Japanese mobile gaming giant GREE has just made its first ever investment in a Southeast Asian company.
Indonesian mobile developer Touchten marks GREE’s first move into mining the region’s opportunities, though the amount of money Touchten has received remains unconfirmed.
Gree led the Series C funding round, while US-based venture capitalist 500 Startups also threw cash into the pot.
MEET AND GREE-T
Founded in 2009, Touchten’s games have been downloaded around 12 million times.
While that amount is not earth-shattering for a company as sprawling as GREE, Touchten’s location is.
According to Newzoo’s Southeast Asia Games Market report Indonesia is the world’s fastest growing game’s market, and netted $181.1 million in revenues last year.
Clearly then, this investment in Touchten is a strategic move by GREE to drill into Southeast Asia.
Touchten, meanwhile, will be using the funds to accelerate its own growth by doubling its team to 70 by Q1 2016 and releasing 19 games by the end of this year.
“It’s a start of an exciting journey, and when a giant gaming company like Gree is knocking at your door, offering their help, you just have to take it,” said Touchten CEO Anton Soeharyo in a statement.