Sulake, The Finnish company which operates the popular online teen community/roleplaying service Habbo, has received investment from Japan. The Movida Group—a joint venture by SoftBank BB and Asian Groove—is investing about $7.65 million into Sulake.
Sulake was established in 2000 and it has more than doubled its annual revenues each year, it said. Besides the role playing game, Habbo brand is currently being extended also to include mobile games and content, and merchandising and licensing products. The company raised a whopping $23.5 million in 2004-5 from Benchmark.
Red Herring: Sulake’s revenues doubled last year to over $30 million, and the company is currently profitable. The new strategic investors said they will help to expand Habbo Hotel in Japan, and later, the rest of Asia, as well as assist with the company’s rollout of Habbo Mobile, the same virtual world accessed via mobile phone.