This is very decent-sized investment by Benchmark in Habbo Hotel, the multiplayer online, avatar-based, community site. I know of Habbo Hotel because of Imahima, who is the Japanese partner for Sulake, the Finnish company that developed Habbo Hotel.
It is great to see VC investment in community services like this, but I am seeing the tip of the iceberg where VCs are looking beyond Japan towards greater Asia (i.e. China) either because there is already a market (and competitors) in Japan, or because China is a much larger potential market (especially for mobile.)
Benchmark Capital today joined the Habbo success story by leading an investing round of $ 23.5 million (18M€) in Sulake Corporation – the creator of Habbo Hotel. Current owners of Sulake, 3i Group plc and Finnishtelecom company Elisa Group, co-invested in the financing.
Sulake is an interactive entertainment company specializing in developing, publishing and distributing multiplayer online communities and games. Sulake's top brand franchise, Habbo Hotel, is an online game environment designed for teens and has become one of the most popular and fastest growing teen websites in the world. To date, over 22 million Habbo characters have been created, with three million unique users visiting Habbo Hotel each month.
Sulake operates in various areas of the interactive entertainment industry, which is the fastest growing segment of the global entertainment and media market. Interactive entertainment is expected to grow from 25 to 55 billion USD between 2004 and 2008, averaging an impressive 20 percent compound annual growth.
"During this year we will focus on the further development of the Habbo Hotel concept and its launch in the promising Asian markets, particularly China and Korea," said Timo Soininen, CEO of Sulake Corporation.
