Mobile game company Fincon has picked up an additional 400 million won investment from K Cube Ventures.
Fincon was founded by ex-members of Webzen, the developer of award winning game C9, and managed to gain its initial round of funding of 350 million won within one month. Since then, the startup has been rising fast in the industry with its games ‘Hello Hero’ and ‘Angel Stone’, which have accumulated more than 17 million downloads across 150 countries.
The latest investment gives Fincon a second boost in funding, with which the company will use to focus on developing its next titles based off its current games. It will also be aiming to improve its service in the North American, Japanese and European markets. The company expects to release three more games within the year, and customize games to fit better with local markets.
The Chinese version of Angel Stone is due to be released this coming May, and to prepare for this, many aspects, from the business model to in-game items and missions, have been adjusted to match its audience. Following a positive response to the first closed-beta test for the game, a second one is being carried out next month prior to launch.
Hello Hero spin-offs ‘Hello Hero Epic Battle’ and ‘Hello Hero All Stars’ are expected to launch in Korea in the third-quarter of the year. Epic Battle is a MORPG game that takes place 15 years after the original title, and well-known webtoon writer Shin Tae-hoon has been responsible for managing the in-game story and characters. All Stars, on the other hand, is an RPG version of the series that features all the main characters from Hello Heroes, and will be targeted at the global market.
“We’re glad that we’re able to continue our relationship with K Cube Ventures who have been with us from the start,” says Fincon CEO Yu Chung-Gil. “I hope this can become a year in which we take our world-recognized games a step further.”
Fincon has also been expanding its business offline with figurines, and has partnered with toy company Aurora World to expand its presence in the retail character market which has been growing rapidly.
