Zynga Game Network, which brings gamers together via social networks and offers them several popular titles, has raised $29 million and added Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers as a new investor.
The round, which was led by KPCB, follows a $10 million Series A last year led by Union Square Ventures and including Avalon Ventures, Foundry Group and power angels Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, and Clarium Capital managing partner Peter Thiel. Union, Foundry and Avalon all participated in the latest round.
Founded by serial entrepreneur Mark Pincus, the startup offers, among other titles, a very popular version of Texas Hold'Em. It also announced that it acquired YoVille, a virtual world game that operates on social networks, for undisclosed terms.
KPCB partner and co-founder and former chief creative officer of video game giant Electronic Arts Inc. [ERTS] Bing Gordon will join Zynga's board.
"Mark and the talented team at Zynga have the same kind of vibrant energy we had in the early, industry-defining years of EA," Gordon said in a statement. "But their designs, technologies and approaches are all new, and are further broadening the reach and promise of interactive entertainment." -- Olaf de Senerpont Domis
See July 23 press release on Zynga funding from BusinessWire
See Jan. 15 post on Zynga's Series A from Tech Confidential
See Jan. 16 post on Mark Pincus from Tech Confidential
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