.
Off the back of the raise, Mr Ruiz-Langan - the company’s chief executive - said the studio was looking forward to getting “stuck in” and start releasing titles next year.
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Mr Ruiz-Langan said: “To create a fantastic gaming experience we take the core mechanics from hugely popular PC and console titles and create ‘mobile first’ titles which appeal to a broad casual audience.
“To enable us to achieve this we will establish a highly skilled and specialist team who can support and complement our existing skills to produce innovative new games.”
The £40m CIOSIF provides debt and equity finance from £25,000 to £2m to help growing small businesses across the region. It has been established by the British Business Bank in partnership with the area’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
Ralph Singleton, head of Cornwall funds at The FSE Group - the appointed CIOSIF fund manager - said: “Trueplayers is already gathering significant support in the sector and [Adrian and Rob] have the niche skills and business sense to grow the company into a highly successful gaming studio.”
John Acornley, LEP non-executive director and chair of the CIOSIF advisory board, added: “This is another major investment by the fund in Cornwall’s tech sector, and in particular the growing cluster of gaming expertise in and around Falmouth. The team at Trueplayers has a clear vision for the future and we wish them well.”
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