RED 5
STUDIOS
GROWS WITH
$18.5
MILLION FROM
BENCHMARK
CAPITAL AND
SIERRA
VENTURES
Top-Tier
Venture
Capital
Firms Serve
as Series A
Co-leads
Financing
Independent
Massively
Multiplayer
Online
Gaming
Studio
ALISO VIEJO,
CA –
DECEMBER 12,
2006 – Red 5
Studios, an
independent
online game
development
studio made
up of key
talent
behind
Blizzard
Entertainment(R)’s
hit World of
Warcraft(R),
announced
today it has
raised
additional
capital to
further its
growth
toward
becoming the
leading
studio for
creative,
original MMO
games for
the global
mass market.
Benchmark
Capital and
Sierra
Ventures
co-led the
Series-A
round
raising
$18.5
million in
funding.
“Red 5 is a
creative
mecca for
the world’s
best game
development
talent to
realize
their own
vision,”
said Mark
Kern,
president
and CEO of
Red 5
Studios.
“With the
financial
backing and
operational
advice of
Benchmark
and Sierra,
our uniquely
talented
team will
have the
resources to
create the
most
exciting
massively
multiplayer
titles for a
worldwide
audience.”
Benchmark
Capital has
invested in
dozens of
successful
consumer-technology
companies,
including
Second
Life(TM),
mobile
entertainment
leader
JAMDAT, and
eBay. Sierra
focuses on
investments
across all
areas of the
information
technology
sector, and
works with
entrepreneurs
and
management
teams to
originate
and build
new
companies
into large,
profitable
businesses.
“Historically,
the winners
in the
gaming space
have been
publishers
rather than
independent
studios.
However,
World of
Warcraft(R)
is no
ordinary
game title
and Red 5 is
no ordinary
team,” said
Bill Gurley,
general
partner,
Benchmark
Capital.
“With the
track
record,
talent and
vision
behind Red
5, it is
positioned
to become a
unique
creative
powerhouse
in the
online games
space.”
“Sierra
invests in
world-changing
ideas, and
we believe
that MMOs
are poised
to become a
dominant
form of
entertainment
on a global
scale. Red 5
Studios’
mission is
aligned
perfectly
with our
goals of
building the
premiere
independent
development
studio in
the online
gaming
market,”
said Jeff
Loomans,
partner,
Sierra
Ventures.
“Future MMOs
need to
combine
great
gameplay and
social
networking -
giving
players the
ability to
reach beyond
borders both
virtually
and
globally,
and Red 5
Studios is
designing
the company
and its
games around
this premise
from the
beginning.”
Red 5
Studios’
first title
is already
under
development;
a massively
multiplayer
online (MMO)
game
financed and
distributed
globally by
Webzen.
About Red 5
Studios
Founded in
September
2005 by key
members
behind
Blizzard
Entertainment(R)’s
World of
WarCraft(R),
including
Team Lead
Mark Kern,
Art Director
William
Petras, and
co-founder
of Blizzard
Korea Taewon
Yun, Red 5
Studios is
dedicated to
bringing
together
millions of
gamers
across the
world by
creating
immersive
worlds,
intriguing
stories and
compelling
characters.
About
Benchmark
Capital
Benchmark
Capital, a
leading
international
venture
capital
firm, was
founded in
1995 to help
talented
entrepreneurs
with
original
ideas build
successful
technology
companies.
Benchmark’s
general
partners
take a
team-oriented,
labor-intensive
approach to
venture
investing to
deliver a
superior
level of
service to
the firm’s
portfolio
companies.
Benchmark’s
portfolio
includes
high-profile
start-ups
like
Infinera,
MySQL,
OpenTable,
Tellme,
Zillow,
Yelp, and
Linden Lab’s
Second Life,
and
franchise
companies
such as
eBay,
Juniper
Networks and
Red Hat.
Managing
more than
$3.5 billion
in committed
venture
capital,
Benchmark
has offices
in Silicon
Valley,
Europe and
Israel. For
more
information
on Benchmark
Capital,
visit its
website at
www.benchmark.com.
About Sierra
Ventures
Sierra
Ventures,
founded in
1982, is a
privately
held venture
capital firm
focused on
investments
across all
areas of the
Information
Technology
sector from
semiconductors
to
enterprise
software.
Sierra
Ventures has
managed
eight
venture
capital
partnerships
and
currently
has more
than $1
billion of
capital
under
management.
Some of the
firm's
investments
include
Combinet
(acquired by
Cisco),
StrataCom
(acquired by
Cisco),
ConvergeNet
(acquired by
Dell),
Quinta
(acquired by
Seagate),
Intuit (INTU),
OnLink
(acquired by
Siebel),
Healtheon
(merged with
WebMD),
AmeriGroup (AGP),
Micromuse
(MUSE),
Active
Software
(acquired by
WebMethods),
Centex
(acquired by
WorldCom),
and Interact
Commerce
(acquired by
Sage).