The production house behind television shows including Big Brother, Deal Or No Deal and Fear Factor has made a play in the social gaming space.
Endemol has led the $13 million (£8 million) investment into Plumbee, a digital gaming business set up by three former Playfish executives.
The investment follows on from Plumbee’s maiden funding round back in March 2012, when Paris-based Idinvest Partners supported the start-up through a $2.8 million transaction.
The new capital will be used by Plumbee to grow continue to develop its gaming products.
Since being established in October 2011, Plumbee’s growth has been driven by flagship games such as Mirrorball Slots, which is among the top ten highest grossing social casino games on Facebook.
Raf Keustermans, CEO and co-founder of Plumbee, comments, ‘Endemol will become a strategic shareholder and this will enable us to leverage the company’s international network and globally recognised brands.
‘This will significantly boost the growth of our worldwide user base as we create gaming experiences that stand out from the competition.’
More on social gaming fundraisings:
While the investment marks the first time that Endemol has invested in a social gaming company, earlier in 2013 it made a $40 million commitment into a new online video network called Endemol Beyond in an effort to build its pure-play online content offering.
Lucas Church, CEO of Endemol UK, says that Endemol will be working with Plumbee to build on its existing digital gaming projects.
‘Social casino gaming is a fast emerging market and Plumbee is one of the most innovative and dynamic operators in this space,’ Church adds.
‘This new partnership will allow us to accelerate the growth of Endemol’s digital gaming business around the world, whilst capturing more of the value created by our entertainment brands.’
The deal marks the second time in a month that a business founded by Playfish alumni secured growth capital. In November, mobile games start-up Supersolid was backed by Index Ventures.
